Offering a different point of view.
It’s no secret that popular ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons isn’t a WNBA fan or supporter; he’s made a cognizant point to criticize the league over and over again throughout the years. This should come as a surprise to no one.
In a recent column by Simmons, he talks about the lack of “sports-hate” guys that he currently has to choose from. The players he used to have so much fun hating (Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant) have all proved him wrong by winning championships or turning out to be less-hateable than he originally thought. He says that his sports-hate tank is “running on empty” and is searching for things to fill this gap. Now, I don’t want anyone to lose any sleep for Bill’s sake – he’ll always have the WNBA as a loyal vehicle of hate.
In that very article, Simmons (amazingly) doesn’t mention hating the WNBA in a general sense; it’s the commercials he dislikes so much.
Seriously.
Simmons joyfully hates WNBA commercials because, by viewing them, he believes the WNBA is being shoved down his throat. His hatred for the league runs so deep that he has a physical, allergic reaction and breaks out in hives every time a short 30-second commercial promoting the WNBA airs. Admittedly, I can’t confirm the hives but since it clearly pains him so much physically to simply avert his eyes or change the channel, I think it’s probably a safe assumption. Simmons, apparently, thinks WNBA commercials contain some sort of subliminal message in their broadcasting frequency that would force him to write something positive regarding the league; and since Simmons would rather gouge his own eyes out than give the WNBA props, I can see why he wouldn’t want to be subjected to 30 seconds of this sheer terror.
The issue here isn’t that Simmons dislikes WNBA commercials, it’s that he’s so smug about it. In a 2005 article, Simmons ripped the WNBA in a 2,500 word diatribe of hostility, pleading to “end the ongoing charade that this is a mainstream sport” and believes “if not for corporate nepotism, the WNBA would have pulled a WUSA and disappeared years ago.” In the same article, he compares the forceful advertising and promotion of the WNBA to a gun being held to his head. Doing so, Simmons believes “it makes me [Simmons] (and many others) root against the league a little more.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — it’s absolutely your own individual choice to dislike the WNBA. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with that. But it’s another thing to write an entire article about how horrific a league it is, that it has been given countless chances to succeed, how it’s unwatchable, and why it isn’t worthy of mainstream attention…then begin to profess how you’d want your own daughter to grow up and dream about playing basketball professionally in America someday – Simmons does both.
This, my friends, is the definition of hypocrisy.
The problem with Simmons is that he thinks he is coming off as fair and balanced by using false analogies to bash the WNBA, as if both leagues (WNBA and NBA) have been given equally fair chances and started from the exact same spot in our culture. He believes he is ‘telling it like it is’ from a “guys-guy” perspective while throwing out pop culture references in an attempt to make his thesis and arguments correlate with each other. Quite simply, there are hundreds of years of history that Simmons continually ignores when speaking about the WNBA and it’s (perceived) lack of progress. He conveniently forgets that it wasn’t even 100 years ago that women were first allowed to vote. Or that less than 50 years ago John F. Kennedy established the President’s Commission on the Status of Women which found substantial discrimination of women in the workplace leading to the Equal Pay Act in 1963. Or that, astonishingly, just over 30 years ago the first marital rape law came into effect. Thus, here’s some correlation with actual causation, the WNBA might take longer to develop and need a bit more support. Is this really a surprise? Instead of condemning it, why not believe in the cause and help it flourish? Instead, he dreams of its demise. In Simmons mind, the hundreds of years of women being unjustly and unfairly labeled as inferior, matters not. Way to do that “thorough” research you’re known for, Bill.
Simmons, apparently, thinks that a decade or so is ample time for a brand new professional sports league to justify itself. In his 2005 article, Simmons writes…
“As for the casual fans, the Donna Orenders of the world maintain that they need more time to “come around.” Come around? Should we ignore the complete lack of progress in nine years? How far does this “come around” deadline extend to? 2010? 2020? Let’s pick a year. Give us a firm deadline. In the mean time, attendance figures and ratings keep dropping, and the timeline for us to “come around” keeps shifting. And so they keep running WNBA ads during the NBA Finals, keep flying WNBA players to NBA All-Star Weekend … they even hijacked “NBA Hardwood Classics” on NBA TV last week (which almost caused me to break my TiVo in 30 pieces).”
As is his usual charade of comparing apples to oranges, he cited the defunct XFL as an example of a similar failed league. Simmons said the only reason the WNBA hasn’t folded in a similar way is because NBA Commissioner David Stern is the WNBA’s “sugar daddy”; that Stern has an indelible desire to (gasp) show commercials promoting the WNBA! My goodness, how could he! You’re telling me he believes in the WNBA and isn’t afraid to show it? Gosh – if only Bill could turn his head 45 degrees and look in another direction when these advertisements air. Simmons believes Stern is pushing the WNBA on society like “an overboard mom pushing broccoli on her kids” and doesn’t see the point in doing so. Yet, again, Simmons wants a professional league that his daughter can play in.
He also stated that the WNBA should “accept it’s place in the Sports Fans Pecking Order.” Have we not done that? No one expects the WNBA to be as popular as the NBA, or make as much money, this early in it’s existence. What fans and followers do want, however, is an end to the conscious bashing and denouncing of the league — and to stop going out of their way to undermine it. Yes, it is still leaps and bounds below where the NBA is, but there is no denying it is in the midst of a transformation. Things like this happen in a progression. Basketball in the 50s and 60s is vastly different to where it is today, and the evolution of the game is what makes it so appealing. The WNBA is going through a similar process and it’s evident with the abundance of talent in the league today. Don’t believe me? Ask me about the 2009 WNBA season.
I received an email today that, perhaps, started me on the course of this article. It was from someone I don’t know and haven’t spoken or emailed with before. In it, the person asked, “Why don’t you just accept where the WNBA is? It will never be the NBA. And yes, the women are so much more inferior to men it’s not even funny.” Well, I can’t do that. Rather, I choose not to do that. I guess I’m choosing to stand up for these ladies and am more than happy to take the heat (still amazed that I even have to) while doing so. I don’t care if you don’t like the WNBA, but don’t pretend to sit on a soapbox or pedestal and berate these ladies after how far they’ve come. Guess what, Bill? I’ll dish it right back every time.
So, Mr. Simmons, it hasn’t exactly been an easy ride toward getting the WNBA established — and it’s come a long way since the 90s. Though, you’d know that had you done simple research regarding the evolution of women’s rights. Still, I’m so sorry you have to suffer through those terrible, uplifting WNBA commercials as I cannot imagine the agony you feel when lifting a finger to press the mute button or the up/down arrow.
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Growing pains hurt for a business just starting out. Everyone goes through it. It is how you conduct yourdelf during the process that matters. Whining and complaining about being at the very state the WNBA should be in it’s early life is not being professional. I guess that is one of the lessons the young WNBA and its supporters still have to learn.
It would be like me hating the internet because it was so slow in the 1996, but I do not hate it now because it is a much better product because of its speed. That’s an interesting comcept. Speed makes things more entertaining. I wonder how that can be related to the NBA/WNBA argument.
The NBA seems to be doing very well despite the lack of rights that African-American men had no less than 100 years ago.
Plus, the WNBA is not a women only league from the commissioner to team owners, coaches, and other employees responsible for the success of the WNBA.
The dynamic introduced here, that past discrimination requires current assistance, is a touchy one in our society. Affirmative action anyone?
As long as the majority of Americans believe this country is a meritocracy housed in a “just world” these problems will persist.
I don’t watch the WNBA, I tried early on, but it doesn’t really interest me now. I respect that they have a league and as long as the NBA wants to give them money, I say go for it. Their commericals don’t bother me either. But, like Myles, I do get pissed when I hear about how the WNBA is the last bastion of fundamental basketball. Those people irk me. They irk me very much.
Stop pretending we are also experiencing evolution issues. Women have evolved like men. They just suck at hoops compared to men.
Friend 1- “Hey, do you want to go see what Ben is up to today.”
Friend 2- “I do, but I’m afraid he is gonna try to get us to watch the WNBA with him, and then we will have to come up with some lame excuse why we can’t.
Friend 1- “Let’s rehearse our exit plan.”
Look…
I can’t watch the WNBA. Really, I do. That whole ‘fundamental’ thing is garbage, as many of them, especially shooting wise, show very little fundamentals. Players will often take quick shots and layups are lazy. Defense is many times haphazard and foul happy. As of right now, the product isn’t terribly good.
But giving the league only ten years is insane.
More and more women talents are cropping up, and the reason is because now basketball means women can have a FUTURE. They can use it to make money, to start a career. Comparing it to the XFL is insane: it was not going to increase the number of football players coming out of college. The WNBA’s existence has notably increased the talent level of college basketball, look at this year alone.
So, for chrissakes, don’t hate on the league. it’s getting better.
I visited Ben’s twitter and he is really expecting Simmon’s to respond. Of course when Simmon’s does not respond, Ben is going to claim victory in that feud.
I can twitter that I challenge Kobe to a game of one-on-one, but if he doesn’t respond, that means he is scared?
The problem with bringing up the women’s rights is that it itself was a major important issue whereas “why people don’t choose to be entertained by the WNBA” is not a major world issue, it isn’t even a major american issue.
Like it or not, gender roles play a huge part the lack of talent in the WNBA: a girl who could have incredible talent is convinced basketball is a dude’s sport, and she shouldn’t bother playing it. If the WINBA continues to become a viable option, as it looks like it is, then more young girls will be convinced to continue their basketball training as a viable option for their career. This will undoubtedly raise the skill level of the game.
But until we get rid of this gender role that women ballers shouldn’t bother, then it’ll be a slow as hell process. That’s why all that woman’s right information was brought up in the first place. Try reading it slower and use deductive logic next time.
I love the tired story of haters actually helping. More people hate Kobe than the whole WNBA combined. I’m sure hundreds of people care to actually hate the WNBA whereas millions hate Kobe.
On the WNBA, I don’t watch masses of it (don’t live in the US) but I caught some of last season’s final’s and it was very enjoyable. It’s clearly still a work in progress but if people gave it room to breathe rather than trying to shoot it down at every given opportunity. On a side, I equally excited to see how Griner fares in the WNBA as I am in seeing Wall do his thing in the NBA
NO MORE COMMERCIALS, ROFL…….posted by the REAL caune
It’s not your money. You can always change the channel.
It’s really weird that people are bothered. It’s also weird that so many of y’all think “businesses should stand on their own.”
Clearly most of the readers of SLAM have very little understanding of the tax laws and antitrust laws in this country. I mean, do y’all not realize that NBA is buttressed by publicly funded stadiums? That it receives local tax breaks? That it has an anti-trust exemption that allows it to crush all competing leagues?
I swear the meritocracy myth makes many, MANY people stupid. It’s a damn shame.
they talk about commericals as stuffing it down their throats all the while understanding that promotion is the life blood of any new venture. You have to get your produvt out there to the masses. they might not like it but it’s got to be done.
Why do people think that the WNBA is above getting made fun of. Anything that is somewhat famous or at least on TV will always be subject to ridicule. Many of the complaints are irrational and not based of facts. This is how it is for everything. the basketbawlful website is 100% NBA bashing, but it is funny. People who like the NBA are amuzed by it. But once someone says one thing negative or as a joke about the WNBA, all the defenders get all uptight. If you want to be like every successful thing, you have to go through what they go through. How fair would it be for the WNBA to get to the pinnacle without any trials or nay sayers. Isn’t that would people like most; proving others wrong?
So rather than judging the WNBA as a whole based on stereotypes, which is out of line, treat each player, coach, and GM on a case by case basis like we do with the NBA.
A MLB player has a harder time hitting a softball being pitched by Finch and Cat then a baseball being thrown by the best pitchers in the world. Doesn’t mean that the MLB players are inferior to women softball players when it comes to pro softball. In the same way the MLB player thought it would be easier to hit a softball then a baseball just b/c it’s bigger didn’t make it so in reality. It would be the same with lowering the rim, b/c it would just throw them the hell off seeing as how they spend most of the year overseas playing on a 10ft rim.
I wouldn’t equate the two of a lower rim to lowering the fence. You don’t need to hit a HR to score in softball but in basketball you need the rim regardless to score. Since you don’t hear the actual WNBA players talking about wanting to lower the rim, obviously it’s not bothering them. Since it doesn’t bother them it shouldn’t bother anybody else. Instead of talking about lowering the bar for female athletes, they should be raised b/c they will meet and pass it. It’s called evolution, the womens game is getting better (will continue to get better) and without having to lower the rim, go figure. If Orlando comes back and wins, Miami should get smacked.
Of course the WNBA players will never say they want the rims lowered. It would be embarrassing for them to ask for that, but then it wouldn’t, because it is their right to ask for lower rims if that is what they want, and who am I to tell them what to want.
The same thing goes for D-Wade. When he was a rookie and didn’t have that much attention I never really paid attention until the playoffs started and I reallized, “this guy is pretty good.” Then Shaq came, the Heat won the championship, and now D-Wade is on all the commercials with all the irritating fans. Now I don’t like him.
I think annoying fans who support your side is way more damaging that haters, because people will hate the particular player or organization only because of the annoying fans.
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