The other day, while embracing my obsession with Twitter, I came across a tweet that seriously rubbed me the wrong way. A friend of mine (who is a writer for a local sports website mind you) tweeted “is there a sports league that everyone cares less about than the #WNBA please get off my TV”.
Okay, I know everyone has their own opinion about sports—I think golf is incredibly boring—but the fact that this opinion was gender-based bothered me. They’re professional athletes that are good at what they do, so where’s the animosity coming from? Unfortunately I think that it comes from the ongoing comparison between men and women’s sports—which is truly unfair. Men are typically biologically better prepared for sports, so even the best of the best of women’s athletics usually can’t compete with the best of the best of men’s (obviously this isn’t always the case, but a lot of the time). Watching the different sexes play the same sport is like watching two totally different games, they just are two different types of athletes. However, I don’t think that this makes women’s sports any less important or entertaining. Watching a WNBA game can be very entertaining, but you can’t continuously compare it to the NBA because it’s on a completely different level, you have to take it for what it is.
The part that annoyed me the most about this tweet is that my friend, and most people with similar opinions, would have their asses handed to them by any of these women because though they may not play like men, they are still true athletes. Because they’re women it seems like people tend to forget that. And don’t think that this issue is limited to professional sports. It’s apparent in college, high school, and other levels—but that could lead to a whole new post, so I’ll save that for later.
He continued his rant of obnoxious, sexist tweets for the next hour or so, ending with, “and juwanna mann hits a shot with 1.9 seconds left to give phoenix the win #WNBA”. Juwanna mann, really?
Battle of the Sexes 
I can totally relate to this post. My family is very big on sports and I would always watch games on TV with my dad at home. Anytime the WNBA was on, or a women’s tennis match, or any other sort of women’s sport, my dad would always make obnoxious comments about the female athletes. Really, dad? These women could kick your butt in any sport. Because the women’s athletics are so often compared to the male sports, people tend to lose sight of just how capable and incredible some of these athletes are.
I find it ironic how your friend criticized the WNBA game, however he continued to watch it until the end. If it really bothered him and if he really wanted the game “off his TV” then why didn’t he change the channel or do something else. It is a shame how the WNBA gets a lot of crap. I agree with you when you say they are athletes too, they are damn good, but get no credit. Any athlete that makes a career playing sports is phenomenal in my book. After I read your blog post, I googled about the WNBA. I wanted to see what people thought. The majority of links or questions were, “why is it still around”, “is the WNBA important” and many other things. I just find it shocking how people react to women sports as if they are worthless and do not deserve credit. However there are sports that are considered “girl” sports. What about cheerleading? I am sure the majority of people don’t give guy cheerleaders credit. Even though people dislike women sports over men sports (the majority) there are sports that guys get a bad wrap just as well. Just something to think about.
I hate how male leagues do get more attention than women leagues. It’s tough to realize that it is simply a fact of life. I love to play sports and I have all my life. All the way through high school my father would help couch the softball and basketball teams I played on. He would love to go into the retention basin in front of my house and have a little batting practice with me. We would even watch professional softball together on TV. I never realized that this is probably rare for a father to do so, rather than watch baseball or some other man sport. Don’t get me wrong, we definitely watched a lot of baseball too (go Phillies!), but I definitely do appreciate my father for appreciating women’s sports.
Your statement is so true, it’s like he old saying that you can’t compare apples to oranges. I went to a Pitt women’s basketball game and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, for the entire game. Granted it was not a fast pace game but nonetheless a game within its own sphere. Now criticizing the women’s game, I could go in on them because they just failed to execute at the level that I know they can, but I would not compare their level of play to the men’s, who if I may say so need some work on their execution as well.
I agree with Alec, I find it expremely ironic that her continued to watch the game to the end. As a girl who grew up playing basketball (travel, rec, and my school team), I know what it’s like to have men’s sports overpower women’s. My school used to fund the guy’s basketball team way more than the girl’s team. It was completely unfair. I agree that the way the game is played is totally different between guys and girls, but i just wish more people realized that, and recognized the women for their athletic ability.
Now that basketball season is starting, I am starting to go to games, which of course includes Men’s and Women’s teams. I get so anooyed that people only go to the women’s games for “loyalty points”. It drives me crazy! Im sure the girls appriciate the support, but people should be going because the girls are great, not for points. You want to see you fellow pitt students win. Hail to Pitt