As a lifelong sports fan, I can understand what it is about women’s sports that most fans don’t particulary enjoy.\u00a0 Let’s face it, the speed, power\u00a0and physicality of women’s sports are\u00a0simply no match for the men’s games.\u00a0 I’m not in any way trying to disrespect what these\u00a0women do.\u00a0 They are fantastic athletes; are great at the sports they play; and deserve all the credit and any attention they get because if it.\u00a0 But in comparison to their male counterparts, outside of tennis,\u00a0it just doesn’t match up.\u00a0 That being said…I don’t understand why the LPGA\u00a0doesn’t get the same recognition as the PGA.<\/p>\n
A perfect example is probably the WNBA.\u00a0 Have you ever watched a WNBA game?\u00a0 These women are great basketball players and great athletes.\u00a0 But when compared to the speed and physicality of an NBA game, the women’s game seems to look just a bit dull.\u00a0 But it’s not just\u00a0basketball.\u00a0 The same can be said about women’s softball vs. baseball, women’s hockey, boxing and what seems to be the newest fad…women in UFC or MMA fighting.\u00a0 Again, outside of tennis, no matter the sport, the women’s version\u00a0just doesn’t seem to match up.<\/p>\n
But lets look at golf for a second.\u00a0 The game is slow.\u00a0 It doesn’t much require the player to be a superior athlete.\u00a0 And the only time any real power\u00a0is\u00a0demonstrated is off the tee, and that really only matters if you’re a spectator live at the event witnessing it first-hand.\u00a0 On TV, you can’t tell.\u00a0 You can’t judge the power of a golf swing via your flat-screen.\u00a0 The only reason you know how\u00a0far a ball went on\u00a0TV is\u00a0because the announcer told you.\u00a0 The women of the LPGA are just as skilled as the men.\u00a0 They are just as accurate.\u00a0 They have as firm a grasp on the game\u00a0as the men do.\u00a0 They just don’t have the power that the men do.\u00a0 But if that isn’t translated through TV, then what’s the problem?\u00a0 What does the PGA have that the LPGA doesn’t?\u00a0 Just the\u00a0longer drives\u00a0as far as I can tell.\u00a0 So what would make the LPGA more attractive?\u00a0 Or…did I just give away the answer?\u00a0 Attractiveness.<\/p>\n
It seems to me that, especially in recent years, when you want to promote anything related to\u00a0female athletes, you sell the women…not the athletes.\u00a0 Is it shallow?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Do I like the idea of it?\u00a0 Not even a little bit.\u00a0 Does it work?\u00a0 Well…that can be argued, but lets just say it doesn’t not <\/em>work.\u00a0 Look at the previously mentioned tennis.\u00a0 It’s quite possibly the only sport where fans care just as much about the\u00a0men as the women.\u00a0 There are some examples to learn from here.\u00a0 It started long ago with the battle of the sexes between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King.\u00a0 It continued when, forgive me as\u00a0I’m not a tennis fan and don’t remember the year, Wimbledon somehow allowed\u00a0“commoners” into the stands and the men began hootin’ and hollerin’ for, I believe it was Gabriela Sabitini.\u00a0 Fast forward to an average player on the tour becoming the most popular player in the world (albeit for the wrong reason)…Anna Kournikova.\u00a0 And next thing you know, every tennis player promoted is either named Williams or is a blonde-haired beauty.\u00a0 Convenient, right?<\/p>\n So does the LPGA need to take that\u00a0route?\u00a0\u00a0Should the powers-that-be\u00a0in the LPGA\u00a0come to Natalie Gulbis and say “A little less MasterCard, a little more Maxim.”\u00a0 Now\u00a0I know that some female golfers are no strangers to a swimsuit, but maybe that’s just not enough.\u00a0 Sponsor exemptions are there for what reason?\u00a0 To get their\u00a0“hot” property out in front of a few cameras.\u00a0 Again, I don’t like the idea.\u00a0 I\u00a0want to see good athletes compete for their athletic ability, not for their looks.\u00a0 But if it’s their looks that bring attention to the game, then who am I to say what’s right and what’s wrong?<\/p>\n All I’m saying is that it has worked to bring some attention to other sports.\u00a0 It most definitely is a shallow way to do so.\u00a0 But in the end, it could possibly bring the viewership for which the\u00a0sports are looking.\u00a0 If it brings in new fans, great!\u00a0 But if it doesn’t, or if those new fans don’t stick around, does it leave a black\u00a0eye on the sport?\u00a0 Well, it sure didn’t seem to for tennis…quite the opposite actually.\u00a0 But that\u00a0doesn’t automatically equal success for the LPGA.\u00a0 Maybe they just wait\u00a0on another phenom.\u00a0 Maybe a new star will rise and not decide to take on the men of the PGA before she even has any success on the LPGA Tour.\u00a0 Or, maybe they just start a lingerie golf league.\u00a0 Want to talk about shallow?<\/p>\n Swing ’til you’re happy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a lifelong sports fan, I can understand what it is about women’s sports that most fans don’t particulary enjoy.\u00a0 Let’s face it, the speed, power\u00a0and physicality of women’s sports are\u00a0simply no match for the men’s games.\u00a0 I’m not in any way trying to disrespect what these\u00a0women do.\u00a0 They are fantastic athletes; are great at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1975],"tags":[2006,2005,22,19,986,2008,2003,2007,71,1981,2001,45,2002,2004,984,2000],"class_list":{"0":"post-1510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-the-pro-tours","7":"tag-anna-kournikova","8":"tag-gabriela-sabitini","9":"tag-golf-stinks","10":"tag-golfstinks","11":"tag-lpga","12":"tag-maxim","13":"tag-mma","14":"tag-natalie-gulbis","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-pga-2","17":"tag-sex-sells","18":"tag-tennis","19":"tag-ufc","20":"tag-wimbledon","21":"tag-wnba","22":"tag-womens-sports","23":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n