Thoughtful REBUTTALS to Shaugnessy's position

[bdbd]

From 4/1/ Boston Globe op-ed page.

 

[bags27]

The very best rebuttal is....silence

 

[gregggrinspan]

Actually, I have trouble holding my tongue on this. Many of us have high standards. ones towards which we attempt to measure ourselves or plot our dreams for ourselves. It could be a young physician wanting to be like William Osler; a young pitcher wanting to be like Sandy Koufax or Nolan Ryan; a young entrepreneur wanting to be like Steve Jobs or Andrew Carnegie; everyone gets this...I think. So, when the destinies are aligned such that we have the opportunity to feast on what is possible, we also have the opportunity to visualize that which we may be capable ourselves. What is it the Katy Lou and Breanna have said about Geno....that they came because he would bring out the "best in them". To infer that there is something wrong with the eventuality of enormous success when talent meets deep desire meets talented coach with deep desire is ludicrous. My sense of those who feel that the the 1950 Yankees, or the 1960 Celtics, or the late 60s UCLA Bruins should be "broken up" is that those folks just don't have what it takes, even in their dreams, to excel in anything. Sad. This kind of success doesn't last forever. Ask the Yankess, the Celtics, or the Bruins. But, to disparage that beautiful gleaming light in the sun when it does grace our lives has me shaking my head and feeling badly for the poor souls who are missing out.

 

[UcMiami]

Greggrinspan - nice passionate defense of excellence!
For me this is unfortunately not about excellence at all. It is about male dominated sports media with a fairly high percentage of people who don't like watching female sports and specifically women's basketball, who then find it necessary to justify their dislike by latching on to some narrative, or by making an off-hand sneering comment.

Women can't dunk and don't play above the rim - well neither did men for most of the history of the sport, and it is only in the most recent past that the 'look at me' glory of a dunk became the calling card of the men's sport. Larry Bird/Magic Johnson - almost no highlights of either of those two icons who revived the NBA include video of them dunking.

There is no competition - the WNBA has lots of competition but they don't bother watching because they just don't like women's basketball, but they will watch the USA Olympic women's and men's team neither of which has lost in a lot longer than Uconn, well because it is 'patriotic I guess.'

This whole thing really is about predominantly male attitudes to women's sports and primarily team sports. Not excellence, not competition, nothing to do with the glory of tight competition, just 'we don't like watching women compete in athletics.'

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Rebecca answered the MCP years ago: Bullshit Question.



An All Star Panel debunks the MCPigs.

 

[BigBird]

Stephen A. Smith was on ESPN today, offering support for Dan S.

...and now we know what the "A" stands for. And is wasn't his grade in Journalism. The guy just irks me, so I usually follow Geno's good advice: I don't watch him. But today, he sneaked onto my TV.

 

[huskyd]

No Mas! Enough about Shaughnessy. It's time to lace 'em up and forget the nonsense.

(The Spanish was from Roberto Duran; the winner, pictured above, was Sugar Ray Leonard.)

 

[UcMiami]

Rebecca answered the MCP years ago: Bull Question.



An All Star Panel debunks the MCPigs.

I had forgotten about this panel discussion until you reposted it. And I actually think Jen's response was perhaps the best: Women's team sports get coverage on primarily when there is something negative happening - a coach doing something inappropriate, Griner's punch years ago (about the time of this panel), Solo's domestic violence, whatever the subject - to have something be newsworthy on a national scale when it is positive (and not a WC or Olympic Gold) is good.