A huge part of watching sports is the illusion that the athletes are proxies for the fans. In other words, men want to watch male sports because they can fantasize about themselves playing. It’s really not some vast patriarchal conspiracy.

I’m not a huge sports fan, but I was excited to see this got coverage from a purely feminism slant. No way has it solved the patriachal dominance, but by golly it’s a start.

But please don’t turn “the media” into one massive collective brain. I just covered 12 girls high-school basketball games in three days, I’ve written recent newspaper and magazine stories about the U.S. women’s soccer team and I’ve covered more WNBA games than any other journalist I know.

And I’m very proud of the fact that I cover all those games the same way that I would cover them if men were playing. Are the crowds the same? Unfortunately not, but they’re giving the same amount of effort as the men, and deserve that from the people covering them.

Actually, let me back up a bit — it’s probably more that the media assume that the audience is mostly male, and they similarly assume that those men don’t care about women’s athletics. As far as I can see, the attitude is so widespread that there’s hardly any alternatives that could potentially prove those assumptions wrong.

(I’ve been uninterested in sports for a good decade, so I could be completely wrong. But it certainly looks like galloping laddishness to me.)

Kate C: Much of the world cup was on ABC radio Australia-wide. One of the Fox channels also covered it. That’s how my parents got to see so many matches.

Amber: Congrats to you and the pommy women. Well played! (Though I will point out that the Aussies beat them before the final cause I’m bitter that way.)

And, GAH on the whole stupid cup size thing.

The BBC ‘broadcast’ the match as a written feed on its website. You really feel as if you’re there. Ahem.

But all we _really_ want to know is the collective cup size of the NZ team, anyway, right?

I would love to go see one live with a true fan. I bet that would be fun.

Dave H: Triple double! Wow!

(Note: I began typing this prior to Blog Overlord deletion)

Which is one of the many reasons that the Chauncey Billups trade stinks. He, his wife and daughters were big Shock fans, and he did a couple commercials for the team.

Dave H.: Yeah, that article sucked in a hundred different ways. I will never understand why these puff pieces are even written. Very few people are perfect. Give us a break.

Could it be Destiny William’s destiny?! (Okay, that was lame but who could resist?)

(Well, not exactly that way, obviously. I’ll let you imagine the male version.)

But even when I got past that, I was appalled by the story. A saint in sneakers? I’m sorry, but did the writer even see the Shock-Sparks incident last year? Parker wasn’t the only person to blame for that, by any means, but she was one of the instigators.

She’s a great player – the best player in the league as a rookie – but that story made me cringe.

Here in Canada, women’s hockey is starting (finally) to get a bit more attention. Oddly enough, that’s due in part to Don Cherry (for non-Canadians, Cherry is nationally-known hockey commentator, who is… Archie Bunker-like in his world outlook). Not the world’s most evolved person, he always said that women’s hockey wasn’t worth watching (he likes a tough physical game, Mr. Cherry).

Then he saw a women’s team play, and was instantly hooked.

Because though he’s a bit of a blowhard, Cherry loves well-played hockey. So he bought (or bought into, not sure) a team, and spends a fair amount of his free time publicizing it, and the league. Because of him, they get more attention then they might have otherwise.

It totally shows inequality that women’s sports get neither the press time nor the advertising dollars that men’s sports do. It’s not an accident that the president filled in his predictions for the men’s college basketball finals but not for the women’s that’s happening at the exact same time. What messages does that send? That women aren’t as important as men.

David Beckham and Tom Brady are written about equally for their looks and lifestyle as well as their athletic ability.

Michael Jordan is an attractive man. He’s the complete package. I wish an article about him had opened with his cup size……

Uh…

Anyway, I don’t think it shows inequality that the leagues are not watched as much. For me, it’s scope and scale. I’d love to see women playing in the NBA – capable of competing with the men. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some are that capable.

Of course, that’s my personal take on it. I don’t watch college sports much because they aren’t at the same level as the pros, either. Obviously some people do, though.