USA Today's Aunt Bea: Combine the two NCAA basketball tournaments

Because of the physical nature of the game, basketball players have to have some physical strength to them -- some muscle, especially in the knees (which, due to the angle of the leg, makes them vulnerable to ACL tears), but also in the upper body -- arms, torso, et al. Women bulking up won't look as "lean." They'll look bigger -- especially the post players -- and out of shape, but it's an illusion. They're actually very strong.

Volleyball players need strong arms and strong legs, but they also need a lot of flexibility, which leads to a different emphasis in conditioning. Tennis players need to be lean, because quickness (in running down a ball) is as important as strength. Soccer players need to carry as little mass as possible, due to the amount of running they do in a game.

 

Not to mention that basketball uniforms are far less flattering (i.e. less form-fitting) than your average volleyball hot pants or tennis dress.

 

zebracoy: you're drunk or crazy.

 

thanks for the insight on the conditioning. I always wondered about that.

 

When the Women's Final Four was on a Saturday/Sunday, I was a crazy college student and left Friday morning (no classes), was in Minneapolis by the evening, went to all 3 games, then left after the title game Sunday afternoon, drove straight through (I wasn't the one driving) and got back into town in time for my first class on Monday.

When it was a Friday/Sunday and a 10-hour drive away, I missed Monday's classes, but that was all.

If it were a Sunday/Tuesday, that would screw up most of a week.

Go back to Friday/Sunday. It might not help attendance (it's a big draw), but the regionals & subregionals would do much better.

 

But it works out really well for ESPN and that's what's most important, right?

 

Slag on ESPN for myriad other reasons, but if it weren't for them, they'd still be doing Saturday-Sunday for the benefit of CBS

 

Let me give you some examples of the differences between male and female basketball players. Growing up a hoops crazy kid in Central Kansas, I was a couple of towns over from Jackie Stiles. She was a couple of years older than me and was a college All-American and WNBA Rookie of the Year. I was an average player for a decent 1A school. To give you an idea how good I was, I got two basketball recruiting letters and no phone calls from NAIA schools.

Jackie and I crossed paths a ton growing up at camps, clinics, summer leagues and pickup games. When she played with the boys she was lucky if she could get a shot off. And this is a girl that almost scored at will in college.

One of my teammates on the college track team had a sister that was an All-Big 12 player. He was the sixth or seventh man on his 3A high school team and though he joked about his sister being better than him, he actually dominated her if they played in the same pickup game.

These were players at the top of the women's game, not quite Candace Parker, but who is? And I can assure you my buddy and I were not Chris Lofton.

 

Horrible idea.

How in the hell will a town like Dubuque, Iowa replace the $100 worth of tourist dollars that having the women's Final Four brings?

 

This had an informal tryout in 1989. Men's Final Four in Seattle (RIP Kingdome), Women's Final Four in Tacoma (at the Tacoma Dome), maybe 40 minutes away. Men's credentials would get you in the Women's FF automatically. NCAA arranged transportation from the men's HQ hotel to Tacoma. I don't think there were too many takers.