The UConn-UCLA Debate
The University of Connecticut Huskies set the new NCAA record for consecutive wins last night with 89 straight. They broke the record held previously by UCLA, which was set in the 1970s. These are two radically different teams playing in different eras, but the major part of the debate has focused on gender.
The Huskies are the women's team. The Bruins were the men's team. Some have suggested the Huskies are not getting enough attention -- cover of every major news website, call from the president and magazine covers galore -- because they are women setting the record. Others have suggested that the two streaks are in different sports -- for example, no one compares a football streak to basketball.
It makes for an interesting media relations debate. The UConn women's team has been a highly visible and successful part of the school's athletic program for two decades now. It has been heavily promoted and loved in its sector of the sports world. However, it still gets the stigma -- for better or for worse - that it is a second-class citizen in the athletic world. Do people perceive the slight unfairly? Yes. Are there still people who sit in bars somewhere and yell "girls can't play sports." Yes. Would UCLA have beaten UConn? Yes.
But it's still a great debate.
The Huskies are the women's team. The Bruins were the men's team. Some have suggested the Huskies are not getting enough attention -- cover of every major news website, call from the president and magazine covers galore -- because they are women setting the record. Others have suggested that the two streaks are in different sports -- for example, no one compares a football streak to basketball.
It makes for an interesting media relations debate. The UConn women's team has been a highly visible and successful part of the school's athletic program for two decades now. It has been heavily promoted and loved in its sector of the sports world. However, it still gets the stigma -- for better or for worse - that it is a second-class citizen in the athletic world. Do people perceive the slight unfairly? Yes. Are there still people who sit in bars somewhere and yell "girls can't play sports." Yes. Would UCLA have beaten UConn? Yes.
But it's still a great debate.
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