Apparently, this is going to alternate each year for the foreseeable future. Again, this is not a particularly stunning announcement in a time when people clamor for what they see as equality for the genders.
In some ways, I imagine it will be ideal for parents of some of the women's basketball players to be able to get to games without missing the work time due to some of the 6 p.m. starts. That is what I've heard from some people as far as start times are concerned.
"We believe the changes to be implemented beginning in the 2010-11 academic year will ensure that both our women’s and men’s basketball teams will have an equal opportunity to play the second game of our doubleheaders," GLIAC Commissioner Dell Robinson said.
This will be an interesting adjustment for fans and a part of me wonders how well this will go over at many schools. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Again, the thought behind it is not all that surprising. I am not sure how to read this change.
At the risk of sounding sexist, men's basketball is more popular than women's basketball and tends to be the featured-type event as the late game.
Hopefully, this move will significantly boosts women's attendance without damaging crowd size at men's games which typically bigger numbers as far as attendance. I do have some doubts, however. I can imagine a mass exodus at the end of the men's game with conversations taking place all around the court and the women's game being ignored by a large number of people.
Last year, the men's basketball team was fourth in the league in attendance at 793 while the women averaged 447. Overall, in 2009-10, women's basketball teams in the GLIAC averaged 564 while men's basketball averaged 769. The 8 p.m. date is considered by some people to be more of a marquee starting time.
I guess we will see how it plays out, but I do wonder about it.
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