Meanwhile, in the WNBA ... (1 Viewer)

[otb_lifer]

http://nypost.com/2017/02/21/retired-wnba-star-i-was-tormented-for-not-being-gay/

Candice Wiggins was a college star at Stanford, the third pick of the 2008 WNBA draft and a 2011 champion. And at the mountaintop of her basketball career, her sexuality marred the moment.

There is a “very, very harmful” culture running throughout the WNBA, she says, which saw her get bullied during her eight-year career because she is heterosexual.

Wiggins, who last played in the league in 2015, said she retired prematurely to leave a league that she estimated — wildly — is 98 percent lesbian, and which is played in such isolation that it weighs on the people on the court.

“It wasn’t like my dreams came true in the WNBA. It was quite the opposite,” Wiggins said in an extensive San Diego Tribune story published Monday. “… I wanted to play two more seasons of WNBA, but the experience didn’t lend itself to my mental state. It was a depressing state in the WNBA. It’s not watched. Our value is diminished. It can be quite hard. I didn’t like the culture inside the WNBA, and without revealing too much, it was toxic for me. … My spirit was being broken.”

The 30-year-old couldn’t take it anymore — being harassed for being straight and fighting for attention in a league that is starved.

“Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge,” Wiggins said. “I would say 98 percent of the women in the WNBA are gay women. It was a conformist type of place. There was a whole different set of rules they [the other players] could apply.”

Wiggins, who played for the Lynx, Shock, Sparks and Liberty, claimed the issues revolve around the lack of attention the league has garnered as the WNBA struggles with ticket sales and TV ratings. For the 2016 season, the WNBA said its average attendance was 7,655 — its highest since 2011.

“There was a lot of jealousy and competition, and we’re all fighting for crumbs,” Wiggins said. “The way I looked, the way I played – those things contributed to the tension.

“People were deliberately trying to hurt me all of the time. I had never been called the B-word so many times in my life than I was in my rookie season. I’d never been thrown to the ground so much. The message was: ‘We want you to know we don’t like you.’ “

 

[RokNRole]

Same reason I think about leaving the FFA for good

 

[otb_lifer]

Same reason I think about leaving the FFA for good

care to unpack that a bit? 

 

[RokNRole]

care to unpack that a bit? 

No cuz I ain't the one doing the packin dude

 

[gianmarco]

Now imagine being homosexual just about everywhere else for ages.  I'm guessing now she might understand what it's like.  

 

[otb_lifer]

No cuz I ain't the one doing the packin dude

neither is Ms. Wiggins  

Now imagine being homosexual just about everywhere else for ages.  I'm guessing now she might understand what it's like.  

gist of the whole story - though i'm sure this plays out in more confines than we're privy to, on both sides of the coin. 

 

[need2know]

She's trying to sell a book.

 

[Sinn Fein]

She's trying to sell a book.

Straight out of Compton?

 

[otb_lifer]

Straight out of Condoms?

a tad more fitting

 

[Super King]

In reference to the poor viewership

 

[rockaction]

In reference to the poor viewership

Awesome. 

No surprise on the the lesbian thing.

Same as it ever was. 

 

[otb_lifer]

No surprise on the the lesbian thing.

Same as it ever was. 

yeah, but to the extent Wiggins is popping off about?  book bait or not, it's a very damning stance, and she seems to be holding her ground amidst some refuting blow back.

btw, i keep thinking of this when i read her name  

 

[James Daulton]

98% lesbian?  Methinks she's exaggerating this just a tad.

 

[the rover]

Only thing surprising about this story is that the WNBA still exists.

 

[otb_lifer]

Only thing surprising about this story is that the WNBA still exists.

 easy now, it's faaaaantastic!!!  

 

[Short Corner]

98% lesbian?  Methinks she's exaggerating this just a tad.

What do you think it is?

 

[otb_lifer]

seems like  Gilbert Arenas  was ahead of the curve here, dates back to December '15  

 

[James Daulton]

What do you think it is?

I have no clue.  But 98% is saying that only 2 out of 100 players are straight.  This seem statistically impossible. 

 

[Short Corner]

seems like  Gilbert Arenas  was ahead of the curve here, dates back to December '15  

Not really.

 

[Short Corner]

I have no clue.  But 98% is saying that only 2 out of 100 players are straight.  This seem statistically impossible. 

You realize that the sample size isn't independent, right?

 

[James Daulton]

You realize that the sample size isn't independent, right?

Sure, but the sample is influenced by basketball ability, not sexual orientation.  Her assertion would suggest there's almost a perfect correlation between high level basketball ability and being lesbian.  Just seems unlikely to me. 

 

[Short Corner]

Sure, but the sample is influenced by basketball ability, not sexual orientation.  Her assertion would suggest there's almost a perfect correlation between high level basketball ability and being lesbian.  Just seems unlikely to me. 

How is something unlikely when, by your own admission, you have no clue what should be likely?

 

[DaVinci]

How is something unlikely when, by your own admission, you have no clue what should be likely?

It's an obvious exaggeration. She's not talking about women's softball. 

 

[Short Corner]

It's an obvious exaggeration. She's not talking about women's softball. 

A bit overstated, I agree, but I think her number is closer to actuality than most people here would put it at.

 

[James Daulton]

A bit overstated, I agree, but I think her number is closer to actuality than most people here would put it at.

What makes you think this?

 

[Short Corner]

What makes you think this?

Reactions like yours mainly.

 

[James Daulton]

Reactions like yours mainly.

I didn't have a reaction, I just suggested that 98% was an incredibly high and unrealistic number.  You seem mad for some reason.

 

[The Big Guy]

Maybe they are just gay for the stay?  Gay while they play? Gay all the way?

 

[Short Corner]

I didn't have a reaction, I just suggested that 98% was an incredibly high and unrealistic number.  You seem mad for some reason.

Don't know why you think I'm mad.  Just wondering how you can think that is such an outlier when you are claiming ignorance on what the actual value is.

 

[James Daulton]

Don't know why you think I'm mad.  Just wondering how you can think that is such an outlier when you are claiming ignorance on what the actual value is.

Because assuming that any people grouped by their sports ability are 98% anything seems really unlikely.

 

[Uwe Blab]

Now imagine being homosexual just about everywhere else for ages.  I'm guessing now she might understand what it's like.  

So (if we're assuming what we she says is true as you seem to be accepting) she as an individual deserves to be discriminated against and punished because of historical mistreatment of a group.  Ok.

 

[otb_lifer]

Because assuming that any people grouped by their sports ability are 98% anything seems really unlikely.

perhaps, as per Wiggins assertions, the 'talent' pool skews more towards 'culture', rather than ability - who knows if more gifted hetero players are dissuaded by this possibility, and the league is populated more with an abundance of ham n' eggers who fit snugly into the lifestyle. 

 

[mr roboto]

Now imagine being homosexual just about everywhere else for ages.  I'm guessing now she might understand what it's like.  

Ok?  Still doesn't make it right. 

 

[mr roboto]

98% lesbian?  Methinks she's exaggerating this just a tad.

Yeah I'd agree. 

 

[Fantasy Football Fairy]

Because assuming that any people grouped by their sports ability are 98% anything seems really unlikely.

When I was in college some girls I knew that played in sports said their were often "recruitment" parties held to help convince them to play for "their team" with the motto being "try it, you'll like it".

 

[Short Corner]

Because assuming that any people grouped by their sports ability are 98% anything seems really unlikely.

How do you know if you aren't asserting a p-value to the subset.  LHUCKSian logic being implemented here. 

 

[DocHolliday]

Add me to the list of posters that thinks this lady is exaggerating a bit.  I do not care who is gay and who is not but it seems that 98% gay is highly unlikely.   Why does the WNBA still exist?   

 

[Short Corner]

When I was in college some girls I knew that played in sports said their were often "recruitment" parties held to help convince them to play for "their team" with the motto being "try it, you'll like it".

Happens early with all of the AAU clubs recruiting kids and going to these week long tournaments in Oregon, Chicago, Phoenix.  Peer pressure at such an impressionable age goes a long way.

 

[James Daulton]

Happens early with all of the AAU clubs recruiting kids and going to these week long tournaments in Oregon, Chicago, Phoenix.  Peer pressure at such an impressionable age goes a long way.

lol, so now AAU clubs are turning girls gay?  You can't be serious. 

 

[Short Corner]

lol, so now AAU clubs are turning girls gay?  You can't be serious. 

Not the clubs, the players in the club.  Talking about high level players/teams not the ones that play eight team tounaments on the weekend at the junior high.

 

[Short Corner]

Straight out of Compton?

Straight out of La Jolla.  Pops played for the Pads.

 

[James Daulton]

Not the clubs, the players in the club.  Talking about high level players/teams not the ones that play eight team tounaments on the weekend at the junior high.

You seem to know a lot about this.  At what age do the players start turning each other gay?

 

[Short Corner]

You seem to know a lot about this.  At what age do the players start turning each other gay?

I coached for 14 years in the states.  I know what I know, but if you want to continue to dousch up this conversation we are done here.

 

[James Daulton]

I coached for 14 years in the states.  I know what I know, but if you want to continue to dousch up this conversation we are done here.

I'm douching up the conversation?  You implied that high level teen basketball girls were turning each other gay.  It's ridiculous.  

And since you're such an expert on the subject, I guess that 98% of Division 1 women's basketball teams are gay too?  Since that's where the WNBA gets its players from.  

 

[AAABatteries]

I love lesbians

 

[Fantasy Football Fairy]

I'm douching up the conversation?  You implied that high level teen basketball girls were turning each other gay.  It's ridiculous.  

And since you're such an expert on the subject, I guess that 98% of Division 1 women's basketball teams are gay too?  Since that's where the WNBA gets its players from.  

So are you denying that these "recruitment" parties don't happen?

 

[gianmarco]

So (if we're assuming what we she says is true as you seem to be accepting) she as an individual deserves to be discriminated against and punished because of historical mistreatment of a group.  Ok.

Where in any part of my post did I say she deserves any kind of punishment or did I say it was OK? It's not OK...at all. 

I think you are completely misunderstanding the point of my post. I may not have worded it the best way, but hopefully it raises an understanding for majority groups that that's exactly what minority groups have experienced so many times over. And, I think it's despicable that, if true to that extent, that the women would treat someone else as poorly as they've historically been treated.

 

[Uwe Blab]

Where in any part of my post did I say she deserves any kind of punishment or did I say it was OK? It's not OK...at all. 

I think you are completely misunderstanding the point of my post. I may not have worded it the best way, but hopefully it raises an understanding for majority groups that that's exactly what minority groups have experienced so many times over. And, I think it's despicable that, if true to that extent, that the women would treat someone else as poorly as they've historically been treated.

Cool, I agree with this post completely.  Apologies.

 

[James Daulton]

So are you denying that these "recruitment" parties don't happen?

You can recruit someone to being gay?

 

[the moops]

You can recruit someone to being gay?

Short Corner coached in the states. He knows things