A continuing series: My sports pet peeves, part 3

Things are still quiet on the Detroit sports scene. The Lions and Drew Brees? Much too early to even know if the Lions are interested. There's been no media leaks yet, so that subject is strictly on a wait and see basis. Dimitri Young is still slimmed down, so that takes care of the Tigers for the next couple of weeks. The Pistons fire up their stretch run tonight, but what more is there to say? We are in a point guard holding period till the trading deadline ends. The Wings? It's all about the playoffs, literally no one cares about the regular season. With the total lack of news to discuss, you know what that means?

It's pet peeve time.

There are certain sports issues that even I, as a long time sports fan, do not and will not care about. You just can't make me. When it comes to my following pet peeve, no matter how much you twist my arm, you'll only be twisting my arm, and pissing me off. Blame the Olympics hype, as they brought this subject to the front and center of my attention. So what am I talking about?




The media and their pipming of women's sports.









I know it's a bad choice of words, but that is what the MSM is doing...

I'm sorry, but I just can't get into them, despite the blatant attempts to popularize women's sports. Honestly, in the big scheme of things, they truly are fringe sports. Unfortunately, the MSM will never stop trying to convince us otherwise.

For example, why on earth, other than overt political correctness and pressure from the evil that is the NCAA, does the women's side of March Madness (With the women, it's actually March Blip-on-the-sports-radar) get nearly equal time and space as the men's tournament? I'm specifically talking about two distinct media entites, ESPN and the McPaper. They are two of the worst practitioners of hyping the women's NCAA. Did interest suddenly spike? I'd be news to me. Before the tournament, the women's college game generates no more respect than placement in the newspaper agate type and the bottom crawl on ESPN News' screen. But once tournament time comes around, what happens? Magiaclly, the game moves to front and center! No one I know cares. No one I know ever will.

Don't get me started on the media canonization of women's college coaches, such as with Pat Summitt. When ESPN gave over the top coverage in regard to Summitt breaking the all time wins record, they convinently didn't mention the low level of competition she faced for the majority of her career.

The media raves about the domination of coaches like Summitt and Geno Auriemma. They might be damn good, in fact they probably are damn good, but considering the lack of legitimate competition both coached against over the years, their large number wins doesn't say all that much. All it tells me is that they have coached for a a long ass time.

For decades, the number of truly top tier college programs could be counted on one hand. Things have improved some over the last decade or so, but the women's college game still has a larger majority of have-not programs than haves. There are many more opportunities for padding your record with gimme wins in the women's game than the men's. That a school with the stature of the University of Michigan cannot put together a competive program tells you all you need to know about the state of the woman's game.

Everything I said about the women's college game, goes for the WNBA as well. As much as I have ragged on ESPN's Bill Simmons in other places, he is right on with his ripping of the NBA in regard to the shoving of the WNBA down our gagging throats. What David Stern needs to realize is that in thrusting the WNBA upon us, with total disregard to what fans and the Neilson ratings say, 99% of the population will react with the same enthusiam as they would in taking a tablespoon of castor oil. As you might guess, that reaction is not positive.

Ever been to a WNBA game? I checked out a Detroit Shock game once. Only once. I didn't have much choice in the matter. I will say that I'll never go back. In watching the women's game up close, it just doesn't hold up to scrutny. The conventional wisdom that the women are more fundimentally sound is a complete fallacy. Talk about an urban legend. The women's game is played at half speed, yet they still can't make an uncontested layup, can't shoot a jumper straight, and the game is turnover city. But you see the occasional back door cut, so according to the MSM, they must be fundimentally sound. Right...

Women's baketball is on the point of this issue, but you could say the same things about women's soccer, women's Olympic events (Especially figure skating), women's softball, and any other chick sport. The women's (Name any game) is slower, not as creative, and basically boring.

More power to them, they can play all they want at any level. But...Do NOT shove women's sports my face as the equal to men's, and as something that I must watch.

Homer Simpson said it best. "If the Bible has taught us nothing else -- and it hasn't -- it's that girls should stick to girls' sports such as hot-oil wrestling, foxy-boxing, and such and such."