Okay, so someone brought up Bryant University women’s basketball the other day, and it got me thinking about this little project I tried a while back. It wasn’t anything super serious, you know, just something I decided to do one season.
I remember I was looking for a new team to follow, something a bit off the beaten path, not one of the big, famous programs everyone talks about. I stumbled across Bryant, maybe saw a score somewhere, and thought, “Okay, let’s try keeping tabs on these guys for a season.” Seemed simple enough, right?
Getting Started
So, first thing I did was try to find their schedule. You’d think that’d be easy, but it took a bit of clicking around. Found the university’s athletics page, eventually navigated to the women’s basketball section. Got the list of games, dates, times. I even jotted down the first few games on my desk calendar, old school style.
Following Along
Then came the actual following part. This was the real “practice” for me.
- Finding Scores: After a game day, I’d make a point to look up the score. Sometimes it was updated quickly on their site, other times I’d have to check general sports score sites. It wasn’t always immediate, which was a bit surprising.
- Game Info: I wanted more than just the score, maybe some highlights or a quick game summary. This was hit or miss. Sometimes there’d be a decent write-up on the athletics page, sometimes just the box score. I wasn’t expecting ESPN-level coverage, obviously, but just getting a feel for the game flow was tricky sometimes.
- Streams?: I looked into whether I could watch any games. Living far away, attending wasn’t an option. Some conference games were apparently streamed online, but figuring out which platform and if there was a fee involved took some digging. I think I managed to catch parts of one or two games online, but the quality wasn’t always great, and finding the right link at the right time was a mini-adventure itself.
What I Learned (Sort Of)
So, what was the result of my little experiment? Well, I did manage to follow their season, more or less. I knew their record, knew when they won or lost. But honestly, the main takeaway for me was understanding the effort it takes to follow a smaller program if you’re not directly connected to the school or living nearby.
It’s not like following a pro team or a major college program where info is plastered everywhere. You gotta put in a little work. You have to actively seek out the information. It made me appreciate the dedicated fans these smaller programs have, the ones who really stay plugged in.
It was an interesting little exercise in information gathering, really. Made me realize how easy we have it following the big names. Didn’t become a lifelong Bryant fan, maybe, but I definitely remember that season of trying to keep up.
