The dynamics of a basketball game change when the members of the band outnumber the fans. The crowd can’t drown out a coach’s play call when a curtain blocks off the empty upper deck. The cheerleaders can’t cheer effectively when they have no one to lead.
Welcome to women’s basketball at Northwestern University.
Wait, we have a women’s basketball team?
Maybe we should let NU Shuttle Services know.
“NU Athletics offers free shuttles to the Ryan Field/Welsh-Ryan Arena complex on the Evanston campus for all Wildcat football and men’s basketball games.”
That little omission, the one between “men’s” and “basketball” on the Northwestern Shuttle Service website is the reason why I find myself walking the 1.8 miles to Welsh Ryan Arena on most Sunday afternoons.
I didn’t draw the short straw to get the women’s basketball beat at NBN. I wasn’t hazed or pranked into sitting on press row in a stadium that looks emptier than a Lebron pep rally in Cleveland.
I cover the women’s basketball team because their 14-5 record is news. At a school that is famous for its lack of NCAA tournament bids, it might just be those with two X chromosomes that go dancing this March.
Apparently, beating two ranked teams, getting votes on the AP top 25 and making one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA history in the past five years does not warrant a shuttle bus.
Most of you can’t get past the fact that it’s women’s basketball that I’m talking about. The sport where there’s no dunking, the sport that puts up fewer points than a football game, the sport that’s relegated to ESPN-8 “The Ocho” when the Denny’s Pro Bowling Championship series is on.
The ones that have moved past the “is he still talking about women’s basketball?” phase won’t be persuaded to crawl out of bed at one in the afternoon just to walk over a mile to an empty arena. Is the sun even up at one?
That’s where I come in.
Because there’s no bus, you won’t be going to women’s basketball games.
Because there’s no bus, I brave the elements to trek up to Welsh-Ryan Arena on foot.
Because there’s no bus, you won’t see WNBA prospect Amy Jaeschke tab another double-double. She has nine this season.
Because there’s no bus, you won’t see coach Joe McKeown lead a team that won seven games two years ago. This year, they have 14 wins and there’s still 10 games to go.
Because there’s no bus, Welsh-Ryan will be pretty lonely on Sundays.
Because there’s no bus, I now present you with my column, “Because there’s no bus.”