For as long as I can remember, Marian Washington detractors outnumbered turn lanes in this town. Every time the words “women’s basketball” were mentioned, Lawrence residents cowered. “I’ll never support that team,” Jayhawk fans groaned, “as long as Marian is the coach.” Well, Lawrence, now you have your chance. For the first time in years, KU has a [competent women’s basketball coach.][1] While Bonnie Henrickson’s first Jayhawk team isn’t flashy, KU now plays a disciplined style of play seldom seen around here in recent memory. ![][2] There’s actual execution on offense. Plays are run out of timeouts, and adjustments are made by the coaching staff. Henrickson is also gracious and accessible two major differences from the Washington era. But there’s just one problem the attendance still sucks. Saturday was one of those depressing winter days in Lawrence, one of those days where we have nothing else to do besides watch KU basketball. And with that backdrop, just 1,523 people showed up to watch the Jayhawks take down UMKC. At least Saturday’s crowd was above average in KU’s first two games, an average of 1,200 people bothered to watch games against Texas-Arlington and Sacred Heart. Now, it’s starting to dawn on me. Maybe this wasn’t just about the coach. Maybe there’s something in the local culture, a deep-seeded hatred of women’s basketball that will prevent the Jayhawks from ever attracting more than a handful of fans. Maybe the problem runs deeper than Marian Washington. After all, she could very well be just the easy excuse. It’s also clear that the team’s record has no effect on the attendance. Even when the Jayhawks made regular appearances in the NCAA tournament, games were played in front of friends, family, and thousands of empty seats. Is this a Marian Washington problem? Or is it in the “blood” of Jayhawk fans to only support men’s basketball? Now that the old coach is gone, and the women’s basketball team still can’t draw flies, I guess we have our answer.**From The “For All That Money, You Would Think They Could Buy An Original Thought” Department:** The [Britney Spears Rip-Off The Week award][3] goes to the fine students at Yale University.![][4] Over the weekend, Yale students disguised themselves as Harvard students, and distributed cards during the Yale-Harvard football game that spelled out “we suck.” But as described in [this article,][5] the card section prank has already been pulled before. I admire their effort, but I expected more out of George W. Bush’s alma mater. Okay maybe I didn’t. [1]: http://www.kusports.com/news/w_bball/story/111081 [2]: http://www.kusports.com/w_bball/roster/04-05/coaches/art/henrickson.jpg [3]: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00064AM62/002-8514064-3793645?v=glance [4]: http://www.juiceenewsdaily.com/harvard.gif [5]: http://www.juiceenewsdaily.com/1104/news/yale_harvard_prank.html