It’s difficult to define a dynasty. By our definition, dynasty has come to mean a team that is more than great, a team whose accomplishments seem magical, even supernatural.
Even more difficult than defining the word is deciding which teams should be labeled with it. But if you’re a student a Boston University, a dynasty really isn’t that difficult to find just head down to the Track and Tennis Center, home of the women’s tennis team.
The women’s tennis team?
Chances are, the Terrier tennis team is not the first team you would associate with the word dynasty. For some, the word instantly brings the Boston Celtics to mind. With one of the greatest men to ever put on a pair of sneakers (Bill Russell) and one of the greatest basketball minds of all time (Red Auerbach), the Celtics captured 11 championships in 13 years.
The Chicago Bulls won six championships in eight years led by the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. Had it not been for ‘The Jerrys,’ the Bulls may have won even more.
Some of you are probably Yankee fans who love to remind us Red Sox fans of all the championships the Bronx Bombers have taken home. As tough as it is to admit, you do have a point. From 1936 to 1964, a 29-year stretch, the New York Yankees made an incredible 22 World Series appearances, winning 16 championships.
And then there are some of you who really don’t care about teams that played more than 15 years before you were born.
While at first it may seem a monumental stretch to consider the women’s tennis team on par with any of these other great dynasties, the team’s accomplishments speak for themselves.
In the 14-year history of the America East conference championship, the Terriers have taken home the hardware an astounding 13 times, including a current streak of nine in a row. That’s the stuff dynasties are made of.
I’m sure that many people are still not convinced. How can the women’s tennis team be considered a dynasty when it can’t even be considered the best team on campus? Well, it may be a shock, but the Terrier tennis team is, in fact, the most successful team at BU.
What team boasts accomplishments on par with the women’s tennis team? The men’s basketball team?
It’s true, the team has won its share of America East championships and even made the NCAA tournament. Last year, the men’s basketball could have repeated as America East champions and returned to the field of 64 had it not been for a freak shot by a Canadian basketball player from Vermont.
What about the women’s basketball team? They did win the America East championship last year, so that must count for something. It was the program’s first ever America East championship though. When the women’s tennis team won their first league championship, cutting holes in the knees of your stonewashed jeans was still popular.
Of course, the biggest challenge to women’s tennis supremacy at BU comes from our beloved Icedogs, perennial contenders for the national championship and owners of four National Championships of their own. We own their jerseys, chant their names and gossip about them like they’re celebrities. If anyone can topple the women’s tennis dynasty, it’s these guys, right? People wait in line for hours to see their games thousands fill arenas to watch them.
But as much as we all love our hockey team, their success does not even compare with the women’s tennis team. The last time the Icedogs were able to capture a league championship was 1997. At that time, the women’s tennis team was working on their fourth-straight title.
And while the Icedogs travel to the University of Maine this weekend, the BU women’s tennis team will travel to Hanover, N.H. to take part in the Dartmouth Invitational. For the Terriers, this tournament marks the close of a successful fall season, which included trips to Blacksburg, Va. and the USTA Tennis Center, a world-class venue and home of the US Open.
After this weekend, the Terriers will go into hibernation until they begin their quest for a 14th league championship in February.
One has to wonder when people will start to take women’s tennis seriously and give it the credit it deserves. Whether or not we deserve it as fans, we have been given the rare chance and privilege of seeing a true dynasty in action on our very own campus. A team this successful should be selling out each an every one of its matches, which, by the way, are usually free even if you don’t have a Sports Pass.
But wait … It’s still just women’s tennis, and nobody cares. Maybe coach Lesley Sheehan should cut her hair short, dye it gray, and wear a red ‘BU Hockey’ windbreaker. That would be sure to confuse a few people into attending a tennis match.
Joe Rouse, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly sports columnist for The Daily Free Press.