A Real Team

On our way to the NCAA Division II Tournament basketball game last week, I invited our son to join us, raving to him about the wonders of the Ashland University Lady Eagles. Drew’s response to me (paraphrased), was this: “Thanks for the invite, but I’m not interested. I’ll concentrate my basketball viewing on the above-the-rim game, the superior athleticism of the NBA.”

Are you kidding me? While I’m a fan of the Cavs, LeBron and company are paid millions of dollars to play the game of basketball, and they still whine every time they’re called for a foul. Sure, I’ll watch their games and cheer when they win, but outside of the shared context of basketball, there’s no comparison between the wine and gold of Cleveland and the purple and gold of Ashland University.

I made a valiant attempt to convince Drew of what it’s like to attend an AU game at Kates Gymnasium. I told him about the 5’9” Kelsey Peare, the best female three-point shooter in the country this season. I told him about the 50+ percentage shooting of the starters; of Laina Snyder, the GLIAC player of the year; of Andi Daugherty’s game-changer role; of Alex Henning’s tenacious defense; and of Jodi Johnson, the GLIAC Freshman of the Year. All from Ohio.

And then there’s the bench. Most teams, from middle school to the Cavs, lose a step or two when they make substitutions to their starting five. Here in Ashland, that substitution buzzer sends shivers into our opponents, as it means the fresh legs and gritty determination of a new wave of shooters, ball handlers, and defenders. All from Ohio.

Yet with all of the accolades that have come to the individual players, they are the pure example of what “team” means. As Cleveland sports writer Terry Pluto noted at the start of the tournament, “This Ashland team is undefeated, averaging ninety-six points a game, yet no player averages twenty points a game . . . no player is on the court for more than twenty-five minutes a game.” No superstar here who puts the rest of the team on her back and carries them up and down the court.

Lest I forget to tell you about the fans, Drew, the sheer volume of the crowd at Kate’s is a huge part of the winning equation. In the din of the crowd, I’m sure I felt the infamous foot stomp of retired Eagles coach Sue Ramsey, whose many years of work at AU developed the structure of a program that continues to flourish under coach Robyn Fralick (only two losses in two years of coaching).

Yet what I can’t explain to you, Drew, are the components that aren’t measured on a stats sheet or the Richter scale of crowd involvement, those intangible characteristics of a team that mold the character of its players. While we measure a team’s economic impact by hotel room usage or restaurant meals purchased, there’s no way to measure what this team means to both the university and our community in terms of goodwill, of bringing people together.

I’ve described myself as a smitten immigrant to the Ashland community, and a smitten Nana to my sweet granddaughters. Ever since I began to attend the women’s basketball games when our son Dan ran camera as a student in the Journalism and Digital Media department at AU, I’ve been smitten with the Lady Eagles. And so, next week I’ll be crammed into Alumni Hall at Ohio Dominican for the Elite Eight games, believing the Ashland women will bring home the national championship trophy. But win or lose in a basketball game, these young women have once again won my heart.

In life, sometimes there are situations when we do the politically correct thing and agree to disagree (even when we know we’re right). So Drew, despite the indisputable fact of an undefeated season marked by the legendary teamwork of the Eagles, I’ll let you have your NBA glamour and glory. And in case you change your mind, there’s room in the car as we head to the NCAA finals in Columbus on Tuesday. Go Eagles!