Lbsu Basketball

On January 3, 2008 California State Long Beach Women’s Basketball team compete against University California Santa Barbara. During the observation of the basketball game I witnessed many unique events that occurred throughout the night.

While in attendance at the basketball game I sat on the eastern side of the pyramid in row three. I chose this seat for many reasons, but most importantly, I wanted to get as close to the game as possible in order to get as many quality observations as possible of the environment. I wanted to see the players faces, hear their voices, and try and feel part of the basketball game. Also, being so close to the basketball court I was able to see the fans on the opposing side of the pyramid, and was able to get a great visual sense of the atmosphere. At the commentators table there were revolving advertisements for the Frog Club, Toyota, Jetblue, Comerica, and many others. After I found my desired location I started taking notes with my pen and paper inside my note book.

When I was seated in the pyramid watching the basketball game taking I observed many different things. I have attended men’s basketball games in the past and noticed a big difference in the men and women’s games. At the women’s game there were not a lot of fans in attendance, but they were still excited to be there. It seemed like the only fans in attendance were the families of the players, a couple Women’s National Basketball Association Scouts (Michael Cooper), a few students, and a middle school girls basketball team. Many times the crowd got excited about the game. One specific play in the game was when Long Beach State had a key block in the first half, the crowd reacted positive by cheering, and giving high fives.

Unfortunately, the dance team, cheerleaders, and the band look bored throughout the game. The cheerleaders did not attempt to excite the crowd too often during the game. Occasionally they would do a simple half extension and would look to the crowd for cheer and support. Not much came. Perhaps it is hard to support the cheerleaders when they appeared uninterested in the game ninety percent of the time. The dance team performed two different dance numbers then sat in the corner and for the most part kept to themselves. As for the band, they played about six different songs. Five of them were during halftime, and one was during a timeout. The majority of the time they sat with each other and talked.

Even while losing, the players on the bench for Long Beach State kept high spirits throughout the game. Male athletes tend to be more quite in losing situations, and it seems for women in sport it is easier for them to keep high spirits. The interaction between players was entertaining to watch. It was always positive. During one portion in the game UC Santa Barbara called time out and some of the Long Beach State players went out on the court to congratulate the players in the game. On the other hand, the coaches were not as positive as the players were throughout the game. There were many occasions when the head coach for UC Santa Barbara was yelling at the team when they would do something wrong. He was very negative. In society it is not appropriate for men to yell at women, but in sports there is an unwritten law that does not apply. Sex does not matter on the playing field, the athletes are looked at as equals. The interaction between players and coaches was not always negative however. The coaches for both teams were also quick to praise the players also when they would make a good play.

I researched about the CSULB team before attending the event . There are four coaches for CSULB, three are female, and there is only one that is male. Two of the coaches are Caucasian, including the head coach, and two are African American. There are a total of eighteen female players that play on the basketball team, eight of them are African American, and ten are Caucasian. It was interesting seeing the players picture and profile on www.longbeachstate.com. Each player looked attractive with their hair styled and