March Madness

We have discussed how bizarre it is that March Madness in men’s college basketball is so much more popular than the women’s tournament. Only a select few within the class have filled out a bracket and followed the women’s tournament while nearly everyone followed the men’s. I think that the following has the same correlation with men’s and women’s professional basketball. Actually, I could see the march madness for women’s basketball may get more spectators than an average professional women’s game. I think that its particularly due to interest, more people are willing to watch a men’s game than a womens because of gender perspectives that the men’s game is faster and fiercer, and has a more sense of excitement. But I also think that the publicity has a lot to do with it. I looked up both of the websites for the men’s and women’s Final Four championships. The men’s tournament was held in Detriot, while the women played in St Louis. I then found the schedules for the games and events, and there was a significant difference in public entertainment. Both tournaments had free basketball clinics, middle school madness programs, and a walk or run for their fans to participate in. However, the men’s tournament also included a college all star game, community initiatives, practice viewings, and block party, where musicians came to perform and the community could get together for fun activities. There is defiantly a lot more hype and buzz for the men’s tournament than women’s. So I have decided for the first time that I am going to make a bracket for the women’s march madness and see if I derive the same type of excitement that I get from following my men’s bracket. I think not only my own personal interest once games start will influence my excitement, I also feel like the people around me will also have a huge influence. Who knows I may find a big group of people who do follow the women’s march madness, or I may be flying solo.