Summer of Women Really a Bummer

Every four years, American fans of the Summer Olympics are subjected to NBC’s brand of mindless flag-waving and willful ignorance of a world outside our borders. With her “Summer of Women” retrospective, Diane Pucin and The Times offer us another serving two years early.

Pucin’s declaration of 1996 as the “Summer of Women” might be read as a job application to Dick Ebersol. Why was this Olympics so named? Was it because it was a year in which many women’s records fell? Or because the number of women’s medals dramatically increased? Rather, the “Summer of Women” label is due to the fact that in women’s events, the United States did extremely well.

I wonder if Pucin’s research included interviews with the silver medalist Brazilian basketballers? Chinese soccer and softball players? Russian gymnasts?

ALAN JOHNSON

Long Beach

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Diane Pucin does well to avoid the word “sexism” in noting low interest in women’s pro sports. The basic point is that most men aren’t interested and most women don’t care about any non-Olympics sports.

How we spend discretionary income is about what entertains us. Supply and demand. Consumer choice. Adam Smith.

Why this leads to rock-paper-scissors matches on ESPN is a sad commentary still yet unexamined, but it’s the same reason many of us avoid Will Ferrell movies.

RAY BUTLER

La Habra

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Nobody watches women’s sports. The WNBA is a propped-up league. The WUSA and every other professional women’s sport team has tanked. The LPGA is not on the radar.

Look, people vote with their dollars and time. You can show all the women’s sports on TV you want and you can’t make people care. Sorry if reality stinks. Get used to the odor.

STEVE DUE

Vernon