Whoever thought Brunswick, Maine would be a basketball haven would probably have been thought to be crazy. But Brunswick is the home Bowdoin Lady Polar Bears, who are now 70-0 on their home court. One of the reasons for this success is Polar Bear Nation, the rabid and basketball savvy student body of Bowdoin College. Brandeis was able to keep this crowd (which would do things such as start the shot clock countdown early to get the opposing player to chuck up a desperation shot way before the shot clock was set to expire) in check for most of the game despite never leading. And with 1:31 left in the game, Allison Chase 07 put the crowd into a state of disbelief when she tied the game at 56-56 for the first time since the opening tip.

Bowdoin and Brandeis fans alike began to rise as one to cheer on the final 91 seconds of the Brandeis season, but one thing definitely missing from the crowd was Brandeis students. Sure, there were lots of parents and family members in the crowd, but the Saturday game featured only a handful of students. Maybe Im biased;

I do cover the basketball team for the whole season for WBRS sports, and have definitely gotten more into Division III womens hoops than I could have ever imagined coming into college. But I expected more excitement and more interest at such an exciting time.

The first time in the NCAA tournament. #5 vs. #13 in the country. A 30-0 non-conference record on the line vs. a 69-0 home record. Brandeis vs. Bowdoin. But after a student bus brought up some fans for Salem State on Friday night, the place was pretty much devoid of Brandeis students who were not part of the campus media on Saturday.

Some blame, I feel, has to fall on the administration. And this is not just for the basketball teams, but for all sports. I know that the administration feels we should be an academic university, and puts athletics far towards the bottom, but unfortunately, conveying that message to the student body creates an apathetic view towards athletics. Trying to find any administrators in Maine this weekend was really difficult, and besides one e-mail from Alwina, the accomplishments of the basketball team went unnoticed (as did those of the Brandeis track team, as well as many others). There was no bus on Saturday, and the e-mail about the game even occurring came at 1:41 PMway too late to organize a trip up to Maine for the game.

I hope the administration and the students begin to appreciate the athletics of Brandeis. We have some amazing athletes who have accomplished some amazing things, and they deserve to have more coverage than the back pages of the newspapers and the radio airwaves. This campus needs to do its part to support them.