Maybe I've been paying too much attention in American Politics 101, but the more I grow to love women's basketball, the more I hear Sabato's voice ringing in my head.
Over and over he drills two crucial points about politics into the hearts of his students. One: Politics is a good thing. Two: Anyone who makes predictions about politics is bound to eat glass from a crystal ball... or something like that. Anyways, I have decided that I am going to take Sabato's slogans and replace the word "politics" with the words "women's basketball."
The Virginia women's basketball team has everything anyone could ask for.
They have LaTonya "You're-My-Girl" Blue who grabbed a career high 13 rebounds in the game last night against Maryland. That number, however, does not do justice to the fact that Blue out-muscled, out-ran, out-jumped, and otherwise out-did her opponents while appearing to be on both sides of the court at once. She has been dubbed "Miss Clutch" for scoring the game-winning basket in all four of the team's ACC wins.
They have Brandi Teamer, who even scares me a little bit -- and I'm well out of her reach. When Teamer gets in the zone, she is going to get that ball even if she has to knock down Maryland's 6'3" goliath Delvona Oliver to do it.
They have senior Anna Prillaman who agreed that with every three she makes the basket just gets bigger and bigger.
They have co-captain Tiffany Sardin, who's huge smile energizes her teammates and is even contagious within the press box.
Last but not least they have Coach Debbie Ryan, who had me quaking at her feet after the heart-breaking loss to North Carolina, but grinning ear-to-ear after last night's win over Maryland. After 27 years as the Virginia women's coach it is clear that her emotions are inextricably bound to this team.
I have come to look forward to women's games at U-Hall. It's the only place where you can see senior citizens swaying and clapping to "Hey Ya" and flailing their Aquafina bottles in the air for t-shirts. The seemingly scanty crowd of Charlottesville residents are extremely deceptive. They can create quite an uproar during the Cavaliers' signature second-half runs.
I was nearly deafened by the team's number-one fan, "Grandpa Wahoo," who attacked the refs and cheered on all the players by first, middle, and last names at every opportunity. Okay, maybe not middle names.
At first glance it may seem that women's basketball games lack action. The final score on Thursday was only 64-51, after all. But look a little closer and you will see what really happened. These girls will go after every single loose ball and give an arm and a leg to make sure it goes in the basket. Virginia had 25 second-chance points, but many of those were more like third or fourth chance points. I almost hope that Elton Brown (who was in the crowd -- unlike the rest of you) learned a few things from the scrappy women's team.
The press conference was such a pick-me-up. Every single person in that room left smiling, after seeing Ryan jokingly pull at her hair while Prillaman explained why she wasn't worried that the Cavaliers were being "manhandled" in the first half. The term second-half team could not possibly be more applicable. I'm sure Ryan would prefer not to have everything down to the wire, but after a win like yesterday's, she had absolutely nothing to complain about.
I may not have Sabato's captive audience, but I will take advantage of every opportunity I do have to convince the Virginia student body that women's basketball is a very, very good thing.
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