This blog is mostly dedicated to economics, but it can be hard to resist an occasional digression into the world of sports. In that vein, a couple of things caught my eye today.
First, the WIU women's basketball team is waiting to see if they will be the #1 or #2 seed in the conference tournament. Their regular season is finished. They missed the opportunity to decide their own fate with a win this weekend. So now it's up to Southern Utah. (Incidentally, SUU is the academic home of David Tufte of the voluntaryXchange blog.) With a win over the other contender for the #1 seed, Oakland University, SUU could propel WIU into the top spot. If Oakland wins, they and WIU would have identical conference records, but Oakland swept the regular season series and would win the tiebreaker. Let's hope that SUU can pull off the upset.
The other women's basketball story getting my attention is the retirement of NDSU coach Amy Ruley (registration may be required for the article). Ruley has coached the Bison since 1979 and led the team to five Division II national championships--four of them consecutive from 1993 to 1996. Tonight will be her last regular season game. Bison basketball will just not seem the same for many fans of the game. Nearly 30 years at one school is an incredible run--that just doesn't happen anymore. She's a graduate of Purdue and has her master's degree from Western Illinois. (The latter I only found out recently after coming to WIU myself.) After coaching, she's expected to do some fundraising for NDSU athletics. As someone who grew up and went to college near Fargo in the '80s and '90s when she and the Bison were making their way to the pinnacle of D-II, I'd love to see her go out with a win. Go Bison!
In Tennessee girls basketball is very important.
When you go to a high school game the first game is generally the girls team rather then the JV team as in other areas. Is it that way in the Dakotas?
No, as far as I can recall, high school girls games are on a different night up there, and down here in Illinois.
In the state of Illinois, mens basketball is king, but at WIU the women's team has met with a bit more success lately.
Yes, the Westerwind visits to DeKalb tend to provide spirited games. Best in your tournament. (Our ladies won an emotional game with Western Michigan first time back, then lost three close ones to divisional powers. Now to Cleveland. Cleveland??0