From: ellie@ora.com (Ellie Cutler)
Subject: misc. and women's hoop
Organization: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 13:21:42 GMT

From this morning's paper:

Dan Majerle had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and should be
ready for training camp.

Detlef Schrempf says he'll ask to be traded if his contract isn't redone.

Sean Rooks expects to sign with Dallas today.

Magic Johnson pretty much spilled the Bird beans on Arsenio, saying
"I know he's going to retire this coming...uh...he might not play
again."  Also, Byron Scott was quoted as saying Magic is definitely
returning to the Lakers.

And, on women in basketball...go see "A League of Their Own." Build
the stadiums, and they will come.  Give them equal marketing money and
they will come.  When Boston got a women's pro bball team, I tried in
vain to get tickets, but was shuffled around to 4 different phone
numbers and no one could tell me how/where to buy tickets.  The team
played at Merrimac College (what?where?), not the Garden.  I read
soon after that the league dissolved due to lack of interest. On whose
part? Not me - a prospective fan.

Women's games are shown early in the morning or late at night or not at
all.  The writeup of the Dreamettes first game, a romp, got a full page
in the paper, without showing a boxscore or giving much actual game
coverage.  The article focused instead on Barkely and Magic in the
stands.  This perpetuates not taking women's sports seriously.

There is a whole world of new fans awaiting women's pro team sports.
Why do you think most women don't generally head for the sports page on
Sunday morning? Or show minimum interest in heading to Foxboro Stadium
to catch the Pats, or Fenway to watch Slugger Jack Clark, or turn on
the tube to watch men bang around and yell at eachother or tune into
Glen Ordway screaming on the radio? Clue - lots of women think watching
men play is *boring*.  Me - I'm a sports fanatic and I take what I can
get.

It goes without saying that the Dream Team is on a different playing
level than the Dreamettes, but I think that is changing all the time.
Women's skills are improving year by year, as it becomes more OK for
girls to start playing young.  Year by year, they get more respect.

This was not always the case.  When I played ball, we had a state
champion team that was shipped to a local elementary school to practice
(because the boy's 2-10 team used the high school gym), we got no
showers (who needed them - sweating was unladylike), we got no PR
or press except for a blurb in the school paper saying the reason we
won the state title was because our coach promised to take us out for
sundaes afterwards.  Oh yeah, and we had to play in dresses.  There
were two girls on that team who would've been Division 1 All-Americans,
if there'd been such an opportunity then.

In the 50s and 60s there was no support for girls to be gym rats - we
had to wash the dishes after supper, not go out and shoot hoops.  This
is true. It may seem like a long time ago, but it was that era that
would have produced the Julius Ervings of women's basketball.  In the
past 10 years it's become more OK for girls to start young and play
serious hoop.  I expect to see the fruits of that change show up in
college hoop over the next 10 years.

I see Cheryl Miller behind a microphone and it burns me up.  I see
Nancy Lieberman toiling on the Washington Generals and it burns me up.
If Europe can support women's pro team sports, why can't the US?  There
is a whole audience waiting.  For some reason, it's OK for women to
play golf and tennis, but not basketball and softball.  I hope this
changes in my lifetime, and talented female athletes can move back from
Europe and out from broadcast booth and off the coaching bench onto the
court where they belong.

*off soapbox*

Well, you guys didn't really think I was opinionless on the subject, did you?
And a big ;) for those who think feminists have no sense of humor...
-- 
        Ellie Cutler

        ellie@ora.com               
        uunet!ora!ellie
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro