The Griner Effect: Opening Doors for Women in Sports

            Britteny Griner, Baylor’s basketball star, could be crucial for women’s basketball in the media. Griner brings aggression, power, and command to the court. Her intensity is exemplified in her statistics: 14 career dunks and numerous NCAA records; most recently she became the first women’s player to reach 2000 career points and 500 blocks. Her dominance on the court is not consistent with typical views of women in sports, but this is not a bad thing. When an abnormal performance occurs, society reinforces gender views more vigorously, but in the case of Griner, perhaps her masculine play can help bring more viewers to women’s basketball and women’s sports in general.

            The question hinders on the sexuality of Griner, because her performance in the game, as a whole, is so crucial given the current presence of women’s sports in the media, and society immediately tackles the topic anytime a female athlete performs masculinity. There must be at least some pressure on her to keep up image as heterosexual, but she seems not to mind too much. This could be very attributable to her feelings towards the game. She is not one to believe that sexuality and sports mix. Thus,she keeps her performance to the court without pushing the gender boundaries. Some may question, but they more than likely will not find an answer. Griner is regulating societal views of women’s basketball. When people see Griner play, there are too many similarities to men’s basketball that it can be hard not to watch, and these performances gain media attention as well as questions of sexuality.

            So it becomes clear that women in sports are stuck in a paradox when dealing with media attention. When players behave masculine, it is not something society views as pleasing, yet it is precisely masculinity that most viewers want to see. This view of gender in sports eliminates the role of women entirely. If Griner can continue to inspire and lift the players around her to a heightened level of intensity/masculinity while ignoring the negative comments about sexuality, then women’s basketball should see an increase in viewership, provided that sexuality only be questioned with probable cause (similar to testing male athletes for PEDs). I do not doubt that numerous people disagree with what I am saying because I am suggesting that sexuality be ignored, but society has already begun to naturalize this belief, meaning Griner is just another step towards righteousness. Like Caster Semenya who fractured society’s gender lines, Griner’s outstanding performance on the court is picking at the same fragile wound, and the gender lines are dying. As they do so, a new door opens in the realm of women’s sports.

Hosoi vs. Hawk: A Tale of Two Shredders

A classic photo of Christian Hosoi getting
air at Del Mar Skate Ranch in San Diego, CA

Tony Hawk also at Del Mar Skate Ranch

Early in the 1980s, there skated two fourteen year old boys in a bowl. Both could shred, one with pizazz, and the other more bird-like. Such is the tale of Christian Hosoi and Tony Hawk. Who is Christian Hosoi, you may ask? He was as influential, if not more, on the sport of skateboarding as the Hawk, but suddenly vanished.

The epic story of these two shredders ends with Hosoi’s naturally instilled flare, ultimately falling to drugs and skipping the first ever X games, which, without his help, would become the most broadcasted action sports competition ever, and where Tony Hawk’s timeless dedication to his practice would land him the 900 on national television, launching him to a position regarded by most sports savvy fans as, “the best.”

The Hawk is since easily identifiable as a hero in skateboarding. His awkwardness on the skateboard only highlighted his authenticity. This is because  of the universal myth we call, “practice makes perfect,” after Hosoi fell out of contention, Hawk continued to progress tricks and skateboarding in media through the hardships of the 90s, giving the sport a positive image and increased participation. His good public relations off of the board, helped endorse the public’s belief in Tony Hawk as the best skateboarder of all times.

“People saw the way that he skated, and that made them want to jump on a skateboard,” said Hawk, in reference to Hosoi. Through the 80s, Hosoi was, “the guy to beat.” His tricks had energy and swag, leading progression through the decade. He nicknamed himself “Christ,” a religious reference that people knew only he could get away with, because the things he was doing were almost more than human. Hosoi developed his particular story of top shredder since 13 by continuing to do the biggest, smoothest tricks, until his tricks off of the skateboard became more fun than the tricks he did on one.

It was not the public who became uninterested in Hosoi, but Hosoi who became uninterested in the public. Not that he gave up skateboarding, but he focused instead on drugs and ended up getting caught. This loss of dedication to the sport doesn’t fit into the universal theme that Hawk made. People learn from Tony Hawk to work hard and follow their dreams. People learn from Christian Hosoi to stay clean.

Testing the Terrible Towel

Like all Nations, Steeler Nation has its flag: the Terrible Towel. 16x25 inches, golden, and stained with the victories of 6 Super Bowl Championships, the Terrible Towel has a seemingly unearthly and sacred power that can be recognized by any Steeler Nation citizen, and the defilement of said towel has historically and recently angered these citizens, but why?

SteelerNation has great respect for the towel. Fans walking into the stadium wave their Terrible Towels; they wave them during warm-ups; they wave them during the game; they wave them on the celebratory walk back to the parking lot. The playful performance of towel waving at a live game gives Steelers fans a unique experience. The towel is a Steeler’s ritual, if not more. Sport fans’ rituals unite fans everywhere under one identity, so messing with the Terrible Towel is messing with Steeler Nations identity.

The reason opposing teams blow their nose in, rub dirt in, and burn the Terrible Towel is because they want Steeler Nation to get upset. They feel a sense of self achievement in doing so, because they hope those actions might distract Steelers fans (and possibly the players) from the game at hand and could have a direct effect on the outcome. This would be the intentions of focused and vested fans, because they would more likely attend the game, and they want to win, but their interest is in another team, and frankly it is legal for them to do these vile acts.

The Terrible Towel has a different meaning to a lot of people, but Steeler’s fans would agree with Greg Garber when he says, “theTerrible Towel inspires an almost irrational loyalty.” Seeing thousands of towels at an away game is quite possibly one of the greatest sights to a Steeler’s fan. The reason we hate seeing our flag defiled is because it rallied a tremendous population of fans everywhere to wave together for the past 38 years, and it’ll wave for 100 more.