irwin1227
05-21-2003, 12:52 PM
I knew it wouldn’t take them long. It is a shame really. It was always in the back of their minds as something to fall back on. So now they are going to exploit themselves. You would think they would highlight their athleticism, their poise, or their intensity. Instead we are treated to tight clothes, and images of sex appeal.
Truthfully, the ratings have been awful. The actual events have been overlooked, and there has been nothing but bad publicity. I am not talking about the WWE. That is another column, at another time.
This is your new WNBA.
I was vacationing in Las Vegas last year and I could already see the tide changing. Plastered on the billboards were pictures of WNBA players talking about their challenges, and how they were pioneers. Forget the fact that they were wearing sport bras and toweling the sweat off their bodies.
The problem with this type of advertising is that it does nothing for women’s sports. It exploits them more than they already are. There is also an underlying truth to women’s sports – no one really watches them. The Colonial in Fort Worth will get huge ratings, if Annika Sorenstam makes the cut. That is not because she is the best women’s golfer in the world; it is because she is a woman in a man’s tournament.
So how do you fix the problem? There should be women’s athletics. I am just not sure that you can force the major networks to broadcast these events. And I am pretty sure there really is no purpose in setting up a woman’s sports network. The only real sport that seems to draw ratings is women’s tennis. That has a lot to do with the level of play on the women’s side being more competitive than the men’s.
There is a local sports talk show host who says that every WNBA game is the same – “A lot of lay-ups, a lot of missed shots, and no dunks.” That is an exaggeration but women’s basketball is a more pure representation of the sport than men’s basketball. It is just not as entertaining.
If the WNBA wanted to truly represent itself, it would focus on the purity of the game, and not how some of its players look hot in a belly shirt.
Truthfully, the ratings have been awful. The actual events have been overlooked, and there has been nothing but bad publicity. I am not talking about the WWE. That is another column, at another time.
This is your new WNBA.
I was vacationing in Las Vegas last year and I could already see the tide changing. Plastered on the billboards were pictures of WNBA players talking about their challenges, and how they were pioneers. Forget the fact that they were wearing sport bras and toweling the sweat off their bodies.
The problem with this type of advertising is that it does nothing for women’s sports. It exploits them more than they already are. There is also an underlying truth to women’s sports – no one really watches them. The Colonial in Fort Worth will get huge ratings, if Annika Sorenstam makes the cut. That is not because she is the best women’s golfer in the world; it is because she is a woman in a man’s tournament.
So how do you fix the problem? There should be women’s athletics. I am just not sure that you can force the major networks to broadcast these events. And I am pretty sure there really is no purpose in setting up a woman’s sports network. The only real sport that seems to draw ratings is women’s tennis. That has a lot to do with the level of play on the women’s side being more competitive than the men’s.
There is a local sports talk show host who says that every WNBA game is the same – “A lot of lay-ups, a lot of missed shots, and no dunks.” That is an exaggeration but women’s basketball is a more pure representation of the sport than men’s basketball. It is just not as entertaining.
If the WNBA wanted to truly represent itself, it would focus on the purity of the game, and not how some of its players look hot in a belly shirt.