This isn't Indiana

[Nevadaref]

We seem to have a problem with our basketball games out here. No one watches them. Here are some quotes to show how poor the attendence is:

"The NIAA has held its all-classification state basketball tournament at UNR’s Lawlor Events Center since the early 1990s. However, no Northern 4A team has won a state title since South Tahoe in 1992, and no Reno-area team has made the large-school state finals since Galena in 1998. Consequently, all-south championship matchups have been played before virtually empty stands."
“.... what we have right now is pathetic at the state basketball tournament. You can hear the echo of a basketball bouncing during the boys 4A championship game. Nobody’s there."


And is isn't any better down south:
“Until you get to the semis and the finals, (Southern Nevada) attendance has been embarrassing,” board member and Sierra Vista principal Bill Garis said. “Our first- and second-round attendance was sickening, and our regular-season attendance wasn’t good either. We had one game between Cheyenne and Gorman (two of the strongest Southern 4A programs) where we had a $1,200 gate. That’s like 200 people total.”

I have to say that we miss out on the energy and atmosphere that fills most HS gyms around the country. Officiating is simply not as much fun here as it was for me in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.

Why doesn't anyone care here?