Why female athletes & sports aren't taken seriously

Recently, a discussion here eluded to the fact that women's athletics are just as competitive as men's athletics. Of course I disagreed.

Now this:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Chamique Holdsclaw, a six-time WNBA All-Star who re-signed with the Los Angeles Sparks in February, stunned the team by retiring Monday.

Holdsclaw did not give a reason for ending her pro basketball career.

"I have a lot of other interests, things I can be as good at as I am in basketball," she told The AP in July 2005, declining to elaborate. "I like to keep things to myself."

The news was a jolt to the Sparks (3-2), who had already lost star center Lisa Leslie to pregnancy this season.

THE WNBA..... It's Fantastic!

I really couldn't care for sports, and I know this is really off topic...but...

...music is treated far worse than the athletics in most if not all high schools. It's rediculous.

The only reason I said that was because your title was "Why female athletes & SPORTS AREN'T TAKEN SERIOUSLY." Otherwise, I wouldn't have said anything.

You can ignore me if you'd like, it wouldn't bother me.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]<font color=FF0033 face=symbol>Freddie wrote: [/QUOTENAME]
...music is treated far worse than the athletics in most if not all high schools. [/QUOTE]

That's only because sports generates income for the school. The music program does not.

But I think the same could be said about female performers. Not all, but a good majority.

How can you take a Sheryl Crow seriously as an artist and then she puts her toilet paper campaign AHEAD of her fanbase and career. Dixie Chicks, same thing. And they're the first to tell you how "unfair" they are treated by their industry. Meanwhile, U2, Sting, PG keep churning out the hits.

Of course it's just as competitive. Take any group of people who are about the same skill level, and it will maximize competitiveness. The only thing is, with most sports, watching women play is the equivalent of going down to your local high school and watching the teams there. They are permanently handicapped due to the inherent genetic physiological differences between men and women, just like young boys are handicapped by a lack of experience and fully developed bodies.

I can't resist...

I think your argument concerned whether people were as 'interested' in women's sports as much as men's, related to Don Imus and the Rutgers incident.

The competition is similar. The ability is without a doubt different, no comparison. No debate there.

Attendance.... no comparison, though the women once again sold out a 23,000 seat arena in Cleveland for the NCAA basketball semis and the finals.

Interest in the sports? Don't talk to the networks regarding the NHL and NBA finals. Abysmal TV ratings, to say the least. The worst ever.

Not sure if you are ridiculing the surprise retirement of the one WNBA player, or the pregnancy of the other.

Retirement: Barry Sanders and Jim Brown come to mind as to unexpected quitting. Barry hurt Detroit for years due to his uncertain stature and eventual fade-away. Why did Barry quit? A sorry franchise? No chance of winning within a couple of years? Broken promises? Boredom? Fear of a debilitating injury?

Moving on....

Pregnancies: Rae Curruth, former NFL player and current prison inmate, ended his girlfriend's pregnancy by having her killed.

Need we talk about the NFL 'idols', such as Pacman Jones, or any of the Cincinnati Bengal pinstripers?

I'm sorry you cannot appreciate female athletic prowess. If you had a daughter, niece, cousin, or a friend whose daughter excelled at athletics, maybe you would.

We watched a couple of rounds of the LPGA Championship last weekend. The women cannot hit their drives or approach shots as long with the same clubs as the men, but I would kill to be half as accurate with my irons as they are.

just my two cents

Maybe women have more important things to do than sports.

Female athletes and female sports aren't taken seriously because, as usual, women get the right idea first. One day, MALE sports won't be taken seriously, and then there'll be something worth fucking WATCHING on the television.

This is a sexist thread.

Especially considering the hip-hop star lifestyle of NBA players, the steroid cases on the MLB, the constant brawls on the NHL, the corruption and referee manipulation from the FIFA...

...and the NFL, for God's sake that's not even a sport.

Personally, I'd rather see less physically capable female athletes behaving on the field with a true spirit of competitiveness and respect for their rivals, rather than a bunch of arrogant male assholes who are overpaid and they don't give two shits about their athletic performance as long as they get a giant paycheck.

Hey, it is hard enough that we females have to keep score all the time. Zebonka and Mr. Jingles are now in the lead. It will be hard to catch up with them. I'm not saying it is impossible, just not likely at this point. What are the chances that Microwave can hit his "reset" button and get back in the game? Well, I've seen it done in the past, but we will have to wait, folks, just wait and see if he can pull it off again. What's that? Oh, I'm sorry, we'll be right back after this message.

Apparently you all read something more into this than I did. I was merely pointing out that if women want to be taken seriously as atheletes, making commitment to the team should be a little higher on the list.

I do have a daughter in sports. She has no female idols to look up to. Here today, gone tomorrow... or announcing that they're lesbos.

I didn't notice Shawn Kemp take Maternity Leave when his 9 fun babies were born.

And Jingles, don't be jealous of the NFL. You simply have nothing as entertaining, that's all. I watch your football. You guys can't even market it correctly. I think Manchester U is great, but I've never seen a sweater worn or even for sale here. It's a "world" sport, huh?

Those of you who don't think sports are important don't have kids or probably "couldn't make the team" anyway.

LPGA golf? LPGA golf? Oh, God please...

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Micrówave wrote: [/QUOTENAME]

I do have a daughter in sports. She has no female idols to look up to. Here today, gone tomorrow... or announcing that they're lesbos.[/QUOTE]

Looks like she doesn't have much of a dad to look up to either. Considering that by calling female athletes "lesbos" you're actually making a homophobic statement.

Oh, no! A painful blow from Mr. Jingles. Microwave is still down and here come the paramedics. If you have small children you may want to take them out of the room, folks.

Correction: Those are appliance repairmen *ahem* repair-persons, folks. Ooh. Let's hope they were well trained for this job.

I don't have kids, but if I had a daughter I'd much rather have her look up to Martina Navratilova and Michele Van Gorp than the media overexposed Hollywood skanks like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Mr.Jingles wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I don't have kids[/QUOTE]

There's a reason for that. You have to have sex with girls.

Anyhoo, you're obviously missing the point entirely. Sure, Martina was awesome. But she changed her agenda. Now she only makes appearances for one reason only... her lifestyle. That's not why millions loved her... and that's why Tennis has distanced from her. How do you look up to that?

A female athelete in a struggling sport that is counting on you to fill their stands, judging from the enormous contract you signed. So you just decide to quit for no reason... or to have a baby in your prime. Your body will never perform at the level you were HIRED and AGREED to. How do you look up to that?

So put in Queen terms, Jinglehead. Did Freddie start marching in parades and backing AIDS charities and events? No! It would have killed his career, and in turn done the same for 3 other really nice guys.

Good luck in the girl department, Jingles.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Donna13 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Microwave is still down [/QUOTE]

Hardly.

Please, I eat girls like Mr. Jingles for breakfast.