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Message: [QUOTE="UcMiami, post: 2047569, member: 199"] oldude - cool post ... but ... it is the old chicken and egg issue. While ESPN has done WCBB and especially UConn proud over the years (and for all the issues people have with them they really, really, have carried the ball for women's sports for years), the reality is that little old CPTV proved that WCBB could drive market share on the airwaves. And together with Pat and TN proving that a real rivalry of epic proportions could be created in a women's sport, they were more responsible for getting the ball rolling. Yes ESPN promoted 'THE GAME' each year and expanded to 'THE HOME AND HOME', but CPTV proved that there was a market for 'THE UCONN SEASON' 20+ games a year, warts and all, year after year. It took a long time for ESPN and the other networks to catch on to the fact that there were actually fan bases out there that would watch Duke/UNC, or Stanford/Cal. And while UConn has certainly benefitted from great ESPN coverage, I believe the common thought that proximity to their headquarters plays any real role in that is demonstrably false. The obvious rejoined is, how have the other UConn teams fared in terms of ESPN coverage - not well. Even though UConn MCBB over the last 20 years is as successful as any program, they get ESPN preference only when they win the NC and only for a day. Football ...! The reason the women get the coverage they do from ESPN is because they are DOMINANT - cover the UConn women or cancel coverage of WCBB. Not trying to rain on the parade here, because I respect what ESPN and ESPNW have done for women's sports and athletes, just trying to counteract something I see frequently on other WCBB forums - it is UConn WCBB all the time, and it is all because they are 70 miles from ESPN's headquarters. The heavy weighting towards UConn is because UConn has won 10 of the last 17 NCs. And they have been to the FF 14 of the last 17. [/QUOTE]

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