The San Diego Aztecs Women’s Basketball Team Needs to be Properly Appreciated

"I couldn’t get past the thought/ that the reporting on their amazing achievements/ was like an afterthought/ when it should have been,/ in my opinion,/ the main story . . . " A Poem by Ernie McCray

I sometimes wonder what it will take
for our society to cut women a break
when it comes to appreciating
their accomplishments
for goodness’ sake.
Like the other day
I was reading
page 1, section d,
of the sports page in the San Diego Union Tribune,
known also as the UT,
to see what’s going on
in the world of athletics
and the very first article
was about the San Diego State Aztec men’s basketball team
losing to Boise State,
in a game that was described as a clunker
compared to their previous contest,
their season’s best,
and I followed the essay’s continuation
to page five
which detailed the loss,
getting into how it amounted to sweet redemption
for the Broncos from Idaho
who had lost an earlier game to the Aztecs
a while ago
in triple overtime,
highlighting the strategies they used this time,
words flowing eloquently
as though the game
was the most important meeting
of all time
between two teams,
descriptive passages
that took up most of the coverage
on the page
and then I looked up at the top of the page
in a narrow space
and there was an article
about the San Diego State Aztec’s women’s basketball team
completing their season
with a win over the Air Force Academy
in the high altitude of Colorado Springs,
finishing with a record that was the best
ever in the Mountain West,
conquering the conference championship
by four games
and earning a first-round bye
in the upcoming conference tournament
due to their incredible success
and I couldn’t get past the thought
that the reporting on their amazing achievements
was like an afterthought
when it should have been,
in my opinion,
the main story,
the lead-in
on the first page,
ahead of, or at least adjacent to,
the news about the city seeking
a 52-year lease extension.
with the zoo.
 
I mean, come on,
what could be wrong
with giving some great women athletes
a bit of glowing media attention,
especially when men’s games
are covered with exciting high-octane language
about “alley-oop monster-jams”
and “making it rain”
and shots made “from downtown”
and “posterizing” opponents in the key
and the like.
 
Don’t our girls and women
need encouragement
and respect and visibility
when they perform well,
in the same way men
are applauded
for jobs well done
like clinching titles
as this Aztec basketball team has done
in spectacular dominating fashion,
making history
on the run?
 
I’d go so far as to say
that the city and the UT
owe these remarkable athletes
an apology
for not patting them on the back,
if for no reason other than for
little girls
to see excellence being legitimized
so, they can dream
of someday
being so recognized.
 
And it’s not too late.

Ernie McCray is an activist for love and peace who acts and sings and writes both poetry and prose, a man who rises each day to do whatever he can, no matter how small or grand, to make the world better in some way.

Unapologetically.