We live in a generation where news and information is at the tip of our fingers. We resort to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat to mend boredom. We scroll through timelines and news feeds almost unconsciously and until our eyes are glazed over. We are consumed by the digital world in more ways than one.
When you come across a play-by-play of your Facebook friends' birth, a heated political debate chastising Donald Trump, a cyber breakup, a visit to the emergency room or any other piece of information people feel so inclined to tell the world, it can be tough to put your phone down. We've all been there. Too much information is no longer a thing- and we are entertained because of it.
In light of Bobbie Kelsey's emphatic rant following Wisconsin's loss to Nebraska, the woman has a point. Too many athletes are worried about documenting their success on digital platforms than they are rolling up their sleeves and going to work. When your number of Instagram likes starts to correlate with the number of shots you got up that week, then we can talk.
We are a distracted society, and it will only get worse. The gratification that comes from social media is instantaneous; what's not to love? As Coach Kelsey alludes to, women can't dunk. Brittney Griner graduated from college.
But women can shoot if they put in the time. It's on us and only us to grow the game in ways we are highly capable of growing it. My words to you, Bobbie Kelsey, can be summed up as so: preach. As college basketball and WNBA analyst Debbie Antonelli so eloquently puts it, nobody watches women's basketball for the shell defense.
https://t.co/NTZ5MOBPdH
— Debbie Antonelli (@debbieantonelli) January 28, 2016
So excited I've tweeted same link 3 times! Product has to be better! Product will get better by shooting! PRACTICE
Some of the most prolific scorers in women's college basketball like Washington's Kelsey Plum (27.0 ppg) and Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell (25.3 ppg) aren't turning heads because of a genie in a bottle or number of retweets they reeled in that day. They're turning heads because they probably live in the gym day in and day out.
Connecticut averages almost 90 points per game. Maryland averages close to 86 points per game. Not surprisingly, UConn leads the American Conference in average home attendance by a long shot at 9,720 and Maryland sits in the top half of the Big 10 at 4,935. The bottom line: both team's put up numbers on the offensive end. Both teams know how to put the ball in the hole- and people want in on the action.
Any women's basketball enthusiast has to love the conversation that Bobbie Kelsey's comments sparked. Women's basketball is surely on the upswing. We have come a long way from hooping in skirts, lack of a 3-point line and having, at least, six players on a side, but there is more that can be done to grow the women's game. And let's face it: getting buckets doesn't happen from your iPhone.