In the past few years and most recently in the past few months, I have become more and more disillusioned with professional sports in this country. Instead of having great sports heroes to look up to like Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig, we have been left with little, money-hungry, cry-babies who don't want to be seen as heroes because they don't want to be held accountable for their immoral actions.
So instead of trying to find hope that there is one male in sports with a true heart, I only have to look across the chromosonal divide to find thousands of women who love sports and are not afraid to be looked up to.
Thoughout history women have been overlooked by the sports world and it sickens me. I know women with twice as much heart as the biggest linebacker and it is time that they received some recognition.
Lets begin with the WNBA. Many have seen this organization as a joke, but I see it as a door opening for forgotten athletes. Generally, the highest level of sports a woman can achieve is collegiate athletics and, for a select few, the Olympics. However, women love and enjoy sports just as much as men do and they should have this forum to continue their athletic endeavors.
Just look at the past embarrassment of the USA men's team in the World Basketball Championship. They lost to Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain -- yes, you heard me correctly -- in basketball. Many say the best players weren't sent because they didn't want to give up a full month's time to practice for a national team. What kind of horse #@$% is that?
Take a look at the women: they are preparing for the championship game against Australia tonight in the Opals World Challenge. The country has sent their best women to represent them like Sue Bird and Sheryl Swoopes, these women are playing their hearts out and hope to bring home the glory.
I know many will say that women are not as skilled as male athletes, but that does not mean that they should be paid any less for their time and efforts. The average salary of a WNBA player is $57,000 while Kevin Garnett of the Timeberwolves is paid $22.4 million. The other argument is that the women do not play that long of a season compared to the men. I'll give you that, the women play roughly 32 games a season while the men play 82.
If you accept that women play roughly half the amount of games that men do, then women should at least be paid $8.98 million for their efforts, paid on the same basis as the men. However, sad to say, they are not.
These women continue to play and play nonstop for the love of the game, not because there is a huge paycheck at the end of the tunnel.
Most recently MLB has left a bad taste in my mouth. The players attempt to strike without any regard for the fans. Their only goal in life is to get paid more and more. Whatever happened to team loyalty, when players played in one city because they loved the fans? I suppose free agency killed that.
One of the greatest sports success stories in our time is the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Although this league only had a short span in history, it proved that women loved the game, played for almost nothing and were good.
In 1946, Anna May Hutchison of the Racine Belles pitched six consecutive shutouts and 63 consecutive scoreless innings. The women of summer were not just impressive on the mound either. Sophy Kury held the league record for 1,114 stolen bases, a record only rivaled by Ricky Henderson, who stole 1,279 bases. Bear in mind that it took Henderson 20 seasons to rack up that total while it only took her eight.
If these few examples are not proof enough that women love sports as much as men and deserve recognition, just look at our own Nittany Lions: women's volleyball, soccer, basketball ... need I say more?
