WNBA star called a "traitor"

[Anthony K. S.]

WNBA star called a "traitor"


I came across this story on Yahoo! just a few hours ago, and I was curious to see what people's opinions on it would be.

Basically, a WNBA player named Becky Hammon is going to be playing in the 2008 Olympics, but she'll be playing for the Russian team, rather than the U.S. team.

As I understand it, Hammon plays basketball in the United States for half the year, and in the off-season, she plays for a professional team in Moscow. The reason that Hammon is playing for Team Russia in the 2008 Olympics is because they offered her a position first.

By the time Team USA offered Hammon a chance to try out for their team, she had already agreed to play for the Russian team.

This has apparently set off a controversy, with many people in the U.S. calling Hammon a "traitor."


My opinion? Like so many things in life, it's first-come, first-served.

If the U.S. team failed to offer Hammon a position before their opponents did, then c'est la vie. Next time, be a bit quicker on the draw.

We are talking about a basketball game, after all. It's not like she's defecting.

That's my opinion, anyway. Would anybody here like to chime in with theirs?

[It's me]

Kinda violates the spirit of the Olymics IMHO. The Olymics is supposed to be about each country sending their best atheletes to compete and to represent that country. Otherwise what the the heck is the point of it being the US team, or the Canadian team, or the Russian team? We may as well just give them arbitrary names.

Yes, I know that IS how pro sports works. It's just about as dumb. But at least with pro sports everyone knows it's about which city can afford to pony up for the best team.

[Crazeyal]

Violates the spirit??

It's not the fifties. There ARE multi national people, and in sports, you snooze you lose.

[Bright_Star]

I'm sorry but the olympics are just so fucking stupid it isn't even worth it to watch. Too much politics & you get crap like that.
& people wonder why I don't take the time to watch it.

[marasbaras]

Those calling her a TRAITOR simply need to be deported to someplace remote and inhospitable for using such hyperbole. Real traitors do bad, bad things.

This is basically a you snooze, you lose situation. Ranks up there with a contract dispute.

[Anriana]

The Winter Games really bother me with the "Women can't participate in some games that might damage their precious lady parts."


This person is a Russian citizen (probably only for playing basketball, but still), she's played with the Russian team, and she accepted this position because she didn't think she was going to make the US team. I could kind of understand people being upset if she was a famous star athlete, but she probably wouldn't even have been selected for the American team, so who cares?

[marasbaras]

Russian citizen, Russian team. Makes sense to me.

Reminds me of no receipt, no return. You know ... those rules things.

And which sports aren't women allowed to play because it might damage your precious lady parts?

[lordlundar]

She goes to play for Russia and they call her a traitor?

HA!

Has anyone taken a look at the NHL or NBA? Ignoring the whole point that none of them should even BE in the Olympics because they're pros and the Olympics is an amateur competition, Most of the players in either league play for a multitude of countries. Yet no one says anything. Talk about your double standard.

[Anriana]

Russian citizen, Russian team. Makes sense to me.

Reminds me of no receipt, no return. You know ... those rules things.

And which sports aren't women allowed to play because it might damage your precious lady parts?

Ski jumping.

http://feministing.com/archives/002750.html. The Newsday article is no longer active but there are several other sites quoting it if you don't like that one.

[Anthony K. S.]

Correction in the OP

I just corrected an error in my original post :

By the time Team USA offered Hammon a spot, she had already agreed to play for the Russian team.

When I wrote the OP, I mistakenly thought that the U.S. team had actually offered Becky Hammon a position on their team (which she turned down because she'd already signed on with the Russian team for the Olympics).

After doing a bit more reading on this (and going back to watch that newscast again), I realized that Team USA hadn't actually offered her a spot on their team. They only offered her the chance to try out for one.

My mistake. Sorry.


If you're interested in reading more about this, there are a couple of long articles on this stored in the ESPN Archives :

"Hammon's Olympic dream puts her in Russian uniform"

"Olympics opportunity too much for Hammon to pass up"


To be fair, Becky Hammon did not make this decision lightly. She has stated that it was always a personal dream of hers to represent the United States, her home country, at the Olympics, and to help bring home the gold medal for the U.S.

If it had been offered to her, Hammon would have jumped at the chance to play on the U.S. team at the Olympics . . . But it wasn't.

Hammon stated that she had been long overlooked by USA Basketball for a spot on their Senior National Team. Her name was absent from the list of players (released last summer by USA Basketball) from which the U.S. Olympic team would be chosen.

By the time she finally received an invitation to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, she had already signed a contract with CSKA Moscow that included the possibility of playing for the Russian Olympic team.

Even then, she still made one last attempt to contact USA Basketball to find out where exactly she stood with them. Her impression was that she wasn't a serious contender to make the team. So she took her Olympic dream elsewhere.

As I said in my first post . . . C'est la vie. And as Becky Hammon stated, "You go where you're wanted."

I say, good for her, and good luck to her.

[Anthony K. S.]

The Winter Games really bother me with the "Women can't participate in some games that might damage their precious lady parts."

. . .

Ski jumping.

http://feministing.com/archives/002750.html

Anriana, I took a very deep breath and then clicked on the link you specified.

"Ski jumping is just too dangerous for women. Don't forget, [the landing] it's like jumping down from, let's say, about two meters to the ground about a thousand times a year, which seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view."

"So far, we've been told every excuse in the book. That it's too 'dangerous' for girls. That there aren't enough of us. That we're not good enough. That it would damage our ovaries and uterus and we won't be able to have children, even though that's not true. It's so outdated, it's kind of funny in a way. And then it's not."

. . . I am truly at a loss for words. What does one say, in the face of such mind-numbing stupidity?

[blas]

Wouldn't ski jumping be more dangerous for men, considering their most important reproductive organs are on the outside?

Maybe it's an old sexist theory that a real man can handle a blow to the balls or the Jimmy, but a girl can't handle landing hard on her cha cha.

[MystyGlyttyr]

Wouldn't ski jumping be more dangerous for men, considering their most important reproductive organs are on the outside?

Maybe it's an old sexist theory that a real man can handle a blow to the balls or the Jimmy, but a girl can't handle landing hard on her cha cha.

I beg to differ. Crotch yourself on a turnbuckle about forty times, you'll realize that ain't nothing gonna hurt that area.

[Misty]

Ski jumping.

http://feministing.com/archives/002750.html. The Newsday article is no longer active but there are several other sites quoting it if you don't like that one.

It might interest you to know that women were barred from running the Boston Marathon up until at least the 1960s or 70s. The "logic" was that all of the up and down motion would cause the uterus to tear loose and collapse

Yes, people actually believed that if a woman ran a marathon her uterus would fall out. My mom was one of them; she insisted it could happen based on the fact that my grandmother's uterus collapsed and had to be removed. My grandmother was 60 at the time and had never run a marathon in her life

I thought it was nuts that people still believed that sort of thing as recently as the 60s. I can't believe that kind of thinking is still around.

[TealJellyfish]

I would say she is equally entitled to be on either team since she lives and works in both. Traitor is to strong a word to use over a game in my opinion!


As for the ski jumping thing WTF! How is that not considered discrimination! *shakes fists* Honestly if it doeskin hurt men to land 2000 + times a year then why should it hurt women.. Uterus collapsing... Medical Evidence on that is where?