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Over Here in Happyville…

By Amy Sullivan | @sullivanamy | March 5, 2009 | +

I’ve been trying to work up some sort of outrage over some piece of the whole Rush Limbaugh hoo-hah, but there are just some days when I have had it up to here with political squabbles and instead go looking for escapist reading to distract me. If, like me, you’re in need of a few Rush-free moments, here’s what I found in the sports pages:

  • Basketball players haven’t gotten any better at shooting free throws in the past 50 years? Fascinating. And it explains so much. (Two words, Wizards fans: draft pick.)

  • Our colleague Bobby Ghosh tells the story of two young guys from India who at this time last year had never played a game of baseball in their lives, and are now pitching in spring training, having been signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Just don’t compare them to “Slumdog Millionaire.”

  • Could there be a better time to make another go at launching a Women’s Pro Soccer League? Yes, definitely. But we’ve always got room here in the nation’s capital for another struggling sports team, so bring it on!

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    • Paul-no not that one

      “but there are just some days when I have had it up to here with political squabbles”
      .
      You have made two posts this week and one of those was your attempt to stir up a “squabble” about the Sebelius nomination. There might be other choices than squabble and inane.

    • http://www.inworldstudios.com jayackroyd

      What frickin’ planet? Sheesh.

    • newfloridian

      Amy

      Nice to see a delightful post on other subjects. I agree with you the politics gets old after a while. The problem now with Swampland is that now that michael has invited all his goons to post thoughtful discussions of positions is probably a thing of the past.
      The Pittsburgh story is a very interesting experiment thhat may open up American sports to many cultures. Look what happened with basketbball. Used to be American basketball teams clobbered every other country they played, now… not so much.

      Women’s soccer teams: I absolutely love the game, have a soccer coaches license for kids coaching (sons many years ago), loved to play it in coaches leagues, was a huge supporter of the Tampa bay Rowdies babck in the day. That was a facininating period of time when we got to see the greatest players in the game. We pulled
      40,000 fans to a game down here. New York and Tampa Bay was the huge rivalry. However, since those days soccer has lost it’s appeal for some reason. Women’s soccer league? When we can hardly support a men’s soccer league, makes no sense!

    • newfloridian

      Jeeze, guys lay off Amy!

    • http://www.inworldstudios.com jayackroyd

      But the free throw story on the front page of the NYT was very irksome.
      .
      The reason the success rate hasn’t changed in fifty years is that it is a solved problem. Technique hasn’t changed. Preparation hasn’t changed. And it is not a critical part of a basketball player’s skill set.

    • http://nicewhitelady.blogspot.com/ joyomama

      Newfloridian; your argument against a women’s soccer league makes sense only from a business standpoint. I understand that is the dominant paradigm in the US, but consider, as a coach and the parent of players, the lack of a “league of their own” on female athletes. Surely there is a model that could allow talented athletes of both genders compete and at least not be paying for the opportunity.

    • http://nicewhitelady.blogspot.com/ joyomama

      And thanks, Amy, for Happyville

    • newfloridian

      joyomama,

      The Women’s US Olympic team is perhaps the model, but the economics of reality suggest that a women’s league will never make it if a men’s league can not make it. Just a fact of economic life. Also are there any women’s leagues in other countries where the sport is king that have made it as an economically viable entity? If they can’t rise above just a curosity game in the countries that love the game how can it do more in the US – - which is basically anti-soccer?

    • rose83

      Also are there any women’s leagues in other countries where the sport is king that have made it as an economically viable entity?
      .
      European countries tend to be less interested in women’s sports (BTW, in my experience Western European countries tend to be both more sexist and racist; France loved Obama when he visited but if he were traveling there as a University of Chicago law professor some restaurants probably would have refused to seat him.). Tennis for example is very popular in Europe – usually only second to soccer in most countries – but women’s tennis is significantly less popular than men’s tennis. OTOH, in the US women’s and men’s tennis go through cycles where one is more popular than the other.

    • koabd

      Didn’t we already have the women’s soccer league experiment in this country? The WUSA (whose Boston Breakers club played in my backyard when I was in college) was supposed to capitalize on the alleged interest in US Women’s soccer post its victory in the 2000 Women’s World Cup. Unfortunately, it had the misfortune of combining two things Americans have proven over and over to have little interest in: women’s professional athletics and soccer. I’m rooting for them, but I don’t see this league fairing any better than its predecessor.

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