The "Repairmen" of Women's Sports

Ethan at Actionless Activity writes about the philosophy that women's basketball - or women's soccer, or any other game that women play - will only succeed if it becomes a scaled-down version of the men's game. He's writing about Women's Professional Soccer, but he's also writing about the WNBA:

Except, having read the whole article, I am aware that the author does in fact appreciate Women’s Professional Soccer. What seems to be at issue isn’t his own appreciation, but concern out of how to make the league more palatable to the sports enthusiasts at large.

Here is my professional, degreed, tenured, and expert opinion: You can’t.

Whaaaat?

Look, Cricket is Cricket is Cricket. They monkeyed around with the number of “overs” per game (the US-friendly, I dare say, version of this is called 20/20) to speed things along, but really, if Cricket isn’t your bag, shortening the length of the game, making the wickets closer together, increasing or reducing the number of players, blah blah blah won’t crack the wall of resistance that compels one to gag and say “I hate Cricket.”

It’s not a gender thing, notice.

Same goes for “I hate bass fishing,” “I hate lacrosse,” and “I hate drag racing.” It’s not the players, it’s the game.

There has been talk about the WNBA changing the rules/basket height/whatever else to make the league more fan-friendly. Nyet! Winning is fan-friendly. Actually being fan-friendly helps too.

I agree with Ethan in that for a lot of people, it's not the players, it's the game. And for women's basketball, it's not even the game - it's the fact that women are playing it. You could scale the basket height down to six feet and play the games on a court the size of a Best Western Hotel room and there would be a large number of sports followers that would still put down the women's game - they'd just shift their excuses. The haters see women's sport as a transgression against male sport; no amount of excellent play could ever change their minds.

I believe that the WNBA should be open to changing the rules, because they should be beholden really to the enjoyment of their fans and not some mythical standard of what someone else thinks basketball should be. I'm even open to the idea of lowering the rim to 9 1/2 feet - if the players want it and if the fans want it. Like I said on a message board, "if the players and fans want the rim lowered, you won't be able to stop it - but if they don't want it, you won't be able to spark it."

Granted, the NBA, WNBA, NCAA and FIBA all play by subtlely different rules - but it's still basketball. Take a player out of one setting and place him or her in another, and all they have to do is learn a few extra rules. Once you start making widescale changes, you don't have basketball anymore - you have a completely different sport. It might look like basketball, but it won't be.

So why make-over your sport for the benefit of people who not only don't respect you, but who are obstinately committed to never respecting you? Both the WPS and the WNBA should be wary of those that want to "repair" the sport. One should have an open mind to change, but there's such a thing as being too open.

Why Women Don't Watch Women's Sports

"If the empty seats at sporting arenas could speak, what would they say?" - Annemarie Farrell

If you're really interested in why women don't watch women's sports, a dissertation by Annemarie Farrell at Ohio State University can be read here. (Farrell earned her Ph. D. and now teaches at Ithaca College.)

For those who are willing to slog through all 190-some pages of it, I am going to give it a very high recommendation. Farrell was interested in why women didn't attend women's sports. She focused her study on college basketball, and in particular, focused it on interviewing women who attended men's basketball games - but not women's basketball. The qualitative research, based on in-depth interviews with her participants, is very illuminating.

So why don't women attend women's sports? And maybe, why don't women attend WNBA games in greater numbers? There are Farrell's basic conclusions:

1. They never see women's basketball on television. It's never seen in the media. It's hard to develop a connection with something that you're not aware of.

2. There is an expansive lack of knowledge among potential consumers. This includes what some sports fans would consider to be elementary information:

- where do you buy your tickets?
- how much does it cost to go to the game?
- where do you find schedule information?
- where is the location of the game?
- what are the rules of the game?

3. The payoff might not be worth the effort. The study interviewed women who attended men's college basketball but not women's basketball. They knew the mechanics of how to attend men's games - where to sit, where to park, etc. - but these women were hesitant to learn how to attend women's games when they didn't know if the overall experience would pay off. Furthermore, attending the men's games was difficult enough in terms of time and limitations; for some women it would have to be either one or the other.

4. Women want fast paced basketball with a loud, animated crowd. The current perception is that the women's game is neither - the perception is that the game is slow and the crowd is either less passionate or less numerous. To many women, the crowd experience is very important to their perceived enjoyment.

5. For most women, their gateway to sports was through the men in their lives. The men in their lives don't watch women's sports, and therefore, they don't.

6. Sports is a world which is a production of male supremacy. Women see sports as exclusively a male domain. Women are made by society to feel abnormal for taking interest in a sport. Some men resent women having an interest in sport, and the roles of women in sport are strictly circumscribed by men - to be supporters, helpmates and cheerleaders.

7. Men gain part of their social identity through sports. They need sports so that they can share a common experience with other men. However, women don't need sports to socialize, and there is no social imperative for women to attend sports in order to bond with and socialize with other women.

8. The world of sports coverage is dominated by men - the overwhelming majority of sports editors and sports reporters in the media are men. The men decide what gets covered and what doesn't, and they simply don't hype women's sports the way men's sports are hyped. "Most schools make the men's team like 'the' team and the women's team is just a side team, just to accommodate women, but the men's basketball team is like 'the' basketball team."

9. There is a lack of human interest stories in women's sports. Psychologist Steven Danish suggests that human interest stories are more important to women than to men. Women are much more interested in the back stories of the participants, while men "value clear-cut measurements of ability and achievement".

10. Many women haven't seen a women's basketball game since before 1991. They remember empty arenas, quiet fans, no promotions. Their perception of women's basketball is that of women's basketball as it was 20 years ago.

11. The media frame women's sporting events to undermine women's achievement in sports. Players are called by their first names more than in men's sports. When male players fail when the story of the game is being told, it is because they faced tougher competition, but women's failures in team sports are usually blamed on one team's ineptitude. The women who get the most attention are the ones who are the most attractive. As a result, many women think that women's sports are less exciting, less talented, and less entertaining.

12. All in all, women expect that they will not have a good time at a women's sporting event.

(* * *)

After reading the dissertation, I drew some conclusions of my own, including conclusions regarding how I would cover the WNBA and the Atlanta Dream on this blog. There might be a few changes in the future. Trust me, as a Dream fan I want as many people attending Dream games as possible, and there are ways to promote women's sport and the Atlanta Dream that I had never considered.

P. S.: To add to the Great Dunking Controversy, one participant had this to say: "I think the lack of dunking hurts women's basketball a lot. There is just an excitement about getting that high up over someone and dunking. There's something girls basketball lacks because dunking is a big part of the excitement of the game. When somebody dunks the crowd just goes nuts." If the goal is to make WNBA games more exciting, this is something to think about - even if we're not in agreement with the particpant regarding the role of dunking, pro or con, in basketball.

CSKA: It's Over

From the RebKell Message Board: a poster quotes an article from http://news.sportbox.ru - the Google translated version.

Women' s CSKA of removed of from of the of country' s of championship of because of of funding of problems, transmits of radio of " Mayak" , referring to of the Of president of of the Of russian Of federation Of sergei Of chernov of basketball. In the club itself information about the removal from the championship they did not confirm, but also they did not refute, after saying that the official solution thus far no one assumed. In of the of club of about of withdrawing of from of the of championship is of not of confirmed of nor of refuted, saying of that a of formal of decision of yet, no of one of has. In the federation of the basketball of Russia the information so remained unconfirmed; however, the representatives OF [RFB] were intended to soon meet with the management the TsSKA (Central Sports Club of the Army) and to discuss the future of command in the championship of Russia. In of the Of basketball Of federation of Of russia in of the of same of information of remains of unconfirmed, but of the RFB of intend of shortly to of meet of with of the of leaders CSKA and discuss of the of future of of the of team of championship in Of russia.

In short, CSKA Moscow is probably declaring bankruptcy. Hammon, McCarville, all of their stars will be released. Says "HotforHammon" at RebKell:

We had feeling it was comming yesterday. Some of our Russian members reported Becky and her parents went out after the game yesterday and she told them she would likely be leaving the club soon then gave over her signed shoes and posed for pics and signed autographs for the members of her Russian fan site that traveled to the game. It sounded like a goodbye.

Our Dream players in the Spanish, French, Polish, Turkish, Chinese and Greek leagues are all right.



So far.

Another Women's Pro Ball Team in Atlanta?

A website for the local American Basketball Association team in Atlanta - the Atlanta Vision - suggests on their website that they will have a women's team soon. Is the ABA moving into women's basketball?

There's a poll up on the front page:

Who will win more games this season, the Atlanta Vision Men's Team or the new Atlanta Vision Women's Team?

Vision Women's Team
Vision Men's Team
Both teams will bring home the championship banner


I can't find about anything about this hypothetical women's ball club, although I assume that if the team existed, it would be paid in American currency and sell tickets.

However, I have found about about the American Basketball Association - you should reconsider any emotional connection you have with the old ABA of Dr. J. It appears the only connection is the red-white-and-blue ball.

Columnist A. J. Walling of Canada's TSN.ca has some harsh words for the league:

Chris Munson is a freelance sports writer who lives in Vermont and has followed the fortunes or misfortunes of the ABA.

"Needless to say, this is a league that has some serious issues. Since the rebirth of the ABA in 2001, over 170 teams have folded, disbanded or fallen into other state of disrepair. As far as the Halifax franchise goes, I may not agree with the timing of their departure from the ABA, but I cannot argue with their decision to leave the league," is what Munson told TSN.ca.

We furthermore get this wonderful news about Vision Management from Gracie Bonds Staples of the AJC:

The co-owner of the minor league Atlanta Vision basketball team is being sued by two former business partners, who allege he cheated them out of $200,000, according to a lawsuit filed in Gwinnett County Superior Court.

So will there be a second women's pro basketball team in Atlanta? I give it a five percent chance. Even if it falls through, it's pleasant to think that women's pro ball is being look at as a potential money maker, even if the money makers are under threat of lawsuit.

How Poland Rocks The House

Most likely, you Kasha Terry fans out there would like to know what it's like to be at a PLKK game in Poland.

This six-minute video gives you a taste - how big the arenas are, what the fans are like, and what they do.

(By the way: this is not a film from a Utex Row Rybnik fan. This is a film from a CCC Polkowice fan. Still, it's definitely recommended viewing.)

Air Taurasi

A great article from Slam Online. To paraphrase the rap song, "Damn, it's hard to be a women's b-baller."

Also, if you've never seen them before, the Diana Taurasi shoes. "Air Taurasi?"

Why I Am a Women's Basketball Fan

Rebkell has a thread called "Why are you a women's basketball fan?" There have been all kinds of stories that are told, each one different than the next. I was about to reply on Rebkell, until I found my response turning into a blog post.

I wasn't even a basketball] fan before this season. Whenever I played, I played it poorly. As a Kentuckian, I of course followed the Wildcats, but that was about it. I found the NBA inherently dull.

The key was that my wife and I have moved about every couple of years. We've lived in Florida, Tennessee, and now Atlanta. And I've always had a rule with my sports fandom, which was baseball fandom: you support the home town team. I didn't want to be one of these guys wearing an "enemy hat". Wherever we went, I supported the hometown team.

When I lived in New York, I was a Mets fan.
When I lived in south Florida, I was a Marlins fan.
When I lived in Nashville, I was a Pirates fan, since the minor league affiliate at the time was a Pittsburgh affiliate.
And when I came to Atlanta, I was a Braves fan.

So why go over to the Dream? Well, they were a brand new franchise in Atlanta. Therefore, I supported them. Furthermore, the league had only been around for ten years, meaning that the learning curve as to WNBA history wouldn't be as steep as say baseball's learning curve (pro baseball has been around since 1871 and before).

What really intrigued me were the new APBRmetric tools, all the new stats crunching stuff. I'm a stathead, I have to admit it, but I always suspected that "points scored" didn't tell the whole story of a team. Now, the numbers in basketball actually mean something.

Of course, this was tenative at first, but when I started watching I was hooked. The WNBA, bluntly, has a better class of fan than baseball. Not to say that baseball fans aren't classy, but WNBA fandom is more intense. Furthermore, there isn't the crowd of drunks in the crowd that you have to deal with (a real problem at Marlins games). It's a real "family atmosphere", as opposed to other sports where the crowds are middle aged men. (And there's no friggin way you'd get me to attend an NFL game, even if you gave me tix on the 50 yard line - every football game I've attended was filled to the rafters with obnoxious drunks.)

The players are fantastic. They don't seem to have the massive ego and entitlement issues that have absolutely infected pro sports and which seem to come with media attention and millions of dollars. I don't know if its something gender related, or if its because of the struggle to get playing time for little money, but the players are more likely to treat fans as participants in the sports experience as opposed to nuisances.

I also love the international aspect. One of the problems with pro sports is that there isn't much of an international following - for a baseball fan, MLB is it. From November to February, one has the "hot stove league" where one talks about the upcoming season. Carribbean baseball, which is commonly called "winter ball"? Doesn't exist in the eyes of the MLB follower. Whereas WNBA fans have women's college b-ball to tide them over, and all the pros go overseas to play on Russian and European teams.

There's a whole friggin' universe of basketball out there, and it seems that I've rarely touched the surface. As George Harrison might have said, "the more you look, the more there is to see".