WNBA may have a fighting chance
HELENE ELLIOTT
If players care enough to fight, that can't be bad.
The WNBA today will announce the results of its review of Tuesday's brawl between the Sparks and Detroit Shock, issuing a statement that will be appropriately stern (that's a small "S") and call upon its players to realize they're role models for their gender.
It will come off as a moment of shame, but that's hardly the case.
Not that games should devolve into mindless slugfests, but this might be the best thing that has happened to the WNBA.
Not only because footage of the game was all over the morning news shows Wednesday, or because videos of the incident had drawn more than 250,000 views on YouTube by midday, though that kind of exposure is priceless.
It is a good thing because it forces us to think about the ways we perceive female athletes -- and the way female athletes perceive themselves.
The WNBA came of age this week, during its 12th season, when the Sparks and Shock displayed the raw passion that's usually ascribed only to men. Give me that emotion and drive any day, not the supposed "purity" and teamwork the WNBA has promoted as its strong points.
The teams had been playing a physical game that was poorly controlled by the officials.
Tensions had nearly boiled over a few moments earlier, when Detroit's Cheryl Ford missed a free throw and the Sparks' Candace Parker pursued the rebound.
The conflict erupted when Detroit's Plenette Pierson and Parker jostled for position for a potential rebound. Parker appeared to spin Pierson to the court. Pierson rose, threw Parker down and walked up to her aggressively, almost walking on her. Players from both sides then jumped in.
Parker, a heavily hyped rookie, has been tested by opponents all season and she had to stick up for herself. She might be suspended a game or two, but eight games is a good starting point for Pierson.
There should be no suspension for DeLisha Milton-Jones, who swatted Mahorn on the back after he pushed Sparks center Lisa Leslie and she fell backward to the court.
If Milton-Jones were a hockey player, a dozen websites would have been launched to honor her for protecting a teammate.
Mahorn said he was trying to defuse the hostilities, but his body language said otherwise. He could have put up his hand in a "stop" sign. He could have put out a forearm and motioned Leslie away.
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- Shock Doesn't Let Sparks Slip Away Sep 15, 2003
