Game blacked out on ESPN3 online :(

[McHuskyFan]

am i reading this right?

you're screwed tomorrow if your provider doesn't have ESPNU. However, even if your provider lets you get most of the ESPNs online at ESPN3.com, this game is being blacked out online for the whole country: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/blackout?id=688683

ordinarily i could go to a friend's house to watch the game, but I'm not driving thru 6" of snow to do it

grrrrrrrrrrr

 

[ju6381]

am i reading this right?

you're screwed tomorrow if your provider doesn't have ESPNU. However, even if your provider lets you get most of the ESPNs online at ESPN3.com, this game is being blacked out online for the whole country: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/blackout?id=688683

ordinarily i could go to a friend's house to watch the game, but I'm not driving thru 6" of snow to do it

grrrrrrrrrrr

You will be able to watch it on ESPN3 after the game is over. The black out is only during the live airing. Could be worse...

 

[cardfan]

You will be able to watch it on ESPN3 after the game is over. The black out is only during the live airing. Could be worse...

Sorry, but it is a slap in the face of women's sports in 2012 that #1 vs #2 is not on ESPN or ESPN2. We should demand more! The game will grow with more national TV exposure, not by watching online, or lowering the rims. It's maddening.

I will bet our game ratings are more than the Kraft and Pinstripe (WTH?) bowls.

 

[Forty_four]

Sorry, but it is a slap in the face of women's sports in 2012 that #1 vs #2 is not on ESPN or ESPN2. We should demand more! The game will grow with more national TV exposure, not by watching online, or lowering the rims. It's maddening.

I will bet our game ratings are more than the Kraft and Pinstripe (WTH?) bowls.

If the ratings are higher than either bowl game then you will have a significant point to argue.

 

[Phil]

Sorry, but it is a slap in the face of women's sports in 2012 that #1 vs #2 is not on ESPN or ESPN2. We should demand more! The game will grow with more national TV exposure, not by watching online, or lowering the rims. It's maddening.

I will bet our game ratings are more than the Kraft and Pinstripe (WTH?) bowls.

I agree, but maybe next time we try to avoid scheduling bowl week.

The pinstripe bowl may get more watchers than you think. While admittedly extrapolating from too small a sample, I got a call from a friend who is a very serious wbb fan. He thought I might be in California for the game, and if so, he was going to look into going to the game with me. I'm not but we made plans to meet up in 2014. He's from the east coast so going to Stanford for a game counts as a serious fan. When I said I wasn't going out, so we couldn't go together, I talked about watching it on TV, but he said he would be watching the Pinstripe bowl and maybe some of our game during commercials. Football, unfortunately, rules.

 

[Icebear]

I agree, but maybe next time we try to avoid scheduling bowl week.

The pinstripe bowl may get more watchers than you think. While admittedly extrapolating from too small a sample, I got a call from a friend who is a very serious wbb fan. He thought I might be in California for the game, and if so, he was going to look into going to the game with me. I'm not but we made plans to meet up in 2014. He's from the east coast so going to Stanford for a game counts as a serious fan. When I said I wasn't going out, so we couldn't go together, I talked about watching it on TV, but he said he would be watching the Pinstripe bowl and maybe some of our game during commercials. Football, unfortunately, rules.

Yes, Phil, I consider ESPN being at least in part to blame along with the teams for featuring this game at a time when there is too much competition from the bowl games and the end of the NFL season which even the college bowls avoid by contract.

 

[cardfan]

the Kraft hunger bowl (in SF) should be on ESPNU.

 

[Kibitzer]

By the way, the Pinstripe Bowl will pit the 4th place team from the Big East (Syracuse, 7-5, and en route to the ACC) vs. the 7th place Big 12 team (West Virginia, also 7-5, formerly of the Big East). The "Pinstripe" moniker is attributable to the game being played in the New Yankee Stadium.

A really big deal.

 

[Plumber Luigi]

We should look at the little victories. At least after nearly two decades, ads on ESPN during a Women's Basketball game aren't just feminine hygiene products anymore.

Also Geno's suggestions about how to make the Women's game more exciting, like lowering the net, half court timer, reduced shot clock may improve the games popularity. Game purists hate some of the ideas but Geno does have a point. But hyping a national playoff game between two power houses to get people to tune in only to have the first half being a miss/turnover fest doesn't do the Women's game any favors in building an audience beyond fans of the teams involved.

But the real problem is still the dreaded parity. Great we've gone from 5 power house programs in the 90s to what, 10 now, out of over 300 teams. That the first interesting round of games where upsets are likely to occur are the regional finals. While the Men's teams have achieved parity partially by having their star players constantly leave for the NBA, which we don't want to start happening in the Women's game, most colleges only provide lip service to their Women's program.

Sadly college sports is now all about the TV money. Period. Big East disintegrated because teams chased the TV football money. There's the chicken and the egg problem with TV money for basketball, especially Women's teams. If you don't have a powerhouse, you can't get the money but without the money you can't create a powerhouse. UConn Women was lucky that the Men's team had a serious following, it allowed Gampel to be built and they piggybacked on that. It also doesn't hurt to hire a coach with the vision, market savvy and salesmanship of Geno.

So yes it's sad that a 4th tier bowl game prevents the #1 vs #2 Women's game from being shown nationally on a channel nearly every cable home gets but football money still trumps Women's basketball money.

 

[cardfan]

but like Geno said, he assumes the folks at ESPN know the 2 bowl games today (of the 35 bowls), will get better ratings than our game. I don't think they will. So, it's the chicken and egg again with the women sports. Can't judge unless you have data to compare.

40 yrs after Title IX and 17 yrs since bball got really big for women (assume 1995 as watermark), we need and should expect more TV coverage (nationally for a 1 v 2). Lowering the rims is not practical and makes no sense.