After watching the women’s tournament this year, I have a lot of things to say about it. First of all, why are the women playing back to back when the men have multiple days to rest and recover? There is no reason why women should not be getting the same treatment. I saw a TikTok the other day talking about how women are on a 28-hour cycle compared to men. I feel like this just solidifies the whole idea that women need the rest more. Also, taking into account any women who are menstruating. I couldn’t imagine being on my period and having to play back-to-back games like that. I would be an absolute monster and exhausted all day. I know the girls were feeling it as well.
Another aspect that I feel like the NCAA fails to recognize is that these women are student athletes, with emphasis on the student part. These women are not only playing on college basketball’s biggest stage and representing their school, but they are also trying to keep up with their classes and workload. Picture this: you are an athlete who just played a 40-minute game where it is back and forth the whole time. You finally finish the game with a win, and you are met with reporters who want to interview you after the game. Then, you are dragged to a press conference that lasts until 2 am. After this, you and your team load up onto a plane or bus or whatever, that overnights you to the next location for the tournament, all the while you are staying up to get some of your school work done. This is the harsh reality many of these athletes face, especially playing in the women’s tournament, and there needs to be some changes made immediately.
The next thing I have to talk about is the amazing, show-stopping baller that is Paige Buekers. Paige is simply one of the greatest players in women’s history, and she is the sole reason I watched the tournament this year. She is such a fun player to watch because she is literally everywhere on the court. She is also not one who makes it a one-woman show; she makes sure to be such a team player. Her going as the number one draft pick to the Dallas Wings just solidified her greatness, and I have no doubt she will thrive in the WNBA.
I also want to mention the anti- harassment ads and commercials that were played this year in between stoppages. The commercials emphasized the importance of not harassing the players you root for after a loss from online betting. This is so important right now with the increase in social media presence from athletes. They can be extremely connected to their fans, which also makes them susceptible to online hate and harassment. I loved that they had a great reminder of this in the commercials to not take out your anger on the players.
Lastly, the thing that pissed me off the most about this whole entire tournament was the email I got after both the womens and mens winner was announced. I open my email to see that there is a huge congratulations email to the Florida Gators men’s team from the NCAA announcing their huge win and giving them praise. I then searched for an email for the same praise for the UCONN women’s team, but surprise, surprise, there was nothing there! The NCAA seemed to ignore the women’s team completely, and this actually made me so mad. Why can’t their marketing team type up the same email for UCONN?!?! DO BETTER!
ShoutOut! James Madison University 