WNBA Could Make Fans Re-Think Perception Of Female Athletes

WNBA Receiving Lots Of Exposure From Tuesday's Sparks-Shock Fight In Detroit

Parker Could Garner Even More Attention From Being Involved In Scuffle

BAD BOUNCE: In Nashville, Joe Biddle writes under the header, “WNBA Receives Black Eye.” Biddle: “It’s an embarrassing moment for the WNBA, a league that struggles to attract fans as it is.” The league “should be more worried that it took an incident such as this to put the WNBA in the spotlight” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/24). On Long Island, Karen Bailis wrote Parker “flunked her first true test as a basketball-playing human being.” As the “new face of the WNBA, she should have been aware of the bigger picture. She should know that on her shoulders lies the responsibility of upholding the professionalism of women’s sports” (NEWSDAY.com, 7/23). YAHOO SPORTS’ Roy Johnson wrote the WNBA “wants attention, but not this kind” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/23). ESPN’s Jim Rome: “In the case of the WNBA, I would ordinarily say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. ... Well, anything except (the fight)” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN, 7/23). SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote, "I fear the long-term effect will be nothing more than a punch line for a wise guy sports blogger or mainstream writer" (SI.com, 7/23). AOL's Matt Watson added, "I'm guessing all that really comes of this is a bunch of people who never liked the league in the first place cracking a few more jokes" (FANHOUSE.AOL.com, 7/23).

STILL A PUNCH LINE: Last night’s edition of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” made fun of the fight, airing a clip of the skirmish with a redubbed announcer saying, "A fight has broken out! A fight has broken out! Oh my God! Finally, something exciting happening in a WNBA game! I wish someone was actually watching this! (Phone dialing) ‘Hey Mom, turn on the TV. Come on, please?’” ABC's Jimmy Kimmel sarcastically said, “It’s a shame that this had to happen just when the WNBA was starting to take off" (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 7/23). Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren: “Some well-known ladies get into a brawl. No, this isn’t another story about the ‘The View’” (“On the Record," Fox News, 7/23). CSN’s David Kaplan: “This may be the best thing that ever happened to that league because maybe six people will watch.” Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Sullivan: “This is more pub than this league will ever get the rest of the year” ("Chicago Tribune Live," CSN, 7/23).

BAD WEEK FOR WOMEN'S SPORTS: ESPN.com’s Jemele Hill wrote of the Sparks-Shock fight and the Danica Patrick-Milka Duno skirmish last week, “If anything, we should greet [these] incidents as our opportunity to show that gender should be a nonissue when it comes to boorish behavior” (ESPN.com, 7/23). NBCSPORTS.com’s Michael Ventre wrote there "seems to be a lot of unrest on the distaff side of the sports world. It’s as if a fragile veneer of ladylike civility that suggest images of bonnets and parasols and tea biscuits has given way to the hair-pulling and homemade shivs of a catfight at a women’s penitentiary” (NBCSPORTS.com, 7/24).

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