Team Talk Thursday

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/frank_deford/12/15/uconn.streak/index.html

Frank Deford wrote an excellent article in his weekly column yesterday. The article focuses on bringing attention to women’s team sports. Deford applauds Connecticut’s women’s basketball team and writes how women are usually recognized for individual efforts instead of team efforts. I agree with Deford. Women tennis players, swimmers, runners and skiers grab the headlines in a male-dominated professional sports world. Seldom do we see headlines praising women’s basketball , softball or hockey teams. The only time women who participate in team sports make the news is when they take their shirts off or pull someone else’s hair during a soccer match. Controversy makes the news. I can’t remember the last time I heard any fan (male or female) say they snagged tickets to a women’s college volleyball game.
Women’s sports have never generated the interest men’s sports have enjoyed. They probably never will. Most girls don’t grow up with the idea of becoming a professional athlete. It’s just not a reality. If you are a woman athlete and you play a team sport, the highest achievement you can hope for is at the college level. Even Olympic women’s team sports don’t rate. The USA softball and hockey teams had rosters filled with incredibly talented athletes. Nobody seemed to care. It was the men’s team that was supposed to bring home the gold. Just look at Team USA men’s basketball, often called “The Dream Team”. People flock to men’s sports at the professional, and college, level. As Deford says, how often do sports commentators even reference women’s teams?
Nothing is going to change as long as women are prevented from participating in society’s elite sports. Football and baseball dominate American culture, and they are only played by men. Title IX helped women make tremendous strides, but only at the scholastic level. There is a glass ceiling in athletics much like there exists one in the business world. Women’s team sports cannot take over and the reason is this: professional sports will always be a male-dominated field. Women don’t draw headlines and they don’t draw other women fans. Even the NFL, possessors of the most women fans, will never become a women’s world. Girls don’t strive to play football because they are just not brought up that way. The same goes for baseball. Sure, there are women who can hit 100 mph fastballs and catch a football. But it’s a heck of a lot easier to be a women tennis player or a downhill skier in today’s society. Individually, you can’t disrupt or threaten an entire sport the way you could if you were a team. Perhaps women are fearful of becoming too dominant, too good. Perhaps men don’t think much of women’s teams because they insist men are stronger athletes. A number of reasons exist why women’s sports haven’t caught society’s eye and why fans fail to embellish women teams. The NFL is an established brand and the market is expanding every day. There is a market for women who play teams sports but it’s very difficult to sell something without a brand.

Parting Points: RIP Bob Feller.

Pittsburgh hired Miami of Ohio’ Michael Haywood…a good choice.