Pick a big pro sport in America and you'll quickly find trouble.
Football players can't seem to stay out of jail.
Baseball players can't seem to stray from the scandal of steroids.
What this, even the sacred Bawston Red Sox have abusers on their team? No...
NASCAR drivers can't find sponsors or money or fill seats.
And the NBA...wait you actually watch basketball? I thought sinking baskets was the new way for 18 year olds to get recording contracts?
As Mike Vick presses to come back to football, a boxer is gunned down in a hot pursuit shootout, and more baseball player's retreat behind lawyers for testing positive, I find myself searching for a sport that's still about sport.
A game that's pure, innocent and simple.
Where players are judged on ability and seem to play mainly for the love of the game.
(I know I'm not the only one.)
No, it's not college sports, kids.
There's too much funny money floating around the NCAA. The next recruiting scandal is just a month away I'd say.
Rather, my thoughts drift to the sport that's so easy to make fun of...
...(GULP)...
The WNBA.
The league we've cast into the Pit of Hades, ripped apart and ridiculed.
The WNBA is by no means the most exciting sport I could choose. (Mixed Martial Arts)
It does not got the big names (Tennis) or the hottest girls (Pro-Volleyball)
It is not unique like the X-Games or dangerous like Rodeo.
It's not even a sport I like.
But then again, the WNBA doesn't have scandals.
The WNBA doesn't have steroids.
The WNBA doesn't have big money stupid-stars and a-holes that demand luxury boxes in their contracts. (Fuck you A-Rod and David Beckham!)
What it has are players that bust their tight butts every night.
A small, but fiercely loyal, fan base.
A simple, straightforward, honest game.
Heck, the only thing enhanced in the WNBA that I can see are the commercials that try to hype it like it's the NBA.
It won't ever be. Which is a good, good thing.
In the little I have watched, the WNBA seems like a throw back to basketball from decades ago.
A slower pace. Lay ups. Passing. Mid-range jumpers. And lots of good defense.
Sure, some players are flashy and incorporate the swagger and skills of their male NBA counterparts; but as a whole, the league is purely about competition and winning the honest way.
Right now, I'll take that.
Given the shitter that other pro-sports have become, I am now willing to give the WNBA a chance.
At least until hockey starts up again.
Hey, it doesn't look half bad...
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Reddit!
"At least until hockey starts up again."
amen brother.
Baier, we may need to have a 3 Chords & the Truth intervention. I'm calling Dr. Drew to see if he can make it.
WNBA for life!*
*or until otherwise noted.
it's hard to believe no one at ybnby covered the lay-up competition during wnba all-star weekend.
and you call yourself a fan of wnba.
Lay ups and under the leg free throw competition coverage begins for us in 2010.
WNBA power rankings...
Katie Douglas has the Fever running hot but Cappie Pondexter has the Mercury rising!
http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/powerranking
I watched a WNBA game once.
ONCE.
want a good clean exciting competitive sport that doesn't take too much away from your attention span??
then check out this seasons WORLD SUPERBIKE racing!!!
Production run motorcycles sprinting around the world for 45 min races.
Greatest season so far.
No scandals just guts, talent, and good clean exciting racing.
You want non-stop action, committed players, athleticism, passionate fans?
What about watching Rugby?
Yes, I know it ain't the NFL. But could your average NFL player play attack and defence for eighty minutes on the field, with no pads?
There are amateur leagues here in the US, plus small professional leagues. If you want to see the best of it, you have to go to New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, France..
Setanta (I think still) has coverage of many of the international leagues.
If you want to see some action, look on youtube for Jonah Lomu, or the All Blacks.. you won't fail to be impressed...