# Bite me WNBA **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 18, 2000, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969 "2000-07-18T13:16:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/1 "2000-07-18T13:16:40Z")
Why? Because no matter how much advertising you do, no matter how much you scream about how you are better than we are in your commercials, no matter how much you proclaim that you got next, you are still a sport that does not fit in the category of major sports. You fill a hole that has been empty for too long, but ramming your product down my throat will not make me watch or care any sooner than I normally would. I wish you success, but I don’t care about being rolled over by the WNBA advertising machine just because you think I should all of a sudden care whether the Mystics beat the Shock. Quit portraying yourself as a female clone of the NBA. Branch out onto your own and quit leting yourself be portrayed as the little step sister to the NBA, but do it in a way that keeps me from having to hear about how great a 3 year old league is. Growth and acceptance take time, and can not be forced down anyone’s throat. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/2 "2000-07-18T13:24:04Z")
While channel-surfing, I did spend a few minutes watching the WNBA All-Star game. In about 5-10 minutes of viewing, I didn’t see a single person, on either side, hit any shots other than a layup. _In an All-Star game._ (Hmmm … maybe that does make it like the NBA.) Another problem I find I have with it is, generally, everybody in the WNBA is the exact same size and has the same types of skills. While perhaps this is a good thing to hoops purists, I find it almost distracting. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/3 "2000-07-18T20:43:49Z")
The score of a recent Mystics game: 60-48. Come on, folks! This is a college score! Teams that score 60 points in a game in the NBA lose by 40! I, for one, find it disturbing that a player who was injured for most of the first half of the season (Rebecca Lobo, I believe) and be the leading vote-getter for the all-star game. We all know all-star voting is a popularity contest, but come ON! Bitch didn’t even play for several weeks! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/4 "2000-07-18T21:04:31Z")
And another thing: IF you are going to start a professional sports league, get some real names for the goddamn teams. A team nickname should be pluralized. “New York Liberty” is stupid. Why can’t they come up with proper team names? Singular team names sound like soccer teams, and soccer isn’t a real sport - it’s just an excuse for Europeans to kill each other, as if they needed another excuse. Another thing I hate about women’s sports is how in the Olympics the men play baseball, but the women play softball. What the hell’s that? Women can play soccer on the same field with the same equipment, they play basketball on the same court, they run the same distances in track, but they can’t play proper baseball? WTF? And what’s with the shorts? If you’re going to play baseball in the Olympics, play BASEBALL. Women can throw a baseball just as well as they can a softball. Softball looks stupid; it makes it look like the women have to play an inferior sport. My little sister plays baseball and she kicks ass and takes names. She doesn’t need to play a dumbed-down version. As to Iampunha’s comment about Rebecca Lobo getting voted into the All-Star game, voting isn’t any better in the other sports. Mike Schmidt was voted into baseball’s 1989 All-Star game, and he had RETIRED. I mean, Mike Schmidt was the greatest third baseman who ever lived, but the guy hung it up in early May and people kept voting for him. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/5 "2000-07-18T22:03:22Z")
I… um… er, that is… well actually… yes. I like the WNBA. :: hunkers down :: ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/6 "2000-07-19T09:49:59Z")
'Round here, there were WNBA tickets being given away with a tank of gas. Yup. I’m all over that. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/7 "2000-07-19T17:06:30Z")
Regardless of how “silly” the WNBA may seem to some, I still really am cheering for them at heart, hoping that more women get encouraged to play in agressive, competitive sports other than the usual tennis, etc. IIRC, Women’s tennis and golf used to be openly mocked as well, along with women’s track & field. What bothers me most is that more women are not actively participating in a sport where they CAN compete equally against men, and CAN beat them. Where an 80-pound woman in a wheelchair can develop the skill to beat a 300-pound athletic man. I’m referring, of course, to target shooting. (sigh) Enough said. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/8 "2000-07-19T17:21:24Z")
I really hate how teams like Charlotte are setting the teams up to sound like “little sisters” to the NBA. Awww, look at that, isn’t is cute, “The Sting” to go with “The Hornets?” In high school the men were the Bearcats–and all the female teams where the “Bearkittens” Jesus christ! ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/9 "2000-07-19T17:27:14Z")
I would be thrilled if they succeed, because it’s about time and if I were to have daughters they will likely be freakish giants in need of shoe endorsements. I just hope they don’t ruin the concept by overhyping it and stuffing it down the collective throat of a shaky and still-developing fan base. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/10 "2000-07-19T20:28:15Z")
With all due respect, Mully, I don’t think you’re their type. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/11 "2000-07-19T21:00:57Z")
I like the idea of having a WNBA, and for that matter I’d like to see a WNHL and WMLB. But Jesus Christ: 1. Can the cutesy and stupid names. “Mystics” instead of Wizards, “Sting” instead of Hornets, isn’t that cute. Next we’ll have the Chicago Cows and the Toronto Maiasaurs. They should have real names, names of aggressive animals and local interest, like the “Leopards” or something. 2. If they ever have pro women’s baseball, God please make it BASEBALL, not softball. 3. Women’s hockey should have hitting in it. Not fighting, I mean, but checking. 4. Let the teams develop their own fan base. It will take time for people to really fall in love with the teams, and maybe some will have to fold or relocate, just as they do in other pro leagues. Telling people they’re evil if they don’t watch the New York Liberty won’t much help. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/12 "2000-07-19T21:10:57Z")
Well, FWIW, the Utah Starzz doesn’t have a cutesy name. The only relation to the Utah Jazz is the double Zs. And that’s because that’s a thing in Utah. They also have the Buzz and the Grizzleys. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/13 "2000-07-19T21:43:48Z")
You don’t consider STARZZ and attempt to be cute? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/14 "2000-07-19T21:49:01Z")
Well, not in the same sense the The Washington Mystic or Charlotte Sting. Sure Starzz is a slight play on The Jazz, but it’s also a play on the baseball team and the hockey team. The entire state of Utah is trying to be cutesy, not just the WNBA team. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/15 "2000-07-20T03:02:50Z")
Hey at least it’s the Detroit Shock. It could have been the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Shocks. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/16 "2000-07-20T11:18:51Z")
Eh, don’t even get me started on the idea of a Utah team named the Jazz (or an LA team named Lakers, etc.) At least the Utah team didn’t go with the Utah Tabernacle Choirzz. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/17 "2000-07-20T13:02:26Z")
The problem with Starzz isn’t so much that it’s just cutesy, the problem is that it’s obviously cutesy in a way that’s deferential to the NBA team. The NBA owns the WNBA so it’s their buck, but it gives the WNBA a minor league flavour that doesn’t go over well. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/18 "2000-07-20T14:01:48Z")
I’d like to see the WNBA branch out into areas that aren’t traditional NBA towns/strongholds, possibly by incorporating more areas that were left vacant by the folding of the ABL. Since the NBA is willing to bankroll the league, I like the idea of taking a chance with some partially unexplored and untapped areas. ---
**Author:** ![GreatKingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@GreatKingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreatKingRat)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/19 "2000-07-21T01:51:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mullinator \* > \*\*Eh, don’t even get me started on the idea of a Utah team named the Jazz \*\* The Jazz originated in New Orleans, why they did’nt change there name when they moved to utah is a mzztery. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2000, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bite-me-wnba/25969/20 "2000-07-21T14:39:55Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the pain that is watching 3 Ball. And the bright idea to replace the **dunk competition** with it at the _men’s_ all-star game.