Maya Moore and the University of Connecticut Women’s basketball team have just won their 80th game in row with their win over Baylor. This brings them to within 8 victories of tying the legendary 88 game winning streak of John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty. Although this streak gets some national coverage from networks such as ESPN, it is getting nowhere near the respect it should be receiving. This type of winning streak happens once in a generation, and it may not be seen again for decades. If this were a Men’s college team about to break UCLA’s mark, it would be the top story on SportsCenter every single night. This shows that although women’s sports have come a long way in a short period of time, they still have plenty of room left to grow (Coakley 240). This winning streak is so impressive because of the way that the team just dominates their competition. Out of the 80 wins so far 78of them have been by 10 or more points. That statistic just shows the dominance of the team over the past two years and they should be receiving more attention than they are getting.
In the article I read in Sports Illustrated about the impact of dynasty’s in sports it makes a good case for the success of the team and the growth of the sport. It references Lombardi’s Packers and the growth of football, as well as the Red Auerbach and Bill Russell Celtic’s that dominated the NBA for years. It says that with the success of these teams in created rivalries with other cities that greatly increased interest and coverage of the sport. It will be the goal of the entire sport to knock of the Huskies and this raises the level of competition in the sport. UConn is getting everybody’s best shot on every night, because if a team can knock off UConn then their season gets a whole new meaning to it. The success the Huskies have achieved in this streak has definitely brought out the critics of women’s sports and the lack of competition. The fact that women’s college basketball is always compared to the men’s sport impacts the interest. Basketball is usually considered a men’s sport and many fans of basketball will only want to watch the men’s game (Coakley 246). The 2009 TV ratings for the Women’s Final Four was up 33 percent from the previous year, which shows that the streak may have drawn in new fans. In women’s sports history the University of North Carolina won 16 of the first 19 Titles, but in the following nine years there were four new champions. This competition helped the U.S. women win the World Cup and did help a women’s professional league come into existence for a short period of time. Many people have talked about how the streak is bad for the game and will set the sport back not help to move it forward. However if the examples that the article states remain true, the streak is going to help in the growth and coverage of the sport.
In the article I read in Sports Illustrated about the impact of dynasty’s in sports it makes a good case for the success of the team and the growth of the sport. It references Lombardi’s Packers and the growth of football, as well as the Red Auerbach and Bill Russell Celtic’s that dominated the NBA for years. It says that with the success of these teams in created rivalries with other cities that greatly increased interest and coverage of the sport. It will be the goal of the entire sport to knock of the Huskies and this raises the level of competition in the sport. UConn is getting everybody’s best shot on every night, because if a team can knock off UConn then their season gets a whole new meaning to it. The success the Huskies have achieved in this streak has definitely brought out the critics of women’s sports and the lack of competition. The fact that women’s college basketball is always compared to the men’s sport impacts the interest. Basketball is usually considered a men’s sport and many fans of basketball will only want to watch the men’s game (Coakley 246). The 2009 TV ratings for the Women’s Final Four was up 33 percent from the previous year, which shows that the streak may have drawn in new fans. In women’s sports history the University of North Carolina won 16 of the first 19 Titles, but in the following nine years there were four new champions. This competition helped the U.S. women win the World Cup and did help a women’s professional league come into existence for a short period of time. Many people have talked about how the streak is bad for the game and will set the sport back not help to move it forward. However if the examples that the article states remain true, the streak is going to help in the growth and coverage of the sport.
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