Quote:
Originally Posted by chucksabr
I agree with you that there has traditionally been a lack of avenue for women to compete in "men's" leagues, although I don't think hardly anyone would be saying "honey, the kitchen's over there" here in 2016.
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Have you not heard of
Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore this year? There are plenty of people out there like that, they just typically aren't so stupid as to publicly state their beliefs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chucksabr
In any event, my main question is whether there is a cohort of top female athletes in each of these sports that are just as fast, just as strong and just as powerful as the top male athletes, so they would be able to compete with one another on an even basis? If there isn't one, why isn't there?
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I think Serena Williams could probably do well against the men. I'd be impressed if she could win a major tournament, but I definitely think she could take out some of the men outside of the top 3 or 4. While she does lose occasionally, she's pretty clearly in a league of her own on the WTA.
And I don't know much about golf, but it doesn't strike me as a game where you absolutely need the strength of a man. Sure, it helps on drives, but it seems like having nerves of steel is more important. I seem to remember there being some talk that Annika Sörenstam could probably hold her own against the men if she wanted to.
Coming back to baseball, I definitely think girls being pushed into softball instead of baseball is a huge hurdle. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the first woman MLBer comes from outside the USA, like that French girl someone linked to, only because in probably most other countries there is no softball option as baseball is already a niche sport there. As it is now though, without them playing the same sport, it's like MJ trying to play baseball. Sure, he was a legendary athlete and loved baseball, but it's pretty hard to go pro unless you've been consistently and competitively playing the sport up until then.