Eh, it’s almost June, so of course my mind is jumping (way) ahead to basketball season, and I’m back in the same town as my alma mater, so I’m thinking of Titan sports in general. I’ve had a few discussions about the merits of D-III vs. D-I basketball mania, and for those who won’t give D-III a chance, at least enjoy the following articles.
- Just Basketball, by Dave Kindred (2001) (an IWU hook)
- In a cozy little gym, it feels like the big time, by Bryan Burwell (nothing to do with IWU)
There’s also the first book that Coach Bridges published, A Dunk Only Counts Two Points. Shocked, I was, to see the prices it is selling for at Alibris’ used books, topping out at $87.50.
And of course, I must add Quill’s blog, Titan Tidbits, on which I found the links to the 2 articles.
I was fortunate enough to be back in town for most of the 2005-2006 basketball season, when the Titans again made it to the Final Four. Though I had been the men’s basketball reporter for the Titans while in school from 1998-2002, and therefore in 2001 when that team made it to the Final Four, I had taken that spring semester to study off-campus, with the Lakota Nation program at the International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership, and in doing so, was not present in person for the entire championship run.
CCIW Chat board on D3hoops.com (a most entertaining conversation)
I suppose when it gets down to the fan level, when you ignore all the national media hype present in D-I, the experiences are congruous. Yet, I think that to be a fan at a distance, it may take a bit more work to be a fan of D-III. Not that that provides a reason to be a D-III fan, but it circles back to the hype that surrounds D-I men’s basketball. Perhaps streaming technology has changed things since 2001, or maybe the steady stream of comments and posts concerning “pure” basketball has awoken small cable stations to provide footage of D-III games; this I wouldn’t know. I do know that while sitting in my room in Lower Brule, SD in 2001, I was glued to my computer, where thankfully I had a fast enough connection to hook into IWU’s home-town radio station, WJBC, and listen to the broadcasts of the playoffs, when they weren’t pushed to the side because of Illinois State games. It takes effort to uncover coverage of D-III games. And I’m lucky that I chose such a high-profile school in the world of D-III men’s basketball. As D-III schools go, IWU gets a lot of local coverage, comparatively.
Sounds like I’m saying news coverage is good! Coverage is, but I don’t like hype. When it becomes about making money over the players and the sport. With everything that the internet provides, I think D-III could eventually go they way of D-I, not with the small step to the NBA and the over-excitement this causes the money-makers, but with the possibility of bringing in funds for the schools themselves, or for the sponsors, or some third party. Unless something is written in the code books against that option. And I don’t like that possibility.