[81alum]

Let me just say, I care not one tiny little bit what anybody does in the pros.  The allure of women's basketball to me was precisely BECAUSE it had no reasonable professional outlet and so the college level was the highest level of play.  That meant that college WBB was not only the highest level, but the motivations of the players were more-or-less "pure."  They were doing it for the love of the game and for the sake of being provided an education.  Knowing that made watching the game that much sweeter for me.  For that reason I much preferred WBB to MBB, where all the players seemed to be chasing (mostly unsuccessfully) a professional career. 

The main difference between MBB and WBB used to be that the male players all thought they would be pros even though they would not, while the female players knew full well they were playing for different motives.

I know my attitude is contradicted by Tara's own efforts to promote WBB and "elevate" it to the men's level.  I know that the success of WBB professionally--phenomenally so this last couple of years--is itself a marker of greater social equality.  I can appreciate that without enjoying it.

I do not like professional sports in general, and so WBB becoming more professionalized is at best a mixed blessing to me.  I am a dinosaur from the Triassic period, who genuinely believes in the amateur ideal and also thinks that such an ideal is a particularly good fit for an elite academic institution like Stanford. 

I also recognize that college sports are radically changing, and leaving me behind.  So be it.  I'll just tune them out to the degree they depart from what interests and motivates me.  Maybe a rare few others feel likewise.

[81alum]

Let me just say, I care not one tiny little bit what anybody does in the pros.  The allure of women's basketball to me was precisely BECAUSE it had no reasonable professional outlet and so the college level was the highest level of play.  That meant that college WBB was not only the highest level, but the motivations of the players were more-or-less "pure."  They were doing it for the love of the game and for the sake of being provided an education.  Knowing that made watching the game that much sweeter for me.  For that reason I much preferred WBB to MBB, where all the players seemed to be chasing (mostly unsuccessfully) a professional career. 

The main difference between MBB and WBB used to be that the male players all thought they would be pros even though they would not, while the female players knew full well they were playing for different motives.

I know my attitude is contradicted by Tara's own efforts to promote WBB and "elevate" it to the men's level.  I know that the success of WBB professionally--phenomenally so this last couple of years--is itself a marker of greater social equality.  I can appreciate that without enjoying it.

I do not like professional sports in general, and so WBB becoming more professionalized is at best a mixed blessing to me.  I am a dinosaur from the Triassic period, who genuinely believes in the amateur ideal and also thinks that such an ideal is a particularly good fit for an elite academic institution like Stanford. 

I also recognize that college sports are radically changing, and leaving me behind.  So be it.  I'll just tune them out to the degree they depart from what interests and motivates me.  Maybe a rare few others feel likewise.