Events Editor and self-declared women’s sports Bwogger Isabel Sepúlveda has a message for all the fake fans out there.

Look y’all. I know that Columbia is not a sports school. I respect that. I know that I would come to very few (read: no) sporting events if I didn’t literally have to. That’s fine. If you are not a Sports Person™, this post is not for you, and you don’t have to leave mean comments. If you have gone to a sportsball game at any point in your Columbia career, then I encourage, nay insist, that you read on.

As someone who goes to literally every home basketball game for both the men’s and women’s team, I have discovered an absolute travesty: the ridiculous attendance disparity between the men’s and women’s games. Walking into Levien gymnasium before a women’s game, I’m faced with the barren wasteland of the student section, full of tumbleweeds and awkward silence where there should be cheering fans. Hours later, I can barely move for all the disaffected students filling the stands for the men’s game and to be quite honest, it infuriates me.

What did the women’s team do to deserve this kind of treatment? They’re incredibly talented athletes who deserve the moderately more lit atmosphere that the men’s team manages to scrape together every weekend. Sports fans, if you’re going to turn out, turn out for the team who’s been putting up an equally valiant performance with approximately 1/8th of the support.

I don’t want to hear any of your bullshit excuses. Women’s basketball is “low scoring”?  I’d like to see you say that to Camille Zimmerman’s face, the highest-scoring basketball player in Columbia history and quite possibly best athlete to ever grace this campus. (Update 10:13 PM, 2/1/19: At today’s game, Princeton’s Bella Alarie singlehandedly scored more points than the entire CU men’s team) Women’s basketball is “boring” because there are no dunks? The Columbia men’s team barely manages that anyway. For better or for worse, there’s not really a measurable difference between their records, especially this season. In that case, I wonder what could possibly explain the difference between the two…

I’m not saying that you’re a misogynist if you come to men’s games and not women’s, but I’m not not saying it either.

Could I beat them in a fight?:  Probably not. I am but one person cheering from the stands, and sheer numbers would overwhelm me instantly. My passion could perhaps give me a fighting chance,

Self-defense tip: Stomp the instep.

(Note: Bwog does not condone violence, and these tips are not a replacement for a self-defense class taught by a professional or assistance by the proper authorities.)