hoop dreams - Jezebel

posts about #hoopdreams more →
Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
Female Basketball Star Goes To Europe, Makes History
Jaime Nared, "The Next Candace Parker," Will Play With The Boys Again
Awesome Oregon Girl Barred From B-Ball With The Boys

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

Tart of Darkness
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
My niece plays soccer in an adult non-pro league. Because of previous knee injuries she wears a brace aka a target for the opposing team 'cause she's good enough that they want to put her on the sidelines.

"Ladies" more innocent? I don't f*n think so.
Reply

Tart of Darkness was starred Tart of Darkness was unstarred

ArtfulSlinger
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
As a previous captain of lacrosse and starting forward for four years on my school's girl bball team, in no way are we more innocent. I have seen broken ribs, broken legs, broken arms, all results of actual purposeful rough play. I have punched people while on the court, aggressively fouled and watched one girl get a broken nose during a post-game "good game" high five incident.

Its not innocent but I believe it holds truer to the technical game. And specifically in high school, for most girls sports will not be looked towards careers, like boys will do. While it can get us into a better college or a nifty scholarship, most of us, even the best team players, weren't looking to join the big leagues cause it wasnt a real option.
Reply

ArtfulSlinger was starred ArtfulSlinger was unstarred

SarahMC
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
Hm, I listened to this interview yesterday and I didn't find it insulting. I didn't think he was Othering women players. In his experience, the girls' teams interact differently with each other than the boys. I didn't perceive that he thought it was an inate quality; it's probably the result of socialization. I found his story sweet.
Reply

SarahMC was starred SarahMC was unstarred

shorty63136
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
Fundamentally different?? I don't think basketball qualifies for that.

Now women's lacrosse vs. men's lacrosse? Yeah - I've seen fundamental differences there. Also seen some differences between men's and women's rugby (and I don't necessarily mean less rough). But I would not put basketball on that list.

Exhibit A: Candace Parker.
Reply

shorty63136 was starred shorty63136 was unstarred

Intern Katy
07/17/09

@shorty63136: This is why I found this article so frustrating. I used to play Lacrosse and girls lacrosse is very different from boys, but basketball? It's the same game.
Reply

Intern Katy was starred Intern Katy was unstarred

AthertonMerriweather
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
I think that the difference between mens bball and womens bball is that womens bball is actually more technical and less showy than mens. There are better plays in both offense and defense that involve the entire team. Nowadays in mens basketball there's usually a Kobe or Lebron who's the main focus of the team and the whole point is to get the ball to that person. I find the women's game more interesting to watch.
Reply

onedivinehammer
07/17/09

@AthertonMerriweather: I agree, I went to many Stanford women's basketball games with my grandpa and he would always say that they were way more interesting to watch then men's because the focus wasn't on the huge jump shot, but on the tactical maneuvers and game play.

Also, I played basketball until I was in eighth grade, I was about 5'8 in 6th grade and ended up at 5'11. It was the only time when I was proud of my height and could use it to my advantage. I was pretty ruthless on the court, and that usually translated to a win plus self-esteem. woo.
Reply

Jenloveshercurves promoted this comment Edited by onedivinehammer at 07/17/09 6:21 PM onedivinehammer was starred onedivinehammer was unstarred

tunamelt
07/17/09

@AthertonMerriweather: Women's basketball has better fundamentals. Heh.
Reply

tunamelt was starred tunamelt was unstarred

MarissaExplainsItAll
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
Wow, does this guy really know anything about basketball? I would really love to see the USA Olympic women's team take on any team in the NBA...trust me, they would win most of them. Women play just as agressively as men, yet their vagina seems to impede fair praise.
Reply

hovy
07/17/09

@MarissaExplainsItAll: He covered the Super Sonics for nearly two decades. So no, he doesn't know anything about basketball.
Reply

hovy was starred hovy was unstarred

Ailanthus-altissima
07/17/09

@MarissaExplainsItAll:I agree that women's basketball is much, much more aggressive than people give it credit for. However, I don't think a women's team could defeat an NBA team - at the very least, they would be overwhelmed by the size of those guys (OK, maybe not the point guards...but you know what I mean).
Reply

MarissaExplainsItAll
07/17/09

@Ailanthus-altissima: Isn't it adorable that people think I know nothing about basketball?
Reply

Ailanthus-altissima
07/17/09

@MarissaExplainsItAll:Almost as adorable as the thought of a 5 ft 4 in NBA point guard!

(Sh! No one tell Mugsy Bogues!)
Reply

andromache
07/17/09

In reply to Are Girls Sports More Innocent, Communal?
something is different about girls' basketball? at my college, it was the fact that only about 100 people ever showed up to their games, whereas 3000 people would regularly show up for the boys' games. and of those 100, about 20 of us were in the band.
Reply

andromache was starred andromache was unstarred

tunamelt
07/17/09

@andromache: I had the same experience as you, except that our men's bball team also sucked because we're a football school.
Reply

tunamelt was starred tunamelt was unstarred

GreyCat
06/17/09

In reply to Female Basketball Star Goes To Europe, Makes History
Two things:

First, Europe supports women's sports, indeed, a wider variety of sports in general than America, so I think she should definitely go over there if basketball is what she wants to do.

Second, I don't like how the president of the WNBA gave her a bit of a hard time about not finishing her senior year. There are many celebrated male athletes in the NBA and other pro leagues who either shortened their stay or skipped college entirely. If this was an article about a male athlete it would probably not be mentioned at all and that kind of thing bothers me.
Reply

GreyCat was starred GreyCat was unstarred

la.donna.pietra
06/17/09

@GreyCat: If this was an article about a male athlete--likesay, Blake Griffin--it would be applauding the wise financial decision to play and get paid.
Reply

la.donna.pietra was starred la.donna.pietra was unstarred

Jello Mix
06/17/09

In reply to Female Basketball Star Goes To Europe, Makes History
Prince said she wanted to move her family to a safer neighborhood and a better house. That's reality.

Prince seems like a strong woman with a good heart. Since she's going to Europe to improve her family's situation, I have no doubt she will keep her promise to her mother to finish her education. It seems she truly values her family.
Reply

Jello Mix was starred Jello Mix was unstarred

EKane
06/17/09

In reply to Female Basketball Star Goes To Europe, Makes History
I think the article summed it up best

Frankly, watching Prince walk across a stage next spring, degree in hand, would have been more gratifying than watching her dribble up and down a basketball court in Spain, Poland, Russia or France.

We also must not forget that quick money talks. Hopefully she really does go back... I think she will.
Reply

EKane was starred EKane was unstarred

ShanaElmsford
06/17/09

@EKane: This is true, but an athlete's life is so short and if you really love to play (and if she's gotten to this level in the game, she must have given up a lot, so I hope she loves it), why not take advantage of this opportunity to travel and play and - yes - make some money.
Reply

ShanaElmsford was starred ShanaElmsford was unstarred

sequined
06/18/09

@ShanaElmsford: I agree; while I do think it's preferable for most people to just finish school while they're in it (and on scholarship!), for many athletes the chance to go pro comes once, if ever. They'll have their whole post-35-year-old lives to get a BA; they can only play ball for so long.
Reply

sequined was starred sequined was unstarred

newyorkette
06/17/09

In reply to Female Basketball Star Goes To Europe, Makes History
Epiphanny... do they call her Phanny for short? What a horrible thing to do to your child.
Reply

newyorkette was starred newyorkette was unstarred

EKane
06/17/09

@newyorkette: I think it sounds like a rockstar name. Hopefully she will be a beast on the court overseas and live up to her name.
Reply

EKane was starred EKane was unstarred

Jello Mix
06/17/09

@newyorkette: It doesn't seem to have any negative effect on her.
Reply

Jello Mix was starred Jello Mix was unstarred

Earlier threads | All threads | Show hidden threads | Show featured threads only | Start a new discussion