It is just true. The game of basketball, for whatever reason, highlights women's lack of athletic prowess when compared to men. The difference is stark. I would never watch a WNBA for that reason unless I had a friend or relative on a team. The product on the floor is ugly, and I don't mean the individual participants are ugly, but for me watching 10 women playing basketball does not transmit the athletic grace/power/agility that should come with a professional sport.

That isn't the case in all sports. I love watching women's tennis, volleyball, golf, skating, slalom, gymnastics, etc... Many of these sports are more enjoyable for me to watch than watching the men's versions. For tennis and volleyball, the men are almost too big and strong for the way the sport is set up. You don't get good volleys in men's tennis anymore, for instance. The women are more fun to watch (the 3 set matches help v. 5).

Golf is a game where the men obviously drive further, but that fact doesn't really transmit to the viewer, there isn't much difference watching a person drive 200 yards v. 250 (on tv). And women can do the short game just as well.

But women are markedly worse at basketball than men are, and more importantly, that difference comes through loud and clear when watching them play.

I used to play a lot of basketball when I was younger and really enjoyed going to games when I was in college. I've never actually seen the WNBA play but I've been to a lot of women's college basketball games.

One of the things I liked about the women's teams, is that they were more team oriented, without an offense built around one person. There was a lot less dunking but much more impressive passing. I gave up on the NBA around 1990 because it just seemed to get over-the-top in terms of big egos.

I guess the bottom line is that you can't argue a sport into being popular. Look at soccer in the USA. We indoctrinate 90% of our kids to appreciate the sport as tots then, poof, adolescence and they all stop playing and watching.

Good point about women's tennis.
It *is* a lot more fun to watch women's tennis and the great back-and-forth.
And hey, let's not kid ourselves, a lot of the women's tennis players look darn cute!
I wonder how many people would tune in to see Maria Sharapova or Maria Kirilenko in a WNBA style burka?

(okay it's not quite a burka.... but almost)