Syracuse Basketball: Let's talk about Cuse women's hoops and Felisha Legette-Jack

First I want to start by saying one thing: I love Syracuse women's basketball head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. When the position was open a year before she took it, I said on Twitter repeatedly that she was the one for the job. And I still think she is the one person who I want to coach this team for as long as possible.

I also love any sport that Syracuse plays. We almost went to a Syracuse women's volleyball game today but life had other plans and we had to change plans unfortunately. But we also live an hour away with a very hectic family life and a tight household budget with 6-7 people in my household.

So with that comes a harsh reality that life doesn't always happen as you hope. So I am saying this as someone who doesn't get to attend games of any sport on a regular basis though I wish it were a lot easier. And I am not sharing this to sound like a hypocrite because I do enjoy going when I can but I don't always have the luxury or the opportunity.

Now having said that, I heard Coach Jack's comments recently about support and my brother Neil Adler shared his take on them as well (click here to read those) and I agree with his take on it. But I also completely understand her emotion and arguments and I have zero issues with her handling it that way. She was frustrated after a loss, hoped her being local would bring more fans to games and likely expected to win that game against Albany that they unfortunately lost.

Now, she later apologized, as Neil wrote, for how she spoke that night and hopefully, we have moved past being bothered by her words. But what about her point? What if everything she said was completely on point? What if instead of being bothered by the language she used to describe her pain, we actually see what caused it and what can be done to correct it?

Let's all band together and support Syracuse women's basketball as much as we can.

Social media is a big part of many people's lives and game-day experiences, right? When Syracuse football or men's basketball or sometimes even men's lacrosse is playing, my timeline is filled with game updates, instant reactions to plays ,and often hot takes on the season.

When the women's basketball team plays, sure I see some but it's not even close. So let's not pretend we care as much as we should about a program that deserves our love and respect the same as the other programs do. Sadly I think losses like the one to Albany attract the attention but not had they won.

Now part of that is that while the women's game has grown over the last couple of years, you are still more likely to see the other SU programs on your TV or in your sports bar and less likely to see Syracuse female student-athletes get that same attention on that level. In fact, unless you have ESPN+ or some app most of never heard of for the recent tournament they played in, you will miss most games in a season.

Not to mention most media will also only cover so much of it because of the limited amount of clicks it attracts versus other sports. As a fan and blogger, I think I personally need to do more when I can to show this program some love too so I am not just calling out others but myself as well.

I also need to find more ways to go to games because even though my household finances and life with so many people at home are stretched thin and the gas alone in my SUV isn't cheap, they deserve better than I have been giving them. But I also would love to see more done to help show this program some love.

For instance, today I watched a 10-minute video with Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack about ticket deals they have for football and men's basketball games coming up, featuring several options but only a passing mention about upcoming games for the women's program.

Now to be fair, I do think if you look at their ticket prices, they are considerably lower than those sports and often are general admission (meaning you can come in and sit where you like for the most part). But it can also be hard to afford that for many families in a time when football and men's basketball are playing as well and to show support for them all.

Even if you have a family of 4 for example and the tickets are merely $10-$20 a pop, that's $40 plus concessions. So what if they did more like family deals where for $40-$50, you can get tickets, a Dome dog and a small drink?

Or what about when the Syracuse Mets let young fans run the bases after Sunday games; what if there was an opportunity for young fans to play on the court for a few minutes after a game and/or autograph/photo opportunities with them? Or we can find more local businesses or organizations like the amazing Lally family/foundation, which is already doing so much in our community to help give out tickets to families who can't afford to go often.

So I will wrap this up by saying that I need to do better but Coach Jack was right and maybe we all should reflect on what we can do better. Let's try to go to more games when we can and provide them with our support. Let's follow them win or lose like we do the other programs.

Let's encourage local people and businesses to see the value in investing in the fans and NIL to help attract more players in a more comparable way to the programs we love and not lose good players to other programs because we can't afford to keep them. And if possible, let's find positive ways to encourage CW, ESPN or whatever network is out there more opportunities to put more games on our televisions within the parameters of current TV deals or seek more ways to expand that.

These players deserve better. Coach Jack, her staff and their program deserve better. And if you want to see better, some of that also falls on us as fans and consumers to show there is interest enough to invest in it as well as others who can make a difference.

Coach Jack grew up here, she played here and left a successful Buffalo program to come back here to rebuild it after turmoil chased away great players and hurt the reputation of the program. And I think all of us, including me, need to find ways to help show her and the players that we do love them and support them and hope - no believe - that she is doing things the right way and will bring this program to a level where one day, tournaments will be normalized and more star players come through these Orange doors.