Congratulations To Our Ladies...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well my suggestion of smaller goals and field of play and 80 minutes for women's football was to do with size, fatigue and the ladies having more difficulty lasting the course. [Not compared to me of course; any of 'em could outlast me if she was on crutches and carrying a Fiat 500]. Women's tennis is two sets out of three vs three out of five for the men, not because men hate women but because of physiology. That's why the WNBA ball is smaller than the NBA ball; the three point line is closer and the game is played in 10 minute quarters rather than 12 minute quarters in the NBA.

As to equal pay, it's FIFA that establishes the prize fund amounts for men's WC ($400 million) and women's WC ($30 million). But that's a reflection of how much money the corrupt, swilling swine at FIFA can bring in to their coffers from TV, attendance, countries bidding to hold the competition, advertising, licensing of the FIFA brand and so on. Wimbledon can offer equal pay to men and women because they draw equal interest from TV and fans; but they too are criticized for only distributing about 12% of the total revenues from all sources. However, the men's and women's field are equal in participation too - the men's FIFA World Cup is a much bigger competition than the women's in terms of quality national teams.

[youtube]/2sD_8prYOxo[/youtube]

[RayThom]

[Guinevere]

I didn't watch the final but I saw most of one of the semis and bits of other games. I watch a lot more tennis these days. An analogy with tennis: although it's obvious that any male player ranked in the top couple of hundred would beat any woman, including Serena at her best, I still enjoy many women's matches. That is when they are both trying, roughly evenly matched, and the result isn't clear from the first few games. It's the effort and the uncertainty, especially if you have something invested (like nationality) in one of the players. I don't think that the casual fan could tell the difference between a men's and a women's football match if the TV screen was a little burred and you couldn't see the players clearly.

Reducing the playing time (MajGen suggests 70-80 minutes; not sure what Rube has in mind) would make no difference. Cricket's one day game has succeeded because it changed some of the rules along with the timing. Football could change too and it would be a different game: for example get rid of the offside rule, have kick-ins rather than throw-ins when the ball goes out; and have a sin bin for offenses such as embellishment (there is too much playing for the penalty in both the men's and the women's game, at least at international level). I enjoy the ice hockey but I must admit I'm not a fan of the players being on for 45 second stretches. When I played as a kid (I lived in Montreal from 8 to 11 - I think it was the law that kids played hockey) there was none of that: if you played you played the whole game. I was a goalie and I still have many of my own teeth.)

If you look at the history of challenge matches between men and women, it's not quite so obvious. There are quite a few women I'd take in 3 sets over some of the men in the top couple of hundred.

I think women's soccer is a lot like college hockey. It's more skill and speed than physicality. And I like it better (same with college hockey over professional).

[Guinevere]

Well my suggestion of smaller goals and field of play and 80 minutes for women's football was to do with size, fatigue and the ladies having more difficulty lasting the course. [Not compared to me of course; any of 'em could outlast me if she was on crutches and carrying a Fiat 500]. Women's tennis is two sets out of three vs three out of five for the men, not because men hate women but because of physiology. That's why the WNBA ball is smaller than the NBA ball; the three point line is closer and the game is played in 10 minute quarters rather than 12 minute quarters in the NBA.

Men's tennis is only three out of five in the four Grand Slam events. In all other Tour events, they play best two out of three. I think the same should apply to the women, with some phasing in of that standard -- although it would screw up the current scheduling, and probably lengthen the tournaments by days or a week. Women and men compete at the same distances in endurance sports (like running and triathlon), and if you think about it, where they are slower, they are competing for a longer amount of time. Smaller ball for the WNBA, sure - even 6 foot tall women have smaller hands than men -- but the quarters should be the same length.

[Long Run]

Men's tennis is only three out of five in the four Grand Slam events. In all other Tour events, they play best two out of three. I think the same should apply to the women, with some phasing in of that standard -- although it would screw up the current scheduling, and probably lengthen the tournaments by days or a week. Women and men compete at the same distances in endurance sports (like running and triathlon), and if you think about it, where they are slower, they are competing for a longer amount of time. Smaller ball for the WNBA, sure - even 6 foot tall women have smaller hands than men -- but the quarters should be the same length.

Totally agree that with respect to length of competition there is no good reason for having a difference, and the reason is based in the evolving history of the events. Where there are physical differences, e.g., size of the basketball, then making sensible adjustments is good for the game and competitors. With respect to the size of the soccer field and goals, though, please no changes as this opens up the action and scoring possibilities, giving an advantage to the women's game for being more dynamic and fun to watch.

[Scooter]

[RayThom]

Pelosi invites US women's soccer team to Capitol Hill amid uncertainty over Trump invitation
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pelosi- ... d=64191135

FUCK TRUMP!

[Sue U]

Equal Pay! Equal Pay!

To be fair, the USWNT deserves higher pay than the men; they have consistently won more and brought more fans to the sport.

[RayThom]

Equal pay... equal pay...