March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Pride skews views of UM hoop coverage

One of the great things about the newspaper business is being a daily first-hand witness to the right of someone expressing their opinion. Sometimes, however, some of these opinions seem to be a little weak on facts and may perpetuate a misconception.

Such is the case with a sports letter in Tuesday’s paper urging us to give the University of Maine men’s basketball team an equal amount or more coverage than the school’s women’s basketball team. My first reaction to the letter was an ironic chuckle because it was proof of how a women’s sports program had staked a secure foothold in a men’s domain – the sports pages.

My next reaction was one of surprise because even though the Maine’s women’s team has received lots of coverage, the men’s team has received more than its fair share. For every game these two teams play, they receive a preview look of the game and a story of the game with a full box score. Whether these stories and pictures will be on the first page of our sports section or the last will depend on other events we will be covering, but they will always be there.

It’s true, our section has not always featured this kind of balanced coverage as it used to be tilted toward the men. The women’s program did not begin until 1975-76, but quickly established itself as a successful one which generated lots of fan interest, key barometers in determining our coverage.

Since that initial season, the women’s program has compiled a record of 473-192, with only one losing season, 9-20 in ’92-93 when new coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie took over a program weakened by the departure of coach Trish Roberts and her poor recruiting efforts. The program has since been highly successful and popular, evidenced by its six straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and an average home attendance of 3,209 per season since ’92-93.

Some of this may perpetuate that in this time the men’s basketball program has not received an equal amount of coverage. This misconception, however, is more attributable to the coincidental struggles of the men’s program since the inception of the women’s program.

The men’s program began in 1904-05 and has experienced its share of success. But since that ’75-76 season when the women’s program began, the men’s teams have compiled a record of 331-357 with 13 losing seasons. Since ’92-93, their average home attendance per game is 1,960. Men’s coach John Giannini, entering his fifth season, is turning around the program with two consecutive winning seasons of 19-9 and 24-7 after enduring tough transition seasons of 11-20 and 7-20.

While Giannini’s teams have succeeded, they still have not accomplished that elusive goal of playing in the NCAA Tourney, which generates more coverage because of the playoff season and attracts readers who might not follow the team during the regular season. Giannini, unlike some of his program’s supporters and members of the UMaine athletic department, has never complained about lack of coverage. He’s a fine coach who is more concerned with wins and losses.

A final reason which has contributed to the misconception of unequal coverage of the Maine men’s basketball team is damaged male pride. Some longtime followers of the men’s program have a tough time dealing with the success of the women’s program. They’re jealous of its success and envious of its fan popularity. Some of them are also envious of the highly successful men’s hockey program, which has enjoyed unparalleled success at UMaine and is unmatched for its consistent fan popularity.

It’s time for those men’s basketball fans to let their wounded male pride heal. They should revel in the success of the men’s team and be proud of the other Maine teams as well. Then, perhaps, their misconceptions will end.

Joe McLaughlin is the NEWS sports editor.


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