Help out an informal survey at Northeastern University on media coverage of women's basketball by filling out a survey. (and kudos to the Platypus for posting the link in the first place)

It has been great watching the quantity and (in my subjective view) quality of blog coverage of the game grow over the past year. Even with the offseason for the WNBA the college season has kicked off more material of late, and I look forward to more growth as the WNBA season kicks off in a few months. I have had to revise my links section a couple of times...and will probably do so again soon. It is hard, at times, to decide if a great entry or two on a new site I find will lead to consistent coverage. However, the fact that I spend time thinking about whether I want to keep a link or replace it is encouraging to me in terms of the overall coverage available.

I even welcome the nasty and negative coverage. I have ranted in the past about Jay Mohr and Bill Simmons and their "articles" on the WNBA for Sports Illustrated. There are those who are angry that the homophobic Debbie Schlussel has tagged her blog with WNBA at Technocrati.

The fact that there are people who want to whine about the WNBA in a public forum is actually a good thing, in my opinion. If the league isn't widely known enough to draw some venom than I would be more concerned. I am not embracing the adage that any coverage is "good" coverage, but rather I think that the negative coverage is an indicator of the "buzz" that the league is creating. I have faith that some readers will be encouraged by strongly negative articles to check something out for themselves so as to form their own opinion. This can lead to more fans or at least more "buzz." Those who accept what they read as fact from these sorts of articles were never likely to become fans in any case; the "published" view merely supports a view that the reader already accepts. I find that I am often tempted to see a film or read a book by a strongly positive review, but a strongly negative view may attract my attention as well. My thought is that passionate feelings are stirred by entertainment with content, poor quality merely inspires apathy.

As I wait for the positive coverage of the WNBA to pick back up again, I remain thankful for the efforts of the folks at Women's Hoops Blog and She's Got Game for keeping the quality information and continued "buzz" flowing. These two sites are consistent in their efforts and a boon to any fan of the game.