Lack of money spells end of WUSA

AP ^ | 9/15/2003

[WOSG]

NYTimes headline for sure .. Women and minorities hardest hit

[Rockitz]

Wait until the ACLU initiates a Title 9-type lawsuit to protect women's athletics at the professional level. God help us!

[zx2dragon]

Damn, I liked watching the Carolina Courage team play, they have some real talent.

Sorry to see so many cro-mag responses, but that's par for the course here on FR.

[L.N. Smithee]

Wait until the ACLU initiates a Title 9-type lawsuit to protect women's athletics at the professional level. God help us!

Mark my words -- using the successful suit against the PGA by disabled golfer Casey Martin as a basis, there will someday be a suit by a female athlete that says the rules of a sport discriminate against women, and that accommodations must be allowed to bring women into men's pro leagues.

How can I say such a thing? Here's how: The Martin case established for the first time that federal law trumps the established rules of a sport if they are found to be discriminatory.

Martin, born with a congenital condition that doesn't allow him to walk long distances, used a golf cart to get to where he hit the ball. The PGA discriminated against Martin, they said, because their rules said that in all but uncommon specified cases, the game of professional golf is about hitting the ball and walking to it, hitting it again, and walking to it, until the ball goes into the hole.

The SCOTUS said, "No, PGA, professional golf is (or should be) ONLY about hitting the ball," and that it was wrong not to allow Martin do drive to it.

[Rockitz]

It's already happening. Golf is ripe for this ploy. The Casey Martin case is almost certainly the precedent that their attorneys will use. On another front, the Anika Sorenstam sponsor's exemption for a men's event earlier this year was another trial balloon, but next time she'll come back and want some accommodation that will make her more competitive. I suspect a single tournament with some liberal sponsor will actually change the rules for this to occur. Soon thereafter the rule changes will be legally demanded by female players.

Incrementalism is used very effectively by the liberals to change almost everything. One law at a time is their tact. It's certainly worked for the gay and affirmative action agendas. The liberals, alternatively, fight tooth and nail against incremental actions by conservatives; for example, fighting informed consent laws as a way to maintain a woman's right to choose.

Even though it is not in our nature, conservatives need to learn incrementalism as a strategy for change. The liberal agendas are running roughshod over conservative agendas because conservatives tend to be too principled and unwilling to accept incremental changes toward their ideals.

[chuckles]

What's a WUSA? Are we allowed to say that on Jim's board?

I've honestly never heard of it before today.

[KneelBeforeZod]

"Soccer was invented by european ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking"--Hank Hill

[dfwgator]

What's sad is that WUSA games still had a higher turnout than an Arizona Cardinals home game.

[Guillermo]

Excepting tennis, it's BORING to watch chicks play sports.

They are slow and uncoordinated.

[dennisw]

WNBA is next.......


But women's volleyball will endure.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

The WNBA should be next, but for PC reasons, NBA owners are forced to keep throwing away money on a horrible product that nobody but the feminazi and gay/lesbian community cares about.

[dennisw]

They are slow and uncoordinated...........

That in a nutshell is why the men did the hunting & warring and the babes did the cooking and basket weaving.

[truthandlife]

Very poor business plan as well as very poorly managed. They burned $100 million in 3 years and the women were getting paid $49K. Not good on the heals of the Women's World Cup.

[presidio9]

You may be right about the legal gerrymandering, but in the end sports is about entertainment. People pay to see the best possible performance. This is why women's athletics constantly fail. A good boys HS basketball team would have no problem with the WNBA champs, and anybody who really is a basketball fan realizes this. And the liberals who cry out for these leagues are not fans, so they don't. So they cram this nonsense down our throats for a couple of years and then scratch their heads when people stay away in droves. And then it starts all over again.

[xp38]

There is a tv station in Washington DC with the call letters WUSA and I think a radion station too. WUSA was also a movie with Paul Newman many years ago. I thought of those before I thought of women's soccer.

[xp38]

spell check radio station...not radion

[freebilly]

Sorry to see so many cro-mag responses, but that's par for the course here on FR.

Not enough PC responses mourning the loss of a WUSS product for your liking?

Face it, the only reason why 3/4 of the womens' sports leagues exist is because--

1. Colleges have to have women sports or face gender discrimination suits. Universities have had to make choices about carrying a football team (in most cases a revenue source) or a women's field hockey or soccer team (not huge draws, even after 3 decades of PCism).

2. The shrill voices in the "diversity is strength" crowd have convinced the media that women's sports are equal to or better than men's sports. The SF Chronicle shows as many or more photos of women athletes. The problem is the public is not as gullible as the diversity crowd or the media would have us believe. People stay away. Why watch the WNBA when you can watch Tim Duncan? Why watch women's soccer when you can watch Beckham? One at bat by Barry Bonds or a two hitter by Pedro Martinez is worth a lifetime of women's softball.

3.The NBA, NFL, and MLS have all subsidized women's leagues with millions upon millions of dollars, but the fish ain't biting. Women's sports leagues are not money makers. No one wants them to succeed more than the people who are pumping $$$$$$$ into them. Take that lifeline away and the leagues fold like a cheap suit.

But here is the single biggest reason that womens' sports leagues invariably fail--

Most women don't care to watch other womens' athletic events. If they did, the leagues would survive.

[zx2dragon]

I have no problem with a well reasoned reply. I'm willing to bet that most of the offhanded comments came from people who didn't even make an attempt to follow the WUSA.

If you catch just one game or one period of any sport, it can be boring as hell. I remember one Super Bowl where everyone went home early because the game was bad.

This was pro league so I won't go into the schools and lawsuits. However, you're right that it appears that women do not have an interest in sports. WUSA has a double whammy in that it is soccer. As much as I love the sport, it's not that big here in the states.

I hope to see WUSA make a return, but it today's economic climate I don't see it happening any time soon.

[AngryJawa]

With any luck, this will clear some time on ESPN for Professional Women's Combat Pistol Shooting. Guns and chicks - now there's an idea I can get behind...

[presidio9]

Personally I feel that the Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling league failed because ESPN did not get behind it enough. GLOW was definitely before its time.