And Then There Were Four Winner of the Merrill and Marjorie Swedlund Award for Journalism by Josh Flynn

Downtown Indianapolis is still asleep on a cold and wet Saturday morning in early April. It’s the official start of the Women’s College Basketball Final Four weekend--the first time the city has hosted the event—and there is nary a basketball fan to be found. Here and there a few people move about. In the White River State Park men haul crates of basketballs from a U-Haul truck. Others struggle against the wind to erect a tent in preparation for the Circle City Dribble, an event where fans dribble the balls from the park to the RCA Dome.

Outside of the convention center, which has been renamed Hoop City for the weekend, a few employees are propped against the wall, relaxed. They smoke cigarettes and await the expected rush of fans.

Security guards have set up entrance points to the RCA Dome. Some people are already slowly making their way in, ready to watch the open practices and line up for autographs. On the other side of the Dome, the box office is preparing for a big day as people from Tennessee, Michigan State, Baylor (Waco, TX), and Louisiana State pick up their tickets.

Somewhere in Indianapolis four basketball teams are waking, eating breakfast, and getting ready to officially start their Final Four experience.

By noon, Indianapolis is crawling with women’s basketball fans. A battalion of people wearing Tennessee orange are here. LSU purple can be seen in abundance. To a lesser extent Michigan State green and Baylor gold dot the landscape. Swirled in with the primary colors of the weekend are a number of proud Connecticut fans dressed in American flag navy. Handfuls of other schools can be found, ranging from Kentucky to Virginia, Florida to Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Purdue, and Notre Dame. Then there’s the cavalcade of young girls sporting grey T-shirts celebrating state championships won all over the nation. And the basketball players, towering over everyone else, some dressed like they’re attending an important business meeting, and to them, perhaps the largest stage their sport has to offer outside of the Olympics is just that. Everyone moves and mingles across downtown Indianapolis, all brought here by their love of women’s basketball, ready to rejoice in this pocket universe where for four days the only thing that matters is their passion for the women’s game. And perhaps winning a championship.

Tennessee orange speckles the stands of the Dome at 10 A.M on Saturday, their fans waiting for the start of open practices, an event which allows anyone to come in and watch the teams in person as they prepare for the games. The Lady Volunteers are in their fourth straight Final Four and sixteenth overall. They are led by head coach Pat Summitt, who recently became the all time winningest coach in college basketball—breaking former North Carolina men’s coach Dean Smith’s record of 879 wins with a second round victory over Purdue. They have won six titles, the most by any women’s program, but they have not tasted a championship since 1998. Sportswriter John Walters once called them the Death Star of women’s college basketball, going on to say their home arena was the place teams come to die. Tennessee fans are highly optimistic despite the recent drought of championship gold. For the first time in six years their hated arch-rival, Connecticut, is missing from the field. UConn has defeated the Lady Vols in four of the last five tournaments—three of those losses coming in the championship game. To make things even sweeter this time around, Tennessee players Shyra Ely and Shanna Zolman, both Indiana natives and former Miss Basketballs, have a chance to win a title in their home state.

The LSU Tigers have returned to the Final Four for a second straight year. Last year their dream crashed to a halt at the hands of Tennessee. A Lady Vol stole the LSU inbounds pass and scored an uncontested lay up for a last second win.

The Baylor Bears and the Michigan State Spartans are newcomers to the scene. Baylor was just seconds away from making the 2004 Final Four, but a controversial foul call put Tennessee on the line with two tenths of a second left. Both free throws were hit and Baylor’s season was over. But now the Bears are the pride of Waco, giving their school something positive after their men’s team fell from grace when one player was accused of murdering another.

Until this season, Michigan State had never made it out of the second round of the tournament. After a hard fought win over Stanford, the number one team in the country, the Spartans have defied their critics and landed in Indianapolis.

Around the Dome’s concourse people are already lining up for autographs. A short collection of people await the players from Baylor, while a line for Tennessee is extending a quarter of the way around the Dome. There are middle aged people wearing orange hats covered with Lady Vols buttons, little kids wearing home made shirts with their favorite player’s name painted on them, and elderly fans dressed in orange sweaters. While waiting, they marvel at the size of the ever growing line and chat with the people around them.

“Are you from Tennessee?”

“My favorite player is Alexis.”

“I’m a bit worried about this Michigan State team.”

“Did you watch Connecticut get beat by Stanford? Wasn’t that great?”

The open practices begin with LSU hitting the floor first. One Tennessee fan ventures out of line to watch and returns a half hour later to her friends, shaking her head after seeing center Sylvia Fowles. “Fowles is in there showing off and dunking.” The autograph sessions are set up to move fast so as many people as possible can get signatures. Very limited interaction takes place between fans and players. Most players give a hello or a smile, if there is time for it. Only the Michigan State players deviate from this. They take their time, lazily signing their names as if they hope to gain an edge over the other teams by avoiding writer’s cramp.

The Baylor line is short and the players are finished signing posters long before their time is up. The Tennessee fans, with their overgrowing line, find humor in this. “How long did it take Baylor to finish their autograph session?” One fan asks.

“Two tenths of a second,” someone replies, mocking Baylor’s controversial loss to Tennessee in last year’s tournament.

“What’s ironic is Tennessee beat both Baylor and LSU on last second shots last year,” adds another. “Now Baylor and LSU have to play each other in order to play Tennessee for the championship.”

When Tennessee finally comes out, their fans have been waiting over two hours. Teams are allotted a half hour to sign autographs, and Tennessee’s line is winding so far around the Dome it is unlikely everyone will get a chance to get signatures. The players sit side by side down a row of tables. Pat Summitt waits at the very end, her autograph the icing on the cake for many people. A Dome employee hands the first player a poster and she signs it and passes it on to the next while accepting another poster. The posters are passed from one to the other and eventually handed to the waiting fan at the end of the table. The procedure is fool proof and flows nicely, unless cursed with sitting next to a fast writer. hurries through a never ending pile of posters growing beside her as her teammate, Shyra Ely, quickly writes her name. “Quit scribbling,” Spencer laughs. Ely smiles and continues to drape a quick and sloppy signature over her picture.

At Hoop City, Danielle has been waiting patiently in line at Cingular’s Retro Hall of Hoops for a chance to meet her idol, Sheryl Swoopes--former Women’s National Basketball Association MVP, three time Olympian, and record holder for most points scored in a women’s college championship game with 47. Danielle is an African American teenager who has just finished up her high school basketball career. She currently plays AAU ball while looking for a university where she can continue her career. She is also an employee at the convention center and should be working instead of standing in line. “I’m her biggest fan,” she tells a pack of five middle aged women from New Mexico. “I’ve been watching her since I was a little girl. I even bought a pair of her shoes.”

Hoop City is located next door to the RCA Dome in the convention center. It celebrates the game of basketball and corporate sponsorship equally. Along the walls are mock buildings. There is The Minute Maid Sweet Sixteen Art Gallery, which houses a small collection of artwork celebrating women’s sports created by local girls. If you want food you go to The Kraft Food and Family Center. After eating, you could go rock climbing next door or walk over to the Pontiac dealership a few stores down. In the center is a replica of the Final Four court, surrounded on both sides by stands. A massive line of people extends from center court to the entrance, wrapping around a DJ’s booth located under one basket. An MC walks up and down the line with a microphone, talking to people and encouraging them to dance. At center court, and the reason all these people are standing in line, is WNBA player, Olympian, and former Tennessee standout Tamika Catchings. She signs autographs, chats with fans, talks to their friends on their cell phones, and poses for pictures.

At the corner of Air-Ball Meadow and Championship Drive a three on three tournament is taking place for kids on a fenced-in basketball court. The fence is lined with Palm trees, a wooden bench, and street lights.

In the far corner other sports are on display, such as soccer, fencing, and golf. There are interactive games so kids can try their skill at each.

The Cingular Retro Hall of Hoops sounds as if it could be a museum dedicated to the games past. The place is all about Cingular’s breakthroughs in technology with a few pieces of basketball memorabilia-- NBA stars Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, and Chris Webber’s college jerseys--tossed in to justify its existence. Cingular costumers even get priority over non users when getting autographs.

Danielle and the group of women from New Mexico compare their autographs while in line. One of the women opens up the Final Four program and shows where Lisa Leslie, the dominate player of the WNBA, has scribbled her name. “Leslie was here?” Danielle is shocked.

“Yeah, she was just walking around,” the woman explains, still stunned at stumbling upon the superstar.

Danielle reaches into her bag and takes out a small notebook, flipping through and showing the women her autographs. There are several college coaches and WNBA stars Ruth Riley and Tamika Catchings. “For me,” she tells the women, “to get Sheryl Swoopes autograph, that would just top it off.”

“You want Sheryl Swoopes worse than we wanted Pat Summitt,” another woman laughs. “I almost cried when I saw her.”

Danielle turns and finds a large muscular male behind her. Surprise fills her face. “You like women’s basketball?” she asks.

“I just like basketball, period,” he answers.

It’s Sunday afternoon. Tip off is just hours away. Everywhere you go in downtown Indianapolis you find a women’s basketball fan. On the Canal Walk two women stop another and ask if she will take their picture by a Final Four banner.

“Where are you from?” The woman asks them.

“Arizona,” answers one. “Pennsylvania,” responds the other.

“Oh wow. Are you here for one of the teams?”

“We’re just basketball fans,” the one from Pennsylvania tells her. “I’m a Penn State fan and Michigan State is the underdog, so I’ll be for them. It’d be nice to have the championship in the Big Ten.”

Around the Dome, plenty of Tennessee fans wander around, outnumbering the LSU, Baylor, and Michigan State contingents. One Tennessee fan sits wearing a homemade shirt declaring “Destiny wears orange,” on the front. On the back it says “…and sings Rocky Top”—a reference to the school’s fight song.

A group of middle aged women walk across the street chanting “LSU! LSU!” as a Louisiana news reporter goads them on. The women are dressed in yellow and purple shirts, hats made of purple rhinestone, and purple scarves. They wave pom-poms and have tiger claws painted on their cheeks.

A truck drives around the Dome, over and over, hauling atop it a billboard featuring the Michigan State basketball team. The women are posed around a race car and in bold letters it proclaims: Driven. Let’s go State. As it makes its laps, Michigan State fans applaud. The driver gives them a thumbs up.

The RCA Dome is packed. There is an estimated 29 to 30 thousand fans on hand, the second largest gathering for a women’s Final Four. Baylor has a small crowd, but they are loud and enthusiastic, rivaling the large section of stunned LSU fans sitting across the court. Baylor players run into the locker room having just erased a fifteen point deficit and tied the game up at half time. The LSU players slowly drift away, sullen looks on their once intense faces.

When the second half begins, LSU star and player of the year comes to life, hitting jump shot after jump shot, battling her way inside and powering past defenders for lay ups. LSU builds a small six point lead, but it’s not enough to deter the Baylor Bears after fighting back from fifteen down.

The Baylor fans never sit. Chants of “Sic ‘em Bears,” echo around the Dome and the encouraging noise is enough to keep their team going. With six minutes left in the game the teams begin to trade baskets and the lead. One moment LSU is on top, the next Baylor. With five minutes to go Baylor takes their largest lead at four points. Moments later LSU throws the ball out of bounds and Baylor’s comes down the court and hits a shot. Bears fans explode.

Baylor dominates LSU for the remaining minutes. When the final buzzer sounds the Baylor players rush the floor. LSU players collapse to the ground, faced with a second straight loss in the national semifinals. The Baylor team stands in front of their fans, joining them in singing the school song. At its completion they erupt with a loud “Sic ‘em Bears” and the team waves goodbye, rushing off the court. They have just done what many thought was impossible, beating the favorites to win the national title. Now, on Tuesday night, the Baylor Bears will play for their first championship.

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma does his best to anger Tennessee fans. He refers to Tennessee as the evil empire and makes comments about their school song, saying, "If they could make Rocky Top sound less hideous that would be a huge surprise and a welcome surprise." He went on to tell reporter Dan Fleeser that, "I think the color of the place gets on your nerves… They hate me. I don't know what they know about basketball, but I know they hate me."

Since 1995, the two schools have won eight of the last ten championships. UConn has five wins against one loss against the Lady Vols in the Final Four and are a perfect 4-0 in the championship game against their rivals. The two titles unclaimed by either school went to Purdue in 1999 and Notre Dame in 2001.

Connecticut may be missing the party this year, but they haunt the Tennessee faithful. UConn fans walk around Indianapolis with a confident swagger, greeting and high-fiving each other. They know the lack of a Husky team in the women’s Final Four is an anomaly. They aren’t intimidated by the sea of orange they push through. Tennessee fans, for the most part, keep quiet, knowing they need to win another title before they can open their mouths. A few, however, relish the fact the Huskies failed to earn a sixth straight berth to the big dance. One Tennessee fan holds up a sign reading “Geno’s at home watching Desperate Housewives” during the semi-finals on Sunday night.

The former Lady Vol players don’t hesitate to openly take part in the rivalry though. “Oh man. Do you see that shirt?” Kara Lawson, former Tennessee guard and current WNBA player moans when approached for an autograph. “I can’t give you an autograph with that shirt on. Catch, see his shirt?”

Tamika Catchings looks at the navy blue UConn shirt. “Nope. No autographs for UConn fans,” she teases.

“I am not believing this,” a Lady Vols fan grumbles.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Tennessee fans filled the Dome to see their team finally win another title. And for thirty eight minutes they were on their way to advancing to a third straight championship game. Michigan State was supposed to be easy. And for awhile they were. But State’s Victoria Lucas- Perry calmly steps to the free throw line and hits two shots, and a sixteen point Tennessee lead has vanished. The Spartan fans are going nuts. The previous night they watched their men’s team fall victim to North Carolina in the men’s Final Four. Many took a side trip to Indianapolis from St. Louis following that game and for the majority of the night looked to have made a wasted trip.

Shanna Zolman dribbles the ball down the court for Tennessee. One minute remains in the game. She looks to pass, but before she knows it, State’s Kristin Haynie has the ball, flying down the court for an uncontested lay up. Michigan State leads. Tennessee hurries back and answers, tying the game.

Michigan State responds by working the ball inside. Their big center turns and puts the ball into the basket. 66-64, Spartans. 35 seconds to go.

Tennessee rushes to their end of the court, launching a hurried three pointer. The ball hits hard against the rim, falling into the hands of a waiting Lady Vol. She powers up for a basket, the ball bouncing against the glass and back down to another Lady Vol. Another lay up attempt, this one rolling off the rim. The Michigan State center grabs the ball and launches it into the air. It flies to the half court stripe where Lucas-Perry catches it and gets another fast break lay up for the Spartans. 68-64. 2.7 seconds left.

A Tennessee player makes a desperate heave, but it’s useless. A stunned silence spreads across the many Lady Vol fans as Michigan State players burst onto the floor. They have just tied the largest comeback ever in a women’s Final Four, set in 2001 when Connecticut let a 16 point lead of their own slip away against Notre Dame.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. LSU vs. Tennessee was supposed to be a guarantee for the title game. Instead two new faces will play Tuesday night.

Perhaps everyone is still shocked by two stunning upsets. It’s Monday and the women’s basketball world is suffering a hangover unlike any it’s felt in many years. Hoop City is a ghost town. A few proud and stubborn orange shirts cruise the Circle Center Mall. But for the most part, everyone is catching their breath, lounging around and verbally reliving the previous night’s thrills or over analyzing the disappointments.

The reasons for fans’ passion when it comes to the women’s game are usually the same. The fans say they find the game more technically sound then the men’s or they like the accessibility of the players.

Lack of name recognition and media coverage allows the players to venture out and become a part of the atmosphere of such an event as the Final Four. Michael Jordan will be in St. Louis to watch his alma mater play in the men’s championship, but it’s doubtful he will be walking around the city taking everything in. However in Indianapolis, one can find Katie Smith, the all time leading scorer in U.S. women’s pro basketball hanging out with some of her WNBA teammates on the city’s sidewalks. You can find WNBA and former Purdue player roaming the Dome. The players are accessible to the public. It allows fans to get to know them and players to know their fans.

“We love women’s basketball. Followed it for years,” an elderly woman dressed in an Old Dominion University sweatshirt, cap, and wearing a heart shaped necklace which reads “I love ODU” says. “We go to the Final Four every year we can get tickets.”

Her husband also wears an Old Dominion sweatshirt. Between bites of a hot dog he talks about what draws him to the game. “They just don’t charge down the court and try to dunk or do something fancy every time.” He takes a swig from a can of Coke. “It’s purer basketball. There are set plays, better execution. The way they play is very unselfish.”

They reminisce about past Old Dominion teams and their run to the Final Four in 1997. “You become very close to the team,” the woman smiles. “There are lots of opportunities to meet players and know them as people. Fans are an extension of the team, which is the way it should be.”

Standing outside the Dome, looking for something to do, a Connecticut fan comments, “I’ve seen more UConn fans today then anyone else.” She talks about following the Huskies to San Antonio and New Orleans during past Final Fours. She echoes that it is the relationship to the fans which drives the game. “It’s the loyalty. Of course coming from Connecticut you have a huge fan base. But there is more of an appreciation for the fan base and the school by the players. Men are there to audition for the NBA in must cases.”

She looks around at the empty expanse of concrete outside the Dome. “The women’s game uses more skill and thinking. Men just walk down the court and dunk. How much skill does that take? Shaq can’t even hit free throws. The women’s game has just stepped up so much.” She grimaces and adds, “’Cause of Pat Summitt unfortunately.”

In 2004, ESPN Magazine editor Eric Adelson wrote a list of reasons why women’s college basketball was now superior to the men’s product. Among his reason’s were, “It's fine watching clearouts when LeBron (James) or KG (Kevin Garnett) have the rock, but not when NBA benchwarmers-to-be end up taking bad shots. How many pretty passes did we see over the weekend on the men's side? For that matter, how many passes did we see? You'll never see a single possession in the women's tourney without at least one pass. That allows for actual playmaking and strategy. That's why John Wooden himself said he thought the women play a better brand of ball.”

Adelson also touched on the fact the women remain at their school for four years, allowing for fans to actually know the players year in and year out. “All sports fans love storylines and characters. In that department, the men have lost a step. Hard to develop a plotline when we're still learning names in mid- March. Diana Taurasi and Alana Beard have been going at it for four years now. Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt have been trading barbs for much longer than that. We're talking about rivalries here. And how can the men's game cultivate rivalries when players and coaches take off after one or two years? The ACC has some exceptions, but what are the chances Coach K and Roy Williams will meet in the Final Four? Zero. Meanwhile, on the women's side, the Final Four might bring Taurasi vs. Beard as well as Geno vs. Pat.”

Recently, the Minneapolis Star’s Michael Rand spoke with sports agent Bruce Levy. Levy found he preferred representing female athletes over men. Rand reported that Levy had negotiated overseas contracts—most players supplement their income by playing overseas due to the lack of money they make in the United States--for an estimated 2000 players. "The reason I don't represent other athletes is because the women's players are so different," he told Rand. "They really are more humble, appreciative and loyal. They are what people think of when they think of athletes as role models." Levy went on to say that most United States fans relate to the players more because they don’t have the outlandish contracts their male counterparts do.

While it still has a long way to go, the women’s game is drawing in a male audience, proving that they can be just as entertaining. Last year, a record number watched Diana Taurasi in her final game lead UConn to a third straight title over Tennessee. It was the highest viewed basketball game ever aired on ESPN, beating ratings for both men’s college basketball and the NBA.

The men they win over carry the same passion as the rest of the fans. “I’ve been a fan since the mid nineties,” one male in his thirties, wearing Baylor gold and green says. “There’s not a lot of slam dunkin’. It’s old school basketball. These girls are just so athletic.” He starts to laugh. “I took my son to see Baylor when they played in the women’s NIT (National Invitation Tournament) because he didn’t believe women played basketball.”

Three busloads of Baylor students have made their way from Waco, Texas, driving all night long to reach the championship game. A chartered plane has also brought in more fans. Fans have driven down from Michigan, hoping to see the Spartan women succeed where the men failed. Combined, the two schools have chased the majority of Tennessee and LSU fans out of town and taken over the small plaza outside of the RCA Dome.

The Michigan State truck is still driving around Indianapolis. “I’ve done maybe 100 laps around the city,” the driver says as he pulls over in front of the Dome for a hot dog. He works for Skyline advertising, located in East Lansing, Michigan. They do promotional work for the university. “There is even a garbage truck with one of our Michigan State banners on it driving around back home.”

News cameras are out in force, finding groups of fans willing to do cheers for the camera. Up and down the street shouts of “Go white! Go green!” and ‘Sic ‘em Bears” echo.

“This is awesome.” A Baylor fan surveys the inside of the Dome. The orange which dominated Sunday night has been washed away by Baylor gold. They own all of the LSU section now as well. “Playing for a national championship!” He says to no one in particular.

The Baylor fans remain on their feet from the get go. There is ninety minutes until the game starts, but they have filled the place, already starting cheers with rambunctious enthusiasm. One fan holds up a sign reading:

Eight tanks of gas Skipped 14 classes Parents have NO idea National champs!

While another sign reads:

A final without UConn or the Lady Vols: Priceless.

Michigan State has also brought a large crowd, but they saunter to their seats in a casual manner, seeming almost bored. Nearly 29,000 fill the Dome in all to watch the game.

There is excitement and tension in the air.

Time continues to wind down.

For nearly six months Baylor and Michigan State have passionately practiced and prepared, hoping for this opportunity. Their faithful fans have shared in that passion, going to every game they could, cheering on and supporting the players. Now, with a championship in sight, many newcomers have stepped into the world of women’s basketball. The occasional absence of a Connecticut or Tennessee team from the championship game helps spread the wealth in the women’s basketball community. It gives new teams a chance to step into the spotlight, thus drawing in new fans who may not have given the game a chance. When the final buzzer sounds and one team victoriously hurls the basketball into the sky, hopefully many of these newcomers will stick around and not treat the championship game as a one night stand with the sport. Hopefully they will develop the same passion that drives so many others.

The teams come out to the floor for warm-ups. The Indianapolis Children’s Choir comes to the floor and sings the national anthem. Camera’s flash as the starting line ups are announced. The players get final instructions and then walk to center court for the opening tip. And the national championship game begins.