Megan Gustafson

This is what I need to be entertained by a sporting event:
  • impressive athletic feats
  • interesting tactics/strategery
  • fierce competition
  • no moral dilemma when cheering for the athletes
I definitely find all 4 at Iowa women's games. Bluder's teams play a fast-paced, entertaining style of ball. Their skill and athleticism is impressive. They compete hard, and they are a likable bunch. And if you have not watched Gustafson, she is really a special talent. It is not just her off-the-charts production, but her game and style is something you do not see much these days. Just my 2 cents.

I would not go out of my way to tune in to a women's game not featuring Iowa. But then again, I wouldn't go out of my way to watch OSU vs. Mich men's BB or FB either.
 
judzeehawk said:
You seem to be the only one that keeps trying to compare the 2 games with each other. They are a separate game and have never been meant to cross the lines of the 2. I know you will bah humbug this but women's teams are actually getting taller across the board. Everybody has several 6ft. 3 or 4 players. Some teams have 3 or 4 6ft. 6 players and their are now quite a few of 6ft. 9 ladies out there. Iowa might just pick up a 6ft. 9 player this year. Tennessee is the first team this year not to have a single player under 6ft. Like I said earlier it's evolving but I don't think you're ever going to see teams where everybody is at least 6ft. 4 or better. You might 30 years down the road but I doubt it. Height isn't everything anyway. It's the athleticism. That is getting better also. No it's not as good as the men's. Nobody but you are comparing the 2.
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The comparing is unavoidable though. They want and get the same $ for scholarships right? They want to have everything be equal. They don't even play with the same size of ball for crying out loud. Yet what they offer is not. They can't sell the same amount of tickets for the same prices (I don't know for sure but I bet they sell for less) and they can't generate the same revenue for advertising via TV and ratings. It's not even close. Mens football programs foot the bill for pretty much all but a small number of all the womans sports programs not just hoops. I don't think mens football should be subsidizing mens basketball either... I think that goes on at some programs.
I think if women truly wanted to be 'equal' then their should be just one basketball program per school. One volleyball program, One gymnastics team, You see where I'm going with this. Men and women compete for the spots to represent the school and the best get to. Enough of this title IX crap. There's nothing equal or fair about any of that. If a woman wants to play football, basketball, wrestling, hockey, you name it then be good enough for the coach to provide you with such a valuable scholarship.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
The comparing is unavoidable though. They want and get the same $ for scholarships right? They want to have everything be equal. They don't even play with the same size of ball for crying out loud. Yet what they offer is not. They can't sell the same amount of tickets for the same prices (I don't know for sure but I bet they sell for less) and they can't generate the same revenue for advertising via TV and ratings. It's not even close. Mens football programs foot the bill for pretty much all but a small number of all the womans sports programs not just hoops. I don't think mens football should be subsidizing mens basketball either... I think that goes on at some programs.
I think if women truly wanted to be 'equal' then their should be just one basketball program per school. One volleyball program, One gymnastics team, You see where I'm going with this. Men and women compete for the spots to represent the school and the best get to. Enough of this title IX crap. There's nothing equal or fair about any of that. If a woman wants to play football, basketball, wrestling, hockey, you name it then be good enough for the coach to provide you with such a valuable scholarship.
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Who said anything about being equal? You are the one pushing that angle. Ah yes let's bring up the size of the basketball because really I find that kind of funny. Baseball vs. softball, men's shot put vs. women's shot put. men's discus vs. women's discus, women's weight lifting vs. men's weight lifting...………...getting it yet? Football across the nation foots the bills period. It all comes down to donors. If it wasn't for donors these colleges would be in dire straights.
 
judzeehawk said:
Who said anything about being equal? You are the one pushing that angle. Ah yes let's bring up the size of the basketball because really I find that kind of funny. Baseball vs. softball, men's shot put vs. women's shot put. men's discus vs. women's discus, women's weight lifting vs. men's weight lifting...………...getting it yet? Football across the nation foots the bills period. It all comes down to donors. If it wasn't for donors these colleges would be in dire straights.
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Wasn't an article written not long ago about how Iowa's womans coach was complaining about how she doesn't have access to private/chartered planes as much as the mens do? Not to mention more $ they all want more of that. So that comes from them. They are the ones that use the word 'equal' all the time.

I would disagree with you on the donors to a degree. If football didn't have to carry the load for everything else the donors wouldn't be as necessary. Football can more than carry their own weight in regards to paying for itself. Yet their unfairly being forced to pay for other mens and womans programs to prop them up...
 
Hawkfnntn said:
The comparing is unavoidable though. They want and get the same $ for scholarships right? They want to have everything be equal. They don't even play with the same size of ball for crying out loud. Yet what they offer is not. They can't sell the same amount of tickets for the same prices (I don't know for sure but I bet they sell for less) and they can't generate the same revenue for advertising via TV and ratings. It's not even close. Mens football programs foot the bill for pretty much all but a small number of all the womans sports programs not just hoops. I don't think mens football should be subsidizing mens basketball either... I think that goes on at some programs.
I think if women truly wanted to be 'equal' then their should be just one basketball program per school. One volleyball program, One gymnastics team, You see where I'm going with this. Men and women compete for the spots to represent the school and the best get to. Enough of this title IX crap. There's nothing equal or fair about any of that. If a woman wants to play football, basketball, wrestling, hockey, you name it then be good enough for the coach to provide you with such a valuable scholarship.
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First of all, Title IX is not about sports, it is about equal educational opportunity to any program that receives federal assistance. It was implemented because in many cases young girls were not provided to the same access to classes, learning resources, etc. because hey, someone has to cook and clean. As a nation (or at least our law makers representing our nation), we decided that our young girls should have access to everything the boys had access to. Do you disagree with this premise?

So how does sports get tied in? Because we have also decided as a nation that access to scholastic sports is an important part of the educational experience. That extends to the collegiate level. Now, you can make an argument as to whether big time college sports should be considered part of the educational experience, or whether it should be considered a separate money-making venture; but as long as we are working under the facade that NCAA sports are an educational opportunity, women have the right to equal access.

Back to your comparisons across sports: if your only criteria for enjoying a sport is that you have to be watching the absolute pinnacle, you are left with very few options. You can't watch Hawkeye FB, that team would get crushed by the Cleveland Browns. You can't watch Hawkeye men's BB, they would get killed by the Knicks. You certainly can't watch that junior high boy's BB that you prefer to watching a women's game. Why watch Hawkeye wrestling, all of those guys would get killed by a leopard. No need to watch Usain Bolt run or Michael Phelps swim, cheetahs and dolphins would prove them to be the light weights they actually are.

Sports are not about being the absolute best of the best, if that was the point then 99.999999% of everyone participating would just be wanking off. Sports are about working your ass off to become the best that you can become, competing your ass off against those in your same "class" (however that is defined), and it is about teamwork and dedication. If you cannot appreciate those aspects from the women's game, no big deal. But the arguments you are using to try to tear their game down are silly and fall apart with any real thought.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Wasn't an article written not long ago about how Iowa's womans coach was complaining about how she doesn't have access to private/chartered planes as much as the mens do? Not to mention more $ they all want more of that. So that comes from them. They are the ones that use the word 'equal' all the time.

I would disagree with you on the donors to a degree. If football didn't have to carry the load for everything else the donors wouldn't be as necessary. Football can more than carry their own weight in regards to paying for itself. Yet their unfairly being forced to pay for other mens and womans programs to prop them up...
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She noted that is was frustrating, but she understood it for what it was. It was noted those chartered flights are provided almost exclusively by donor contributions, and she understands that the men have more and larger donors than the women. She has registered complaints with the AD about recruiting budgets and not being able to compete with their current resources, and her budget was increased to be more in-line with peer institutions.

You want sports where reward is entirely based on consumer preferences? Go watch the pros. But as long as we argue sports are part of education, this is the system.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I wish I could watch womens basketball I really do it'd be easier. ESPN tries ramming it down our throats quite a bit along with the BTN. But I'd rather go sit in the bleachers and watch junior high boys play... The womans game is just unwatchable for me
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Me personally, I wouldn't say it's unwatchable. But I only watch Iowa and then regret it most of the time because they drop a game (usually badly or dumb playing) that could vault them to the next level. Kinda like the men's team.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
The comparing is unavoidable though. They want and get the same $ for scholarships right? They want to have everything be equal. They don't even play with the same size of ball for crying out loud. Yet what they offer is not. They can't sell the same amount of tickets for the same prices (I don't know for sure but I bet they sell for less) and they can't generate the same revenue for advertising via TV and ratings. It's not even close. Mens football programs foot the bill for pretty much all but a small number of all the womans sports programs not just hoops. I don't think mens football should be subsidizing mens basketball either... I think that goes on at some programs.
I think if women truly wanted to be 'equal' then their should be just one basketball program per school. One volleyball program, One gymnastics team, You see where I'm going with this. Men and women compete for the spots to represent the school and the best get to. Enough of this title IX crap. There's nothing equal or fair about any of that. If a woman wants to play football, basketball, wrestling, hockey, you name it then be good enough for the coach to provide you with such a valuable scholarship.
Click to expand...
I am assuming since you want everything to be equal that you would want a huge tax on all income earned by men to compensate for depriving women of equal opportunities to be doctors, lawyers, dentists ect. Becareful in wishing for equality after you already have the advantage in the race, some might call that hypocrisy.
 
hagarwood said:
I am assuming since you want everything to be equal that you would want a huge tax on all income earned by men to compensate for depriving women of equal opportunities to be doctors, lawyers, dentists ect. Becareful in wishing for equality after you already have the advantage in the race, some might call that hypocrisy.
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Did you even read what I wrote?? I said they want equality. They as in the women. But what they want isn't equality. They want their cake and eat it too. And besides that how exactly is compensating what you call depriving women of equal opportunities unfair and hypocritic? No woman in this country today is being deprived of those jobs if their qualified. I know of several female docs. Get out of here with that nonsense. It couldn't be more unrelated to the conversation here
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Did you even read what I wrote?? I said they want equality. They as in the women. But what they want isn't equality. They want their cake and eat it too. And besides that how exactly is compensating what you call depriving women of equal opportunities unfair and hypocritic? No woman in this country today is being deprived of those jobs if their qualified. I know of several female docs. Get out of here with that nonsense. It couldn't be more unrelated to the conversation here
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Why don't you just quit using the word equality and just say that women aren't as good as men. That's what you are really trying to say anyway.
 
judzeehawk said:
Why don't you just quit using the word equality and just say that women aren't as good as men. That's what you are really trying to say anyway.
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Because within the context of how I was using the word equality that's what I meant... Why do folks always try putting other words in peoples mouths. I fully mean what I say.
 
CP87 said:
This is what I need to be entertained by a sporting event:
  • impressive athletic feats
  • interesting tactics/strategery
  • fierce competition
  • no moral dilemma when cheering for the athletes
I definitely find all 4 at Iowa women's games. Bluder's teams play a fast-paced, entertaining style of ball. Their skill and athleticism is impressive. They compete hard, and they are a likable bunch. And if you have not watched Gustafson, she is really a special talent. It is not just her off-the-charts production, but her game and style is something you do not see much these days. Just my 2 cents.

I would not go out of my way to tune in to a women's game not featuring Iowa. But then again, I wouldn't go out of my way to watch OSU vs. Mich men's BB or FB either.
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I'm not a fan of women's basketball by any means, but I am happy they are doing well and Megan seems awesome. She even interned with my employer over the summer! I do however prefer to watch the USA Women's World Cup over the men - they are impressive as well and they are very dominant compared to most other teams. They could never compete with a men's team either but that's not really something that needs to be said... So in that regard, I understand why people would enjoy it - more power to them!
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Because within the context of how I was using the word equality that's what I meant... Why do folks always try putting other words in peoples mouths. I fully mean what I say.
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Because no matter how you want to spin it that's exactly what you mean.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Did you even read what I wrote?? I said they want equality. They as in the women. But what they want isn't equality. They want their cake and eat it too. And besides that how exactly is compensating what you call depriving women of equal opportunities unfair and hypocritic? No woman in this country today is being deprived of those jobs if their qualified. I know of several female docs. Get out of here with that nonsense. It couldn't be more unrelated to the conversation here
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I have read what you wrote and your ideas are unclear. So, answer a couple of questions and help me out. Do you believe that Women;s athletics are treated equally? Do you honestly think that because you know some "female docs" that means that women have equal access to opportunity? In our society the way we compensate people who have suffered damages is by compensating them financially. The University of Iowa was recently sued and lost because they treated women unfairly. They wisely settled a second lawsuit. Men have benefitted enormously by not having to compete with women for jobs and to say we've fixed a lot of that now and so everything is OK, just doesn't address all the damage. I look forward to your response.
 
hagarwood said:
I have read what you wrote and your ideas are unclear. So, answer a couple of questions and help me out. Do you believe that Women;s athletics are treated equally? Do you honestly think that because you know some "female docs" that means that women have equal access to opportunity? In our society the way we compensate people who have suffered damages is by compensating them financially. The University of Iowa was recently sued and lost because they treated women unfairly. They wisely settled a second lawsuit. Men have benefitted enormously by not having to compete with women for jobs and to say we've fixed a lot of that now and so everything is OK, just doesn't address all the damage. I look forward to your response.
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I'll take a crack at this one. Men are better than women at some things, women are better than men at some things, and women and men are equal at some things. Because of this, men have an advantage going after certain jobs, women have an advantage going after certain jobs, and women and men have an equal chance at certain jobs. To pretend it's unfair is kind of being out of touch with reality.

Take for instance porn stars. Women make 10 times more money than men do but you don't see the guys complaining. They understand that it's the women who bring in the money, so they are the ones who make the money. The men are just happy to have the job.
 
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