An open call to those who oppose the WNBA.
by Ben York
This isn’t a set-up or a trap. It’s not a social experiment. It’s not a trick, and it certainly isn’t an excuse to be rude or irresponsible. Rather, I’m genuinely offering a platform to those who aren’t fans or followers of the WNBA a chance to intelligently explain why.
Call me crazy. Heck, I probably am. We’ve all had this ubiquitous debate before and I’m not the first to mediate it. But I have also finally accepted that I have a compulsive need to understand the opposition as much as humanly possible. Truthfully, it’s probably a sickness.
For current WNBA fans/followers, think of it as a conduit towards a better understanding of the “other” side. For non-fans/followers, think of it as a safe and open discussion of your opinions.
I’ve shared my very personal reasons why I am WNBA fanatic and it’s never been a secret that I’m a both a huge proponent and apologist for the league. I won’t go into the reasons why that is in this post as I’ve written many other articles that go into more detail, and I’d encourage you to view those prior posts on ‘The W’ for further verification. Quite simply, I’m a staunch supporter of these ladies both on a personal and professional basis, and consider many of them friends. I don’t mean this in an arrogant way, not by a long shot. I’m certainly nothing special and I’m not the first guy to stand up for the WNBA; I’ve just been fortunate enough to have a bigger stage to express my opinions and viewpoints.
However, it’s also no secret that many people are not fans of the WNBA. Now, there isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with that per se…not on the surface at least. Maybe you’re just not a fan of basketball or only an occasional casual observer. It’s the individuals who have a misogynistic undertone when condemning the league that I take extreme offense to. It’s long been an internal struggle for me to grasp why some individuals have such a negative fervor and vendetta against the league. It’s one thing to not enjoy the beauty of the women’s game, but it’s another to have a venomous hatred for it. Again, I’m not the first to bring this up (Mechelle Voepel has addressed this topic beautifully) but I refuse to simply turn my head and gloss over the issue completely.
Hence, I’m here to offer ‘The W’ as a safe way to discuss why – in a respectful and intelligent way.
The general audience here at ‘The W’ is probably comprised of a wide range of WNBA fans, obviously. The depth of their fandom varies from individuals who have at least a minor interest in the WNBA to others who are die-hards and know more than I could ever hope to. However, I have seen quite a few “first-timers” to the site and have received mixed reactions from those individuals. Some have come in with an open mind and were eager to learn more. Others, were less than thrilled and took the time to criticize and denounce the league.
There has to be a deeper, more insightful reason why you don’t watch the WNBA other than the fact it’s women playing in it…right? Please tell me there is. I’d hate to think that I wasted time writing this and it’s still a continual losing battle. Maybe I’m naive. Maybe it’s just hard for me to accept that the reason the vast majority of people who don’t like the league is because it’s played by women. Maybe I find it hard to accept and fathom that we, as a society, are still struggling with this battle. If this is the main reason you don’t watch the league, I suppose it would be ignorant of me to say that it’s surprising. Unfortunate and unfair? Abso-freaking-lutely. Admittedly, I’m probably a bit biased with my unique personal experiences but I am willing to have an open and honest discussion about why you haven’t gotten into the WNBA.
I recently spoke with Mercury head coach Corey Gaines about the difficulties the WNBA has faced in gaining that mainstream respect and success. Gaines provided a viewpoint that I hadn’t personally thought of before which was extremely enlightening. Basically, Gaines compared basketball to baseball in that so many people play it and have a type of false confidence when they get better. The
re’s an aura of connectedness that exudes from basketball and baseball that isn’t necessarily there (generally speaking of course) with the larger-than-life athletes in football. For example, I don’t pretend to think that I’d last 30 seconds in a competitive football or hockey league. However, I’ve played basketball and baseball all my life and have an increased sense of confidence in my ability to play those sports. Perhaps it is this type of thinking that lead individuals to trivialize the WNBA at first glance.
One of my questions to Corey was if the lack of respect for the WNBA was a basketball issue or a societal issue? “It’s not a basketball issue,” Gaines said. “I’ll put myself into the mix and use myself as an example. When I was younger, in my teens, I went to the park to play some tennis. I saw an older woman there, probably in her 50’s, and thought I was going to beat her easily. I actually thought I needed to take it a bit easy so I won’t make her feel too bad. Well, she beat the crap out of me. She used the angles on the court and had me running everywhere. Similarly, when I was playing basketball at UCLA, I thought I could be a Defensive Back or Safety on the football team easily. Are you kidding me! One day I went out there to try it out and I guarded the slowest receiver. He had me turning every which way and there was no way I could stay with him, and I was known as being quick. Basically, it boils down to the people sitting on their couches at home that for some reason think they can play with them, which leads to a feeling that the competition is inferior. People play basketball and baseball all the time and think they could go out and play pretty well; but when they see them up close or play it’s a whole different story. I mean, people don’t look at football players or track & field stars and think they can do what they do. So I think it has a lot to do with society and how they view the WNBA. But I’ve had a lot of people come up to me, especially in the Finals, that just said, ‘wow, I had no idea they were this good.’”
That’s a fantastic point – people involuntarily compare the NBA with the WNBA and automatically think they could go out and perform just as well as a WNBA player. When they become closer to the game, they have an entirely new view. Though, this first comes with an open mind – something that has become rare in the world today.
I will leave you with this — every single person I have ever talked to that has given the WNBA a fair chance has “converted,” so to speak, and gained an illustrious respect for these ladies. And I’m not talking about just a couple individuals — I’ve received dozens and dozens of emails from people (mostly men) who have come away incredibly impressed and humbled. Take from that what you will.
So…without further adieu…let the discussion begin.
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They can win? Holy crap! The players were ONLY good enough to make it to the NBA! With the WNBA it IS a prejudice among men; you can argue that the product is not as good but, just like the NBA, there is an upper echelon of players who have the best skill set in the league, regardless of the claimed ‘watered down quality’ of the majority of the WNBA, the best players are always, in any league, the best players.
So the reason it is prejudice is this; would a woman go to a pick-up game wearing a female-cut Lebron jersey? Of course (I have been a witness to that, pardon the pun).
Would a guy go to a pickup game in a Taurasi jersey? Why not? A former MVP etc she is not one of the ‘inferior’ WNBA products is she?
I consider baseball to be a total snoozefest. Exciting moments in that sport are too few and far between.
Yet, with the prevailing scorn poured upon it, I would be more criticised for watching women play a sport that I love than for watching a group of males stand around in a field in a sport i despise.
Are WNBA players dribbling with their ears? Shhoting at a 6 foot rim? No, they are playing the game everyone here ‘loves’.
Curious….
But during the Olympics they did air the U.S.A Women’s game and I thought they were good to watch. Of course it isn’t the NBA, who ever claimed it was? As Ben says, its completely different.
But here’s the obvious and true answer: The WNBA is an inferior product, as I’m sure it’s been said. Also, while there are inherent differences than the NBA, you can’t just call it a “different game” and say the NBA comparison is irrelevant. It’s still….basketball. And when I’m watching basketball, there’s the NBA and there’s College ball. Both are superior to the WNBA by a wide margin. Very wide. It’s actually a gaping distance.
But I get where this article comes from…PC…it’s 2009!…equality, guys!!… I respect that. But a superior product is still a superior product, even in 2009.
It has nothing to do with the gender of the players. I wouldn’t pay to watch junior high or JV ball either unless my son or daughter were participating. I get annoyed when it gets rammed down my throat. I’m told that I’m sexist or I’m not a true fan. Absolutely false. I love basketball. I love to play and I love to watch solid fundamental execution. The athleticism isn’t there. If they lowered the rim,I still wouldn’t watch. That still doesn’t change the quality of the athlete playing. I’ve been asked how I can disrespect pro athletes with this criticism? It’s not disrespect,it is a fair and accurate critique of a bad product. The truth is I’m really WNBA agnostic. I don’t care if it folds or flourishes.
It also get annoyed when I’m told by ignorant people that I would get schooled by a WNBA player. Laughable. As I said above, it’s like junior high ball. I’m quite confident I would be giving the instruction.
Almost as bad as men who think women can’t be snipers.
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the mercury average about 95 points a game this past season? Sure the women can’t dunk(or don’t want to dunk because of how physical the players are).but u gotta give them some credit. I watched the bulls and cavs play and they missed several layups from close range. So to me the only difference is that the NBA is above
The rim. When a WNBA team has an open tryout I think that maybe some of you men should tryout for the team just to see if you can hang.
Junior high may be a little harsh. I grew up in Indiana and the level of fundamental play is pretty high at a young age. We sleep with basketballs. Our coaches gave us brand new balls at the end of school and instructed us to wear them out. We played year round. I am serious when I say that there isn’t one WNBA player that could have made our team. The size and athletic ability does not transend genders. Our school has produced many D1 and small college players. If I’m a harsh critic, these are my reasons. I expect great and I don’t see it with the WNBA.
I’ve addressed many of the so called ‘elephants’ in the room; namely, the biggest one – people not liking it or giving it the attention it deserved because of the gender of the athletes. According to your post, you believe the women should look more like ‘women’ while playing and not try to be like men – how is that not misogynistic? You also state that a turn off to you is the ‘radicalism’ of the WNBA fans – I bet a lot of WNBA fans would take that as a compliment; there are ‘radical’ fans for every team, every player, for every sport. In terms of your views on people not watching the ‘lesser’ of every sport, it’s a moot point. It’s a different game, my friend – it’s not the NBA and shouldn’t be compared to the NBA. The WNBA doesn’t explicitly stand for ‘hard-core feminists’ as you put it, it stands for equality and for giving them an opportunity to showcase their skills (which they have beautifully)- THIS is what many people miss. Tell you what, if you’re up for it, let me know if you want to attend a WNBA game up close (i.e. front row) and I’ll see if I can make that happen for you. I guarantee you’ll change your mind about the ‘feminism’ and ‘inferiority’ of it all.
Let’s see if I can reword things better. First of all, I’ve been to at least one (or maybe two) WNBA games each summer for every season of its existence, and when I was in high school, I used to go to Monarchs all the time. I also hold women’s basketball season tickets for Cal (not my alma mater, but a school I’ve been partial to since I could remember) as well as men’s hoops and football. My point there is, indifference toward the WNBA doesn’t mean indifference towards women’s sports (nor does it mean I hate it or don’t EVER go to WNBA games, just don’t follow it like the NBA, MLB or NFL). Okay, now. Next part is where I need to clarify. Let’s see if I can: I am not against the WNBA because of its uniforms (it’s just the most glaring symbol of what the WNBA stands for). I point out that every other women’s sport has more feminine uniforms, and every other walk of life (be it business, advertising, education, you name it) has feminine attire. The WNBA is the only entity I can think of in which women dress exactly like men. The WNBA “radicals” are extremely gung-ho about keeping it that way, and they say changing it would be sexualizing women and devaluing their athleticism. I take that thinking (and the very vocal and belligerent way it is presented) as them saying every other sport (and walk of like) HAS sexualized women and devalued their athleticism (or workplace competency). And and I take that attitude as an ATTACK on everything else, and THAT is what I don’t like about the WNBA. The uniform is just a symbol for that way of thinking. You said the WNBA “stands for equality,” which it does in many ways. I think the WNBA stands for radical feminists saying “you HAVE to be like men to be equal,” which I don’t agree with. I think, like in tennis, you can maintain a FEMALE identity WITHOUT having your athleticism (or workplace competency) devalued. I know many women have become “anti-feminist” because they are against the “you MUST be like a male to be equal” thinking, and the WNBA is one of many things they’ve disassociated with because of that.
My bad. I meant that no WNBAer could have made my Indiana high school team. I reread my post and I can see where you thought I meant junior high. Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch let me explain. My HS team had 8 guys who went on to play college ball. 2 D1A and the other 6 smaller college. Our team was consistently ranked in the top 10 in the state and this was before they played class basketball.(ie 10 out of approx 600) We practiced twice a day. At the gym at 6AM to shoot 100 free throws,execute shooting and ball handling drills…Practice again after school for 2 to 3 hours. We were drilled in fundamentals and taught how to play smart basketball. I know good ball. The W in not good.
lack of dunking is a plus whereas the NBA seriously needs to raise the rim. Personally, I like college sports. In addition to the game, you have the pep band, cheerleaders, and great rivialries. College sports have that (men’s & women’s). Women’s tennis has stars, glamour and good rivalries. You need the full package if you’re going to compete with everything else that’s on cable. As sports entertainment, the WNBA is lacking. Also… The WNBA’s marketing is bad. They target female viewers, but the ratings show that women don’t watch sports in great numbers. Women’s sports are not entitled to viewers. The WNBA needs to target male viewers with their top personalities (Lauren Jackson, Swin Cash, Candice Wiggins, Sue Bird). (and please get some better uniforms)
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