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Watching women's sports
Jul. 10th, 2011 11:17 amLast night we did something out of the ordinary and went to a Minnesota Lynx game. We try to go once a year or so, but it doesn't always work out. This is no reflection on our local WNBA team - they always put on a good show and last night, won a hard fought victory over the Connecticut Sun. It's more of a carving out the time amidst other commitments sort of thing.
I am not a jock, though zillions of years ago, my mom and I made costume jewelry to pay for my horseback riding lessons for about 4 years.By high school, I was one of those geeky bespectacled girls who always ends up as "manager" of the girl's sports teams (full disclosure: I was also a cheerleader for about 2 weeks). Since then, I have managed to overcome physical ineptitude sufficiently enough to pick up an upper level belt in Taekwondo and a permanent injury to my left knee. I tried fencing for a bit and some lower impact sports but they didn't appeal to me. Now I embrace spectator status. Truth be told, I'm not interested enough in most sports to follow them very well.
But I like the idea of women's pro sports largely because there were so few of them when I was kid, and will dutifully watch some tennis, a bit of soccer and will vigorously cheer for all women involved in the training or riding level of horse racing (did I mention my life's ambition was to train racehorses, right up until I turned fifteen and got into a fairly serious riding accident? But I digress). Women's basketball fascinates me to the extent that I love the idea of women getting paid to be professional athletes. I understand the difference between a good game and a bad one, though the intricacies of fouls and so forth have to be explained to me. Jana and I had our first real date at a women's basketball game in Iowa so there's some sentimental value there as well. And so we try and attend and cheer for the team, who work so hard to be worthy of that support. I do love watching the little girls and the teenagers in the stands, dreaming dreams that wouldn't have occurred to me when I was their age. I love the idea that these women athletes are inspiring a new generation.
And yet, while we'll probably go to another Lynx home game before the end of the season, and enjoy it just as much as last night's, I'm looking at getting season tix to the MN Roller Girls. Not just because they're cheaper, though that's a factor, but because it's an easier sport for a nonjock like me to relate to. It's fun and often goofy and I understand being a combatant far better than being a pro basketball level athlete. But I'm so glad we get to watch both kinds of women's teams do their thing and I look forward to seeing what the next generation will do with that.
I am not a jock, though zillions of years ago, my mom and I made costume jewelry to pay for my horseback riding lessons for about 4 years.By high school, I was one of those geeky bespectacled girls who always ends up as "manager" of the girl's sports teams (full disclosure: I was also a cheerleader for about 2 weeks). Since then, I have managed to overcome physical ineptitude sufficiently enough to pick up an upper level belt in Taekwondo and a permanent injury to my left knee. I tried fencing for a bit and some lower impact sports but they didn't appeal to me. Now I embrace spectator status. Truth be told, I'm not interested enough in most sports to follow them very well.
But I like the idea of women's pro sports largely because there were so few of them when I was kid, and will dutifully watch some tennis, a bit of soccer and will vigorously cheer for all women involved in the training or riding level of horse racing (did I mention my life's ambition was to train racehorses, right up until I turned fifteen and got into a fairly serious riding accident? But I digress). Women's basketball fascinates me to the extent that I love the idea of women getting paid to be professional athletes. I understand the difference between a good game and a bad one, though the intricacies of fouls and so forth have to be explained to me. Jana and I had our first real date at a women's basketball game in Iowa so there's some sentimental value there as well. And so we try and attend and cheer for the team, who work so hard to be worthy of that support. I do love watching the little girls and the teenagers in the stands, dreaming dreams that wouldn't have occurred to me when I was their age. I love the idea that these women athletes are inspiring a new generation.
And yet, while we'll probably go to another Lynx home game before the end of the season, and enjoy it just as much as last night's, I'm looking at getting season tix to the MN Roller Girls. Not just because they're cheaper, though that's a factor, but because it's an easier sport for a nonjock like me to relate to. It's fun and often goofy and I understand being a combatant far better than being a pro basketball level athlete. But I'm so glad we get to watch both kinds of women's teams do their thing and I look forward to seeing what the next generation will do with that.