PSR Showdown
Do Men Care About Women's Sports?

Nope
By Jerry DiPaola
Tribune-Review

Here, all these years, I thought Pittsburgh Sports Report honchos Ellis Cannon and Tony DeFazio were my friends.

Was I wrong?

Don't they know that there is no way anyone can answer this question without getting women's rights groups to picket your car and lather it with pie filling?!?

Oh, well, I've been married for 28 years. That has to count for something. No, the answer to the question is simple: most men-with the notable exception of coaches and fathers-don't take women's sports seriously.

They don't lie to their bosses so they can watch the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

For the most part, they don't bet on games.

And here's the most important reason: The level of athleticism in women's sports is far below that of the men.

Sorry, girls, but it's true.

Remember, in the summer of 2002, when it was a big deal the night Lisa Leslie became the first player to dunk a basketball in a WNBA game? The crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was so excited, officials had to stop the game for several minutes. Leslie had tried it five years earlier in the league's inaugural season. She missed.

Dunks in men's games are so commonplace that they look too easy.

The women's game is slower and the played too close to the floor. Manly men like players who swiftly move up and down the court like acrobatic sprinters.

Sure, women are skilled athletically, but too many of them are just not flashy enough for most men's tastes.

Not that there is anything wrong with women's or girls' sports. Females are just as passionate about winning and losing and excelling in sports as any male. They hurt when they lose. They sweat their craft like any professional and more often than not put on a good show - just at a lower level of athletic brilliance.

Men don't care about women's sports. But I can tell you this: The women-the smart ones-know it and couldn't care less.

Jerry DiPaola is an assistant editor with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He covers the NFL for the Pittsburgh Sports Report and is the father of two children, a son and a daughter.

We Better Start
By Tony DeFazio
PSR Editor

Maybe Jerry's right. Maybe men still don't take women's sports seriously. After all, no one watches WNBA games on TV and the league continues to lose money. Pro soccer and softball leagues for women have folded. Heck, most of my female colleagues chose not to write this column because, frankly, they all agreed with Jerry - men don't take women's sports seriously.

And yes, the athleticism isn't the same on the basketball court, the soccer field or the baseball diamond.

But maybe we're not looking at this debate the right way.

Maybe we need to stop analyzing Neilson ratings, quit tallying tickets sold, and end the Swin Cash-Michael Jordan comparisons.

Maybe strength and power sports shouldn't be at the heart of the debate. Maybe skill sports should.

When Danica Patrick-and her back-to-back top 8 finishes at the Indy 500-can coax a few racing legends out of semi-retirement to defend the "honor" of the male drivers…well, maybe there are some men paying attention.

When a 14-year-old Michelle Wie can shoot a 68 in a PGA event, and play even with such male golfers as Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry, Darren Clarke and Stuart Appleby, among others, maybe more men should take the women seriously.

Wie, in particular, is forcing the issue. At 16, she's on the verge of shattering the ideals of many in the golf world. Not only has she demonstrated the ability to play with the men, but the game itself may be changing to suit her strengths.

In what some see as an effort to reclaim the sport from big hitters like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, there is a segment of the PGA powers-that-be that wants to shorten courses and tighten fairways. In essence, take the "bang" out of the equation and make the game more skill-oriented.

If and when that happens… look out.

Wie and other skilled women golfers will answer the above question for us men, whether we're paying attention or not.

Tony DeFazio is the editor of the Pittsburgh Sports Report. His wife, sister or mother did NOT pay him to write this article.