Dear Editor,

For two hours our Fordham women’s basketball team stood tall versus mighty University of California, giving the national TV audience an introduction to the Lady Rams program, players and coach. Unfortunately, the narrow-minded school radio station chose not to broadcast the game on air, just on the website. Alumni like myself and others who were outside and did not have the necessary technology were shut out.

The biggest moment for Lady Rams’ basketball in 20 years was marred by WFUV, which has repeatedly done such things since it became primarily a public radio outlet. Is the university content when our athletic teams don’t get full coverage? It seems so.

I wasn’t the only one perturbed. Congressman Bill Pascrell, one of our most passionate alums who follows all our teams, couldn’t get the game on his car radio.

In contrast, WFUV broadcasted totally the Football Rams 1-AA playoff game at Towson on a Saturday at 4 p.m., but intended to get off the air in the last two minutes of the Temple victory that put Fordham in the national spotlight before reconsidering such a decision.

The history of neglect included even the men’s basketball 1991 NCAA play-in game on a weekday afternoon that was not originally scheduled to be heard on WFUV before alum Jack Curry wrote about it in his New York Times column, causing an abrupt about face.

This lack of consideration is the reason why the general public still thinks Fordham has a small athletic program compared to “Big Schools” like Gonzaga, St. Joe’s and St. Louis University. Columbia and Hofstra still broadcast their men’s and women’s hoops, softball and baseball on traditional radio, especially when playoffs are involved. The Lady Rams’ basketball team deserved a little more WFUV respect for their great season.

Charlie Gelati

Ram Sports Editor, Vol. 55, 1974