Pac-10 Women's Basketball

Stanford played Cal Saturday at Haas Pavilion. The announced attendance was 10,525! I hadn't been to a Cal game since they played in the old gym, so this was just amazing! The basketball was great and close the whole time; I was pretty sure they were going to overtime. I think I heard there were ten lead changes or something like that.

They announced that the crowd set an all-time record for a game with two Pac-10 women's teams. Last month, Cal's men's game vs. Stanford at Haas had fewer people. I heard that Cal's men have had only one bigger crowd this season, and that the Cal women players were wondering if they had somehow attracted the men's fans. Maples is much smaller; while I'm pretty sure the Stanford-Tennessee game was sold out, it still would only have been about 7500 attendance.

Of course, the ref's drove me so crazy that I thought if it did go to overtime, Stanford have to bring the injured players out since all the others would have fouled out. Crutches and boots and all... Maybe it would have been easier to just tell all the Stanford players they were going to start with 2 fouls each!

But even on the other side, looking at the TiVo replay, Lawson-Gray didn't travel. But Roz did a great job defending her; it could be a defense clinic video. Cal played so much better than the last time at Maples.

The only other games I've been to that were even close to this experience were Final Four games. The crowds are even bigger, and there certainly is a lot more merchandise for sale. But this was even better (and louder), since everyone in Haas was only rooting for those two teams. The Final Four fans who either come via the lottery or with the two teams who were already knocked out are a lot more polite in their cheering than those whose teams are still fighting.

(Final Four aside: I quit buying my tickets via the lottery; I either sat in the last row, with a ton of UConn fans, or both. And it's no fun to sit with UConn fans if you aren't one. I'm not sure it's even fun if you are! Now I just hope that Stanford makes it, and then I try to buy my ticket, and travel arrangements, through them. Those seats, and the flight, are a lot more fun.)

I also saw what a nice kid's room they had (carpet and everything) in the new gym, so the kids could make signs and get their faces painted, although I noticed that the Cardinal fans had to be a little creative with the standard bear paw print. ;)

I had a few Cal friends sitting on the opposite side of the gym. It was amazing that, with that many people there, I could still see them pretty well. Good job, Cal, I can't wait until we meet you again in the Pac-10 tournament!