[Redrum]

Is this the best deal they could get?  Bad numbers from previous womens\' tourneys beget bad time slots for future tourneys beget bad numbers which beget...

Or is this particularly inept work by the Pac-10?    Are the Big East or SEC womens\' tournaments consigned to equally bad time slots?  Better time slots?  

Or, is this just the way of the world.  Metaphorically, womens\' college hoops is only strong enough to bump General Hospital or All My Children,  but not CSI Miami  or  ESPN\'s highlights of the Miami Heat vs. the Knicks?

[Redrum]

Is this the best deal they could get?  Bad numbers from previous womens\' tourneys beget bad time slots for future tourneys beget bad numbers which beget...

Or is this particularly inept work by the Pac-10?    Are the Big East or SEC womens\' tournaments consigned to equally bad time slots?  Better time slots?  

Or, is this just the way of the world.  Metaphorically, womens\' college hoops is only strong enough to bump General Hospital or All My Children,  but not CSI Miami  or  ESPN\'s highlights of the Miami Heat vs. the Knicks?

[Viking_Guy]

There were at least a couple of factors in play here.

One was that, if I recall correctly, the coaches didn\'t particularly like the long layoff that used to occur when the tournament was the week prior to the men\'s tournament.  Sylvia Hatchell at UNC has taken to scheduling a game after the end of the ACC tourney simply to give her team something to play in the two weeks before the start of the NCAAs.

Another is that the attendance at the Galen Center was so bad, they wanted some opportunity for cross-promotion with the men.  The numbers since the tourney moved from San Jose have dropped nearly in half, even with a good UCLA team involved.

The Pac-10 has also skimped on travel budgets - they\'re trying to limit traveling parties by having all things in the same locale.  I do know that they\'ve cut about 15-20 spots and associated travel costs from the bands going to games.

All that being said, the schedule they have now is rather ridiculous.  What I would think would be better would be to run the women\'s semi\'s and men\'s final on Saturday, and the women\'s final on Sunday, as the women\'s selection is not until Monday.  But that would involve an extra day of rent at the Staples Center.

Of course, then they would have ticketing issues on Saturday, unless they combined the two tourneys ticketing.  Have to clear the crowd between each game.

And when I think about it, it\'s probably all about TV slotting.  Fox would rather have men\'s games in the late afternoon (East Coast prime time) on any day it can.

But it does suck.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

There were at least a couple of factors in play here.

One was that, if I recall correctly, the coaches didn\'t particularly like the long layoff that used to occur when the tournament was the week prior to the men\'s tournament.  Sylvia Hatchell at UNC has taken to scheduling a game after the end of the ACC tourney simply to give her team something to play in the two weeks before the start of the NCAAs.

Another is that the attendance at the Galen Center was so bad, they wanted some opportunity for cross-promotion with the men.  The numbers since the tourney moved from San Jose have dropped nearly in half, even with a good UCLA team involved.

The Pac-10 has also skimped on travel budgets - they\'re trying to limit traveling parties by having all things in the same locale.  I do know that they\'ve cut about 15-20 spots and associated travel costs from the bands going to games.

All that being said, the schedule they have now is rather ridiculous.  What I would think would be better would be to run the women\'s semi\'s and men\'s final on Saturday, and the women\'s final on Sunday, as the women\'s selection is not until Monday.  But that would involve an extra day of rent at the Staples Center.

Of course, then they would have ticketing issues on Saturday, unless they combined the two tourneys ticketing.  Have to clear the crowd between each game.

And when I think about it, it\'s probably all about TV slotting.  Fox would rather have men\'s games in the late afternoon (East Coast prime time) on any day it can.

But it does suck.

VG