Lilly Donahue | Indiana University
Tonight at 9PM the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team will play South Carolina in search of their 100th straight win. Let me say that again: 100. Straight. Wins. The record for the most consecutive wins is already held by the Huskies, but the chance to get triple digits is unprecedented, and frankly, quite amazing. The longest men’s basketball record is held by UCLA at consecutive 88 wins, which is impressive as well. So, what game do you think is playing on ESPN tonight? Not ESPN2, ESPNews, or ESPNU, but ESPN. The main channel, the game deemed the most important? It’s gotta be the UCONN game, right? Even though women’s basketball is far less popular than men’s, the chance at 100 straight victories has to merit the recognition of being broadcasted on ESPN’s main channel, at least one would think. The game airing at 9PM on ESPN is West Virginia v. Kansas, which is a great game and all, but come on ESPN! Relegating the UCONN women to ESPN2 is just continuing the notion that women’s basketball, and women’s sports in general, are less important than men’s. I’ll admit that men’s basketball can be more exciting, but it’s frankly unfair to continue to push women’s athletics to the back burner.
I’ve played sports since I was in the 1st grade, and I can attest that women’s sports don’t get their due diligence across the board. We work just as hard, play with the same amount of passion, and play the same sports, but get less funding and exposure by far. In high school I played basketball, which is a wildly popular sport in Indiana. At my school, Bloomington North, the boys had a locker room right off of the gym. The girl’s basketball locker room was in the basement adjacent to the wrestling room, which, you guessed it, smelled like ass. The boys got new uniforms most year, the girls were left with old, peeling products. The school made it clear the girls basketball didn’t matter, and this is not an isolated incident. While Title IV mandated that women be given equal sporting opportunities, it’s obvious that equal opportunity doesn’t include equal exposure or funding. Sports offers boys and girls great life lessons, opportunities, and friendships. The promotion of sports is important, especially as an opportunity to gain positive role models. If airing this game on the main ESPN channel could help expose a young girl to a hero in a UCONN player, then it would be worth it. And if you’re reading this, give the UCONN women the respect they deserve, and watch their game tonight. 9pm, ESPN2.