North Carolina 74, Duke 70

The score from last night's matchup in the storied rivalry is good news, right? Well, I don't particularly care. Why? Because it was the women's game. No offense to the ladies out there. All week long, since I first saw the date and time for the upcoming Tar Heels/Duke game while running on the treadmill at the Y last Weds, I had geared up for the game. My wife had been reminded countless times to remind me not to forget that the two teams were playing on Sunday night at 7 pm on ESPN 2. I had structured my day around the game, in fact (next to Church, of course). So imagine my shock and horror when at 7 pm promptly I switched over to the channel only to find women taking the floor (at first I thought that some of the players were letting their hair grow long). (Thankfully, our cool friends, C. and R. and A., saved my evening when the invited us over to watch Cinderella Man; thanks, guys!)

I ask myself: what is it that is so unappealing about the women's game? It used to be that I harbored the attitude that the women were just not good athletes. They couldn't run , dribble, pass, and, most importantly, shoot. I no longer believe this to be true. When I forced myself to watch a few minutes of play (and I stress, a few), I was compelled to acknowledge that both the Dukies and the Heel women actually performed these functions rather well. I witnessed long bombs, several nifty crossovers, and thread-the-needle passes that hitherto would have seemed impossible for the sweeter gender to pull off. However, last night I believe that I came face to face for the first time with the real cause of my aversion for women's basketball; I saw it with perfect clarity.

The Heels had the ball on a fast break that left the Carolina guard all alone save for one meaty Duke defender guarding the basket. Crossing midcourt, she peformed a nice cross-over, tried to look off her defender by pretending to pass to the wing, and then drove hard to rim. From her point near the free throw line, the Carolina player took three steps before launching into the air for a power dunk that left the defender stunned. Ok, it was really a power layup. Or a glinding layup. Fine, a fading short jumper. Nothing of the kind. Truth be told, it was a little hop, two inches off the ground, that sent her plowing into the Duke center. They just can't jump. And this is what detracts from the women's game.

I know, I shouldn't be so hard on them. Has biology determined that women won't be able to jump hight? But why can there be women long jumpers that leap great distances--much farther than I ever could--and women basketball players can't jump high? There are women high jumpers even, and they do pretty well. I've even watched with enjoyment, yes, enjoyment, a number of women volleyball games; there are some impressive jumpers in that sport. But I've yet to see a woman basketball player who can jump. Ok, there was one. In high school a rival woman's (girls?) team came to play our school, and while I didn't see her, there was rumored to be a player on the other team who could actually dunk. And she wasn't a giant--you know, 7 feet tall. She went on to play college sports, of course. What sport? You guessed it, volleyball.