Nice Pass, Lady!

I recently attended a UCLA women's basketball game, and what an experience it was.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  "Watch this, he's about to mock women's sports and make some asinine claim that girls playing a boys' game is just a watered-down version of real sports.  He'll probably make some jokes like 'she throws like a girl' or 'it's tough to make a layup when you're carrying a purse' or 'she's great at driving to the basket, she just can't park.'  Then he'll probably make some sexist remark like, 'women should stick to things they're good at like ice skating, gymnastics, and popping out babies.'  But you're wrong.  I'm not going to say any of those things, and here's why.

1. These women are very athletic, and their basketball skills are impressive.
2. I firmly believe that women are capable of accomplishing anything that men can.
3. The UCLA center, Moniquee Alexander, is six feet, six inches tall and could undoubtedly snap me in half like a pretzel stick.

In a lot of ways, I found women's basketball to be more entertaining than the men's game.  First of all, no one can dunk, so there's more focus on crisp passing and hitting the open shots.  I was quite surprised by the level of play, to be perfectly honest.  And the girls, sorry, LADIES seemed to be having a hell of a lot of fun.  Well, aside from that one elbow to the back that led to a quick shoving match, but that stuff happens.

It occurs to me at this point that you must be wondering, "What the hell was he doing at a women's basketball game in the first place?"  It's a fair question.  It's not like I have a rooting interest, alumni loyalty, or a really, really pathetic gambling addiction.  No, the truth is that my daughter plays high school basketball and we thought this would be a good way to see what the "next level" is all about.  It worked, she was very inspired.

Another surprise was that the women's basketball team actually has a cheerleading squad.  It was a little strange, to be honest.  Somehow, "Rebecca, Rebecca, she's sweet and bright, if she can't do it, Nina might!" doesn't have quite the same, I dunno, pizzazz.  Oh, and two of the cheerleaders are guys.  Seriously, on the college campus food chain, could you rank lower than male cheerleaders for women's basketball?  These dudes get probably get picked on by the physics majors and the second-string orchestra.  Then again, they spent most of the game looking up the skirts of the female cheerleaders, so perhaps they know something I don't.

Oh, and it was Breast Cancer Awareness day, which is why everyone was wearing pink which means the guy cheerleaders didn't have to change a thing.  As part of the post-game activities, there was a reception where the players signed autographs and talked to the fans.  As you can see, I got to say hello to Moniquee Alexander.

Like I said, she could snap me in half like a pretzel stick.


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