Women's Sports = BORING

[Mr Epee]

Ok, got your attention.

Now for the shocker - It's true...

I was just scrolling through the US Open Women's Bracket, and noticed a surprising similarity to Women's Fencing...

There are only a handful of truly competitive players.

The vast majority of players fiddle around, get to a certain point and are summarily blasted out of the competition.

In fencing, I had always thought that this was because it's a minor sport with a generous estimate of less than 10 US women foilists participating in active training programs, with access to quality coaching, and sufficient bouting. This situation is mirrored at the international level.

Looking at Tennis, I'm not so sure that is the problem. Tennis is very popular in terms of participation, and draws on tremendous resources to promote and train athletes.

This makes for unexciting sport.

[sabreman]

You are in trouble. LOL!

[veeco]

I don't know much about tennis, so someone who's better versed into the specifics of this sport might have a different opinion, but I think it's a little different.

Women's tennis is definitely different than men's tennis, and might be a little less showy, because the balls don't go as fast, and it's less impressive, but honestly, I think that it can be interesting and exciting to watch.

I think women's tennis is played differently than the men's. I hadn't realized this until I watched a match that was commented by a very good former women's tennis player who was also a great commentator. She explained very well what was going on in the match, and I can say I understand more the subtle nuances of women's tennis because of her.

See, a women's brain is wired differently than a men's brain, and therefore women use different types of strokes and different types of rallyes to win points. They try and use a much larger variety of strokes and use them differently.

Many times before I would see a woman comitting a fault and I would think that she just sucked. That's because I didn't realize how the stroke that she was receiving impacted that fault and that it was in fact a very hard stroke to return.

I think the main camera angle used when showing Tennis on TV is part of the reason why it's hard to realize. With a different angle you can see it better.

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by sabreman

You are in trouble. LOL!

Nah... the women on this board are likely to ignore Mr. E's misogynistic views and let this silliness sink to the bottom of the thread pile.

Edit: Veeco is right women and men play sports differently. Mr. E is experienced enough to know this. He's just being a sh!t disturber (of course I would never attempt to stir things up myself, being a nun's daughter and all).

[Inquartata]

In what way is the situation any different on the men's side? Frankly I'd rather watch the women ( and not just for of the obvious reasons ).

[RETLAG]

I'm sorry, maybe I'm missing something, but isn't that the case for every individual sport? Men's tennis, men's golf, even NASCAR seem to be dominated by the same handfull of top performers in event after event. My God, look at the Tour de France over the last 7 years. I think this is just the way things are in sport. The people who can compete at the very highest level are few and far between. That's what makes those individuals so amazing! Even in team sports, the relative parity in the NFL and the NBA are carefully engineered with the use of salary caps. Look at MLB, without a salary cap, where most years it's the NY Yankees versus someone else in the World Series.

[achilleus]

There are a number of huge differences between the men and women tennis games, and it's for psychological, physical, and most likely emotional reasons.

That said, when Tiger woods won everything, golf ratings spiked.

When Jordan and the Bulls won everything, ratings spiked.

When the Lakers went on a tear an went 15-1 in the playoffs, ratings spiked to see when they would lose.

When the Pats are in the Super Bowl, ratings spike.

Then again, in men's tennis, Roger Federer wins everything, and no one knows who is.

People like to see the players/teams they know win. So, I'm not so sure that the same people/teams winning is bad for entertainment purposes. As for the women, what they lack in depth, they make up in attitude. Roger Federer, the top men's player, is an almost unknown compared to the Williams, Sharapova, or even Kournikova (who never won a singles event).

For the past several years, the WTA (Women's Pro Tennis Association) has been doing much better than the men. The women are bigger stars, and even though they don't earn as much from playing tennis, their endorsments and modeling contracts are huge. The ATP (Men's tour) has been attempting to duplicate the WTA's success and inject some personality into the men's tour, and until recently, were not succeeding.

[Mr Epee]

My point was more along the lines that we are once again headed to a final four comprised of th 1,2,3, and 4 seeds... all others are not just defeated, but are routinely crushed in the path...

I used to follow tennis very closely, so I am aware of the differences between the men's and women's approach to the sport. Women usually bring good fundementals to the table. I'm not saying that weaker physiology makes it less interesting. I'm saying that a shallow talent pool makes things less interesting.

How exciting is it to watch 6-0, 6-1 matches.

I don't think that brining up this topic makes me a misogynist.

Robert Federer has been phenomenal the past couple of years, but look at the brackets... 3 of the final 8 men came into the competition unseeded.

Keep in mind that the US Open extends the seeding down to the top 32.

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

I don't think that brining up this topic makes me a misogynist.

It just reminded me of your comment that you found women authors boring as well. All women athletes, all women authors... all boring to you... Gosh Mr. E, what do you find interesting about women???

[OROD]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

In what way is the situation any different on the men's side? Frankly I'd rather watch the women ( and not just for of the obvious reasons ).

I'd rather watch the women also... but, in my case, yeah it is for the obvisous reasons. :-)


.

[parrythis]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

Women's Sports = BORING

Obviously, you've never watched Women's Roller Derby or GLOW Wrestling.

<Ducks and runs for cover>

[Mr Epee]

Originally Posted by Fencergrl

It just reminded me of your comment that you found women authors boring as well. All women athletes, all women authors... all boring to you...

You saw that, huh?
I see how my comment taken out of context, you might get the wrong idea!

Revive that thread, and I'll explain. :-)

Gosh Mr. E, what do you find interesting about women???

I see that this is a trap, and traps are always interesting.

BTW - I'm compiling data to back up my earlier statements

(How very male)

[Mr Epee]

Originally Posted by achilleus

There are a number of huge differences between the men and women tennis games, and it's for psychological, physical, and most likely emotional reasons.

Emotional - plays a much larger role than is usually credited.

Originally Posted by achellius

People like to see the players/teams they know win. So, I'm not so sure that the same people/teams winning is bad for entertainment purposes.

This is a good point - BUT this is only interesting when there is a significant chance that the player/team might loose.

Professional Sports Leagues expend a tremendous amount of effort/energy to ensure parity between teams (particularly in the NFL; notably the most successful). If one team became overly dominant, then eventually interest in the sport, as a whole, would fall.

It is decidedly against the interest of major sports to have teams that are not capable of mounting compelling competition. In MLB, the Yankees, have a 4-10 record against Tampa Bay, a small market team, with losing record.

This is interesting.

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

You saw that, huh?
I see how my comment taken out of context, you might get the wrong idea!

Revive that thread, and I'll explain. :-)

I see that this is a trap, and traps are always interesting.

BTW - I'm compiling data to back up my earlier statements

(How very male)

You are at least familiar with women, as you are aware of the traps. My husband claims there are 4 levels to women traps.

Level One: Only the young and stupid get caught in these. "Do these pants make me look fat?" is an example of a level one trap. You can see these and usually avoid them. If they trap you they make you squirm, but are relatively harmless.

Level Two: You see the trap, but often too late. This requires a great deal of back pedaling to remove yourself.

Level Three: You are aware of the trap after you hear the snap behind you. Back pedalling is often useless, apologies and gifts are often required.

Level Four: You live in the trap for quite some time before you realise that you are in it. Some men are oblivious to their existence.

Let me know when you're done squirming Mr. E

[needle]

Originally Posted by veeco

Women's tennis is definitely different than men's tennis, and might be a little less showy, because the balls don't go as fast, and it's less impressive, but honestly, I think that it can be interesting and exciting to watch.

Personally, I find women's tennis more showy (I'm a guy, what do you expect?) and the speed of the ball in women's match is probably higher than the average speed of the five balls in men's (or nine if it's a pair match)

[HDG]

Originally Posted by Fencergrl

Level One: Only the young and stupid get caught in these. "Do these pants make me look fat?" is an example of a level one trap. You can see these and usually avoid them. If they trap you they make you squirm, but are relatively harmless.

Level Two: You see the trap, but often too late. This requires a great deal of back pedaling to remove yourself.

Level Three: You are aware of the trap after you hear the snap behind you. Back pedalling is often useless, apologies and gifts are often required.

Level Four: You live in the trap for quite some time before you realise that you are in it. Some men are oblivious to their existence.

Share some examples of levels 2-4.

[Have At You]

I have a VERY hard time finding tennis played by anybody, male or female, anything but dull.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Originally Posted by HDG

Share some examples of levels 2-4.

I can...

She squirms the conversation so that you admit you'd been cheating. The moment you let out "well I was over at cindy's house" is when you hear the trap shut behind you and you get the sickening feeling in your stomach.

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

Revive that thread, and I'll explain. :-)

And I should go through this trouble because???? To make it easier for you? I think not! Perhaps because you're squirming would amuse me? Ah... that's a possibility.

Originally Posted by Mr Epee

I see that this is a trap, and traps are always interesting.

BTW - I'm compiling data to back up my earlier statements

(How very male)

I await for your back peddling to reach top speed I'm sure you'll do it with a great deal of finesse.

Yes... there are some male sports that I enjoy watching.