Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below decks of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. My alleged coworkers, Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken, are currently pouring over facts and figures in anticipation of the upcoming NFL and NHL seasons, so they tell me ...
I have got to have a staff meeting pronto.
Anyway, with college football underway and the NFL regular season right around the corner, in an effort to be relevant the WNBA, or at least the Phoenix Mercury, has chosen a bold new strategy to attract fans. Not necessarily basketball fans, mind you. Instead, it has decided to highlight some of its players doing their best to look like playas:
this week a hot new bombshell enters the villa pic.twitter.com/iNaeMPcjv2
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 27, 2024
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 27, 2024
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 27, 2024
Um ... wow.
Much to the annoyance of the woke, it has been a long-running tradition throughout history that people like to look at attractive members of the opposite sex. Sports, with its innate requirement of peak conditioning, in order to succeed, provide a rich crop of toned and tony men and women for viewing pleasure. The entertainment world has long been replete with former athletes turning the face the good Lord and their parents gave them, plus the physique they literally worked their butts off for, into box office gold. Some go the endorsements route, as this blast from the past (2000) illustrates.
Long story short, looks are a part of life, and if you've got 'em, good for you.
Where things get messy is when there is the demand not to sexualize athletes, be it specifically or in general, but instead view them strictly as athletes while simultaneously promoting them based far more on looks than athletic acumen. Basketball-wise, the Mercury features Diana Taurasi. Taurasi is 42 years old, yet still plays at a high enough level to have been selected for this year's USA women's Olympic basketball team over on and off-court phenom Caitlin Clark. It warrants mention the selection was not without controversy.
MORE: Caitlin Clark Snubbed for US Olympics Women’s Basketball Team; She Responds With Grace and Class
Nevertheless, Taurasi was on the team, and she did help it win the gold medal. Also on the Mercury is Brittney Griner, of Russian prison and new-found appreciation for America fame. Like Taurasi, she was on this year's USA women's Olympic basketball team.
MORE: Brittney Griner Sounds a Different Tune on the National Anthem After Stint in Russian Prison
The Mercury's Kaleah Copper was also on the Olympics squad. So, what does the Mercury social media team emphasize? Sophie Cunningham, averaging a whopping 7.7 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per game, coming to work dressed like Bambi Lé Pouf-Pouf.
Look, I get it. Cunningham and teammates Monique Billings and Rebecca Allen are very nice to look at. They can wear whatever they want. Doubtless, a fair portion of the boys and men attending Mercury games know they will never marry one of the three. It's a harmless fantasy. But what is the message being sent? With all of the WNBA's inbred appetite for self-induced irrelevancy, is, "Check out our scoring, our passing, and our rebounding ... but first check us OUT!" something they want to sell? What message is coming from the WNBA and Mercury to young girls who dream of playing basketball full-time when they grow up? Moves on the court are essential, but looking like someone upon whom guys want to make a move on the dance floor matters more? Not a good look, Phoenix Mercury and the WNBA, no matter how good-looking one finds Sophie Cunningham.
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