Viewpoint Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned

I was born and raised in Southern California and always took pride in our local teams. I grew up admiring such Dodger greats as Don Drysdale, Steve Garvey, Steve Yeager and Davey Lopes. I sat in front of the TV watching Kareem, Coop and Magic. I knew the sounds of Vin Scully and Chick Hearn as well as my dad’s voice.

But there was one problem. As hard as I tried, and as much as I wanted, I could never, ever be like any of those players. After all, I was a girl.

I couldn’t be a Dodger. I couldn’t be a Laker. Instead, I had to sit and dream that someday my brother would grow up to be like them. Except for tennis (and a little golf) there was not much for a young female athlete to look forward to. But that is changing. Now I can take my daughter and son to a Sparks’ game, or watch them on TV, and be proud that Los Angeles not only has a women’s professional basketball team, but indeed has the best women’s basketball team around.

My daughter can watch Lisa Leslie do her magic in the post and be able to say, “I want to be like her someday.” And why shouldn’t she be able to? Why isn’t she able to more often?

Because there are still men out there whose thinking is so shallow that they cannot stand the thought of admitting that women are great athletes. There are people out there more concerned with ridiculing the game than promoting it.

Shame on you, Mr. Simers. I plan to be at that parade; that is, if people like you don’t find a way to bring in the rain.

Ria Cousineau

Altadena