Why are women sports so boring?
CHRIS KNEPLEY
Call me a chauvinist if you must, but for some reason, I and millions of other sports enthusiasts around the country find women sports completely unwatchable. There have been many arguments made over the years concerning the lack of popularity in women’s athletics. Some say that women’s levels of athleticism aren’t comparable to their male counterparts. Others say that womens athletics just haven’t been given the television exposure that men’s sports have. In the end though, there really isn’t a clear cut answer to this popularity problem in women sports.
In an attempt to get to the bottom of this issue, I decided to take in the epic women’s college basketball matchup of number 1 ranked Baylor versus the 2nd ranked women Huskies of UConn on December 18th. This was without a question the biggest women’s college sporting event of the season so far and I was amped and ready to go. I grabbed some popcorn and a soda, got myself psyched up and tuned in just in time to see the opening tip. When I woke up 2 hours later, I was left with the same question that I had before the game had even started, if this is some of the best womens sports has to offer, then why the hell is it so boring?
After much consideration, I finally realized that the answer might be not in the athletic contests themselves, but rather in the story lines and controversies that seem to envelop male sports on seemingly an everyday basis. Honestly, how many times a week does an actually game make the lead story on SportsCenter? Usually the top of the hour is led off by some sort of scandal, controversy or debate that gives the public a reason to watch a game other than just to see who wins.
“How will Kobe Bryant respond in his first game after his wife files for divorce?” “Will the NCAA take actions against Penn State amid the Jerry Sandusky allegations?” “Will Jesus ever teach Tim Tebow how to throw?” All of these headlines, make the games more interesting and glue people to their TV’s every week so they can try to see the answers for themselves, and that is the one main thing that women’s athletics is missing when compared to male sports.
So until UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma pulls a Bob Knight and grabs one of his players by the throat during a game, or until 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings takes a lesson from Brett Favre and text’s pictures of her naughty parts to a reporter, then I honestly believe that interest in womens sports will pale in comparison to the same brand of men’s athletes.
Popularity: 1% [?]
So, you don’t like sports is what your are saying? You should try soap operas. You only tune in to sports for the gossip? Interesting…I find most men’s sports “completely unwatchable” for EXACTLY the same reasons you don’t watch women’s sports…I don’t care for drama queens who get paid millions, and it’s not even about the game for them (or their fans, I see now). I love women’s sports,and by the way so do “millions of others”, to counter your unverified claim of the opposite. Newsflash here -we don’t care if you don’t like it, really, go watch your drama boys and dream about their personal lives. I’ll be watching women perform athletically, you know, actually playing sports.
All you have to do to verify my claim is check out the television ratings or attendance for any women’s sporting event. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say the most consistently watch women’s sporting event is the Lingerie Football League, and personally i can only maintain serious interest in that for about 5 minutes… and then i get really really groggy and have to make a tough decision between raiding the fridge or taking a nap.
I’m not saying that women can’t perform athletically at the same level as men, that kinda goes without saying, I’m just saying its bland.
Nobody wants to eat plain mashed potatoes, you gotta toss some milk, butter and salt in there to make that shit edible. Women’s sports are plain mashed potatoes and until they find the sour cream and chives, they’ll continue to under-perform in attendance, television ratings, and revenue.
Khawk, I believe what Chris is conveying is valid. When was the last time ESPN did a piece on the WNBA when it didn’t involve “Make a Wish” or a player having an estranged father who played in the NBA or NFL? I work in both news and sports new professionally, and I can tell you as someone who works in broadcasting, women’s sports (outside of a national competition such as soccer, basketball, etc.) is not appealing to the masses.
While there is no doubt in my mind that women’s sports is more technically sound and possibly even more competitive then men’s, there is very little as far as rooting interest in the games because we don’t really know the players outside of a given handful. If I live in South Florida, who do I care about in the WNBA? If I live Montana, who do I care about in Women’s Soccer? If I live in Rhode Island, who do I have interest in when it comes to volleyball or soccer?
It is completely unfair distinction that women’s sports have, but Chris’ point, while not full of charm, is valid.