The New York Times did finally publish an online AP report on the US National team's bronze medal win: 176 words.

This allows us to come up with a rough estimate on their coverage of the Men's National team vs. Women's National team. You probably have a good guess as to what the numbers will be but, just in case, let me prepare you with a quick flashback to sports editor Tom Jolly and his explanation of how the Times makes "coverage" decisions.

We report the results of all Liberty games, albeit usually in short items. Again, it's a question of resources. Except for the major teams, we're less about covering events and more about reporting on the bigger stories that transcend a particular sport.

So, with no further delay.... drum roll please!

Men: 16,600 words. (lots and LOTS of articles by NYTimes writers)
Women: 1,100 words. (All AP)

To put the numbers in perspective, the 870-word column by Selena Roberts on the men's team entitled "A Team Worth Waving The Flag For" on August 24th all but matched their entire coverage of the women's team. Roberts' piece opened opened:

AMERICA'S pride-reclamation project is not assembled with high-maintenance basketball players who find accommodations like the Queen Mary 2 too cramped for their night-crawling habits. That was Athens, the Olympics and the distracted Allen Iverson. This is Japan, the FIBA world championship and the delightful Chris Paul.

and ended

The players could do everything right. They could pass with unselfishness, rebound with effort and react with integrity -- all qualities rarely associated with an American team filled with N.B.A. players -- and they could still lose.

Victory may be the only acceptable outcome to some. But here is an alternative: In the American climate of athletic gloom, freighted by cheats and louts, a group worth feeling good about is a team redeemed.

In my response to the Times' editors and Roberts, I started by rewriting her first sentence:

"AMERICA’S pride-reclamation project is not assembled with high-maintenance MALE basketball players who find accommodations like the Queen Mary 2 too cramped for their night-crawling habits.

I wish you had used added identifier throughout your piece.

Granted, in Athens, Dawn Staley was rightly frustrated that often the attention/coverage the women's senior team received was framed in contrast to the men's team. But, then again, there's a reason you were writing this article about the Men's National team, not the Women's National team....

The Women's Senior team has always been a team "Worth Waving the Flag For." The women fight tooth and nail for the privilege to play USABasketball. Their commitment is unending and uncompromising. The women's national team has never needed "redeeming." They don't need someone to teach them to be respectful.

Though it would be nice if they got the respect they deserved.

Clearly, as this latest demonstration has shown, they won't get it from the New York Times.