WNIT game attendance is disappointing
Allison Grant
Ice hockey — out.
Men’s basketball — out.
In terms of the postseason, the MSU women’s basketball team is all we have left.
The Spartans will play in the semifinals of the WNIT on Wednesday with a chance to play in a national championship game.
The WNIT may not be the championship they had in mind, but it’s more than any other women’s Big Ten team, and all but one men’s Big Ten team, will achieve this postseason.
Ohio State’s men’s basketball team is the only men’s team still alive in the conference, and it continues its quest for a championship tonight in the NIT semifinals.
So, after covering women’s basketball throughout the season, it’s disheartening to see next to no students at Breslin Center supporting the team — especially during its postseason run.
Being a student, and having attended both ice hockey and men’s basketball games, I am usually impressed with the student support both teams receive. Most impressive was the hockey game against Michigan at Joe Louis Arena on Feb. 23, where 70-80 percent of the sold-out crowd, from what I could tell, were either students or alumni.
In a crowd, students provide the energy and emotion that parents, young children and high school sports teams cannot. The connection students have with their team is something that can’t be duplicated. The cheers that only students know, and chant at the men’s basketball games (“AIR BALL, AIR BALL,” the “WHO CARES” after each opponent is introduced and the “WHOOSH” after made free throws with the “spirit fingers”) are nonexistent at women’s games. The only cheer I generally hear while sitting on media row is the standard “Go Green, Go White” when prompted by the cheerleaders.
The average crowd at Breslin Center for women’s games is 6,342 — but that number is highly padded and includes players, employees, media and season ticket holders whether they are there or not. The men manage to pack an average of 14,759 people into Breslin Center every game — about 2,300 being students.
You’ve heard men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and the players say how much they love and depend on the Izzone during their home games, and sometimes even on road games. They’ve said the fans make Breslin Center an intimidating place for opposing teams.
Having covered mostly women’s sports while at The State News, I’m ashamed at how little fan turnout our teams receive on the student end. I’m also ashamed to admit that before my time working as a reporter, I was included in the bunch that never attended.
So, with at least one more game left, and at most two, for the women’s basketball team in the postseason, come out and cheer the Spartans on to victory starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Breslin Center against North Carolina State.
If nothing else, you can go and watch Sparty do his thing on the sidelines.
Published on Monday, March 31, 2008
Comments
go green
04/01/08 @ 8:40am
Good call…we need to come out and support the team Weds…a championship is a championship(albeit NIT...)....bring it home ladies!
gary
04/01/08 @ 9:48am
The problem is that women’s sports are boring to watch. No one wants to see a bunch of layups.
anonymous
04/01/08 @ 2:45pm
Once again, a column written from the Boxscore. If the writer would simply turn around and look 3 feet behind her, she would have noticed a small but loyal student section making noise and getting excited about the game. I would suggest in the future, the writer spend less time checking her email and asking other (and actually professional) reporters what happened during the game, and actually pay attention to the game and what is going on around her,like… you know… a sports reporter should do.
Charles
04/01/08 @ 3:00pm
I agree that attendance at the MSU women’s basketball games has been disappointing all year, especially from the students. I would like to note that there is a very small (essentially 3 of us) but fairly vocal student section at the games. We sit next to the Michigan State band at every game. We would like to invite all Michigan State students to come to tomorrow night’s game and sit with the student section. Lets make some noise and help the team bring home a WNIT championship.
CCHALINES
04/01/08 @ 3:42pm
Well done Allison. It seems as if the students can’t follow a highly successful team or get their mugs on TV by wearing some insipid t-shirt, they’re nowhere to be found. In the end, the support would be nice, but the “quality, not quantity” adage seems apply to the non-rev sports.
chris
04/01/08 @ 5:55pm
Why would you expect anyone to show up for the Not Invited Tournament?
Kaliman
04/01/08 @ 6:47pm
Bravo Alliaon Grant! gary, anonymus, and chris are dipsticks and a bunch of detractors so Alliaon please don’t listen to them. Go State!! Kaliman
Rain Man
04/01/08 @ 9:54pm
My suggestion to get more attendance: lower the baskets to 8’5’‘ so the women look like they’re somewhat athletic,give away free food, and awesome half time shows.
Seriously?
04/03/08 @ 1:34pm
“The WNIT may not be the championship they had in mind, but it’s more than any other women’s Big Ten team, and all but one men’s Big Ten team, will achieve this postseason.” – Really? 4 Big Ten Men’s teams made it to the NCCA tourney. Last time I checked that is more of an achievment than getting to the NIT (any round!). No one cares about the NIT, especially the Womens NIT. Sorry to say it but its true.