Editorial: Don’t forget about Brittney Griner!
Brittney Griner and the rest of the Baylor Bears are in a great place. Their season is going great and they’re headed to the NCAA Sweet 16 – the biggest stage of all.
So, I’ve decided to take a moment to let them know how much I appreciate them – and how lucky I feel to be a Baylor Bear fan.
But as much as I’ve appreciated them, I’ve also had to remind myself of my own personal obligations to my own team. And now, I’m going to get that out of the way before I can go into the good stuff.
As a longtime resident of the area that I do my recruiting in, I’m not a stranger to Baylor’s success and success in general.
And when I talk about success, I don’t just mean in terms of winning games, I mean success in terms of championships and success in terms of national prominence.
The Bears have had the most successful seasons in college basketball history; one in which they have made four straight Elite 8 appearances. No other team in history has accomplished that, and the Bears have broken the four round national scoring winning streak in their six years of existence.
They’ve had more than their share of championships in the last three decades, winning the conference championships three times. Four of their other five titles were in the last two years, and their record in the Big 12 makes them one of only three teams in the league to have made the NCAA tournament.
But when it comes to what’s considered the “real” story, this will always be short and sweet.
Baylor has had a long and storied history of being one of the best college basketball teams of all time. But, there’s an even, much more important thing the Bears have to be known for, and that’s their fan base. The fans have been extremely loyal, and to see where the fans have taken Baylor to this point, you only have to look to where they will go next.
Baylor fans have been there for nearly 40 years now, and there’s no other program in the country with a stronger and more passionate following. With the exception of UMass and UNC in the