So I'm sitting at home watching the Wimbledon championships when I hear Mary Carillo and Mary Joe Fernandez talking about Ashley Harkleroad’s decision to pose for PLAYBOY.
I don’t necessarily have a problem with that; she's a grown woman and she can do what she wants, but Harkleroad now represents an upsetting trend in women’s sports. Harkleroad joins the ranks of women who will become better known for her body then her game.
Harkleroad joins the ranks of glamorized athletes with no track record, the ranks of Natalie Gulbis and Anna Kournikova. Gulbis, who turned professional in 2003, has one LPGA tour win yet has her own Golf Channel show which portrays her doing everything but golf. Kournikova never won a singles title in her professional career yet she would make calendars and pose for cameras.
Yet men get blamed for not respecting their games and the tours in which they play and embrace them for marketing.
You want a true female sports star? Look at 21-year-old Paula Creamer in her 4th LPGA season—she has won six times and one would think that the best is yet to come.
Oh yeah and Creamer has one thing in common with the aforementioned athletes—she’s not ugly. Creamer is a true example of someone young girls can look up to. She's got game- she'll soon win a major and she has my respect.
4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Paul Carlson about 1 year ago
I say "Right on!" to your comments about Paula Creamer. She also lends her time and name to good things off the golf course too. Last week, when she was in Rochester, N.Y., for the Wegman's LPGA, she spent some time at the Rochester Center for Youth and attended a fund-raiser for the center. Probably not all the young girls wearing pink to an LPGA event--and there are lots of them--are doing so because of the Pink Panther, but it's fair to say that many of them are. Paula is a great role model for them on and off the course. By the way, this is Paula's fourth year on tour, and she has six LPGA victories (two so far this year). Go, Paula!
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josh millar about 1 year ago
4 years time goes by so quickly lol
that righ i graduated high school the same year
thats scary lol
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Todd Reilly about 1 year ago
bang on pal, if you're going to play sports you better have game not just looks. creamer and women alike deserve respect and should be displayed over top of those who just draw in ratings based on physical appearance. win and maybe i'll care!
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josh millar about 1 year ago
gotta put sharapova in there too guys
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