`i'll Do Anything' Doesn't Do Everything For Its Audience

Aids Bills 
Stir Debate 
On Privacy 
State Rep. Tom Stish Says His 
Proposed Legislation Would Protect 
Health-care Workers, But Advocates 
For Those With Aids Say Confidentiality

By LORI SHONTZ; Times Leader Sports Writer
 Monday, February 07, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





UNIVERSITY PARK -- Katina Mack and Helen Holloway concentrate on looking
serious and fcused when they lead the No. 1 Penn State women's basketball team
onto the court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Sunday afternoon, in front of the largest crowd to watch a Penn State
women's basketball game in Rec Hall, they couldn't keep the grins off their
faces. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "With a crowd like that, you just have to smile," Mack said. "I wish we had
a crowd like that every game." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The score -- 63-61 in favor of the Lady Lions -- was obviously Sunday's
most important number. But the number of fans -- 7,264 -- ran a close second.
For the first time, Penn State sold out a women's basketball game and hosted a
nationally televised (ESPN2) game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Penn State Coach Rene Portland opened her postgame media conference with a
statement thanking the fans, the university and the community for their
support. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They made every effort to give us the sixth man," Portland said. "When we
were down by four, they were unbelievable. They wanted to be a factor. They
made us feel a sense of responsibility, and I'm glad for that." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just as Portland appreciated the fans, Nannette Smith, Penn State's
assistant director for sports marketing and promotions, appreciated the score.
A down-to-the-wire Penn State victory was a best-case scenario for her. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It was a big selling point -- thank God we won -- because it showed the
excitement," Smith said. "There wasn't a person sitting in the place. People
on the track were jumping and kissing each other." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Penn State hired Smith, a 24-year-old University of Alabama graduate, this
year. Radio and TV Coordinator Frank Giardina had handled promotions for all
28 varsity sports, and former athletic director Jim Tarman decided Giardina
needed help. Tarman hired Smith to draw fans to all Penn State athletic
contests, especially the women's. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And she's making some changes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I've been begging this university and begging this community to come and
support us," said Portland, adding that she didn't know why, specifically,
they've chosen to come now. "I don't care why. I'm just glad they were here
when we needed them." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Smith might be part of the reason why. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She traveled with the team on its one-week road trip to Ohio State,
Michigan State and Vanderbilt and grilled marketing directors at those schools
on how to attract more fans. Ohio State and Vanderbilt, Smith said, average
10,000 to 15,000 peoples. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We can't draw 10,000 fans here yet because we can't fit 10,000 in here,"
Smith said. "But we have a new convocation center opening, and it's my focus
to fill it up." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Bryce Jordan Center, scheduled to open in 1995, will seat about 15,000
people. Smith hopes she can fill it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, she hoped to fill Rec Hall with more people Sunday afternoon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although the game was a sellout for the general public, 270 student tickets
went unsold. Smith is angry that more students didn't attend after all of the
fliers and announcements posted around campus, the window paintings in Kern
Commons and the announcements on local radio stations. Mack's resident
assistant and dormmates in Thompson Hall, who decorated the floor and came to
cheer her, appear to be the exception. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We have to change the attitude about women's sports," Smith said. "As a
beginning, we in the athletic department have to treat it like it's big time
... then the customers, or fans, will see it as big time." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At Vanderbilt, the athletic department raised ticket prices for women's
games to increase the value of a ticket. Smith hopes to have fewer giveaways
at Penn State women's events, and next year admission will be charged to see
the women's volleyball team, which finished second in the country. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If there are free tickets, the value goes down," Smith said. "I'm not
against giveaways. But after we get them here one time, I want them to come
back." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Smith wasn't always a women's basketball booster. She doesn't understand
the finer points of the game, she's not a statistical hound and no one at
Alabama promoted the sport. "It was not exciting to me because we had not made
it an event yet," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Women's basketball teams attract different fans than men's basketball teams
do. When Donna Lopiano, president of the Women's Sports Foundation, surveyed
the attendance when she worked at the University of Texas, she found less than
a 5 percent overlap between fans of women's and men's teams. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 More families attend women's basketball games, Smith said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The families look at it as entertainment," she said. "They're not
hard-core basketball statistic fans. For the men's games, the men will come by
themselves and leave their wives at home. For the women's games, the men will
bring six kids and buy them all Cokes and popcorn." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And now those fans can read about the game the next day. Eighty media
members -- more than double the usual number -- attended Sunday's game. Sports
Illustrated featured the Lady Lions last week in a two-page article sandwiched
between the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. No one at Penn State could
have asked for anything more. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Radio station WHP in Harrisburg began carrying women's basketball games
this season, and Smith hopes that station will become Lady Lion Basketball's
flagship, similar to the Penn State Sports Network that carries the men's
basketball and football games. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sunday's crowd came during the 30th year of varsity sports competition for
women at Penn State, which was one of the first colleges to sponsor varsity
sports for women. But when physical education teacher Della Durant started the
programs in 1964, she wasn't allowed to use the word varsity. Women competed
in "extramural" athletic activities. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ellen Perry, Penn State's associate athletic director, worked with Durant
in the program's early years, coaching teams and promoting awareness of
women's sport. Seeing as many fans watching women's basketball as watch men's
has special meaning for her. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We were saying that this day is for Jim Tarman and Della Durant, really,"
Perry said. "They shepherded the program through 30 years. This was a very
good day for them. All of the stars were in the right place." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For some of the stars, being in the right place and getting the attention
means something else. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "My teachers are really into this," Mack said. "They're always going, `Oh,
you have a big game tonight."' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She laughed. "I can't skip class anymore. They all know who I am."

Penn State Women's Basketball