This is just sad

So you've heard the big sports news today? No, not about the NFL ending its lockout against the referees (they were squabbling over $3 million, something like 0.008% of the NFL's revenues) - and football officials actually being CHEERED in last night's Baltimore-Cleveland game. No, not about the Washington Nationals getting closer to clinching the NL East. No, not about some boring golf crap.

The big news is, there is going to be a new professional basketball league!

Oh and did I mention it is a women's league? And the players will play in their underwear bikinis?

Yes, the new league is the Bikini Basketball League (or Association - they seem to be unsure) - and as its Twitter page says, it will be a league for "Sexy Athletic Ladies". I assume they are referring to the players, because clearly the target audience will be men. Maxim magazine readers, no doubt. The kind of guys who wouldn't dream of watching any women's sport except maybe beach volleyball - oh and cheerleading, if you buy that as a 'sport'.

This is just sad. First, it's sad that the league organizers apparently think that a little T&A on the court will put male butts in the seats (and make male viewers tune in if they can get a cable deal). And it's degrading to women and women's sports. It's fine to appreciate the view when a good looking athlete is on the screen - but a league where "looking good in a bikini is a must" is not much better than a beauty pageant, with dribbling and shooting as the talent competition instead of twirling a baton.

Check out the name of the team in the photo - Miaim Spice. Sure they can't get the minor things right, but by jove they have a hot babe in a bikini holding a basketball and staring in a come-hither fashion - THAT'S what the league will be all about!

Edit - sorry but Blogger hates paragraphs apparently and won't let me have any. Edit - fixed. Bizarre, I had to insert

to convince Blogger that I really did want paragraphs, not one long block of text.