The music ended there as well for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, in another prop-plane crash. For many years, the Iowa women's basketball team was entrusted to similar tiny aircraft. Players and coaches envied the men's team, which the school provided with larger, more powerful charters. Planes big enough to hold the whole team and even give many of the players their own rows to stretch out. Planes that, although often very old, seemed to be made of more than paper when the Midwest winds kicked up.
Equity is no longer an issue at Iowa.
In an attempt to address an obvious imbalance, the Hawkeye women this season began using the same national charter broker as the men's team. In some cases, it's a matter of safety. They're saying that when they re-negotiate their contracts, they're going to ask for more charter flights and so forth. Travel budgets hint at the divide. Each year NCAA school fills out standard forms on gender equity that detail how much is spent on travel, among other expenses, for each team.