LINK: http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/.element/media/2.0/teamsites/rockets/email/HoopsHeelsForm.pdf Seems kinda degrading toward women to imply only they need "basketball 101"... there are plenty of stupid men who need it too. Spoiler
It is. It's implying that only women need some kind of special treatment for their fragile, unsports-educated minds. It's a pretty damn dated event. Even the name of it is sexist as it implies that all women wear heels... which don't have anything to do with basketball. Although, a sports website is the last place I expect to find the mentality that agrees with me on this one. Regardless, I just wanted to make fun of Stephen A. Smith.
It only seems that way because the stereotype of the women not knowing about sports was already in your mind. And it's true for the most part, the demographic of people interested in sports is mostly guys. I don't know the percentage but I wouldn't be surprised if it were more than 75%. Think about it this way, if they want to reach out to women and go "we want to teach you the basic rules of the game so you won't be confused when you are watching it with your S.O. or family" how else would they go about doing that? Because any way they bring it up would apparently be sexist, suggesting that women don't know sports.
So, this is the event where the ladies get to meet Chandler Parsons and learn how to snatch a basketball husband? /sexist
I think it looks like a really great event, and would be really fun. I don't see what the problem is. $60.00 Exclusive Package includes: • One (1) admission to the basketball workshop with Rockets Assistant Coaches and celebrities • Behind the scenes tour. Please wear comfortable tennis shoes • Commemorative Houston Rockets gift • Opportunity to shoot free throws on Houston Rockets home court. • Houston Rockets Player Meet and Greet • Two (2) tickets to Rockets vs. Denver Nuggets game on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at 7:00 PM
It does seem a little sexist. Not horribly or anything, but I know some women who know a lot more about basketball than my 18 year old brother, whose idea of a great competition is some time spent on Xbox Live calling people f*gs on Call of Duty.
Yeah, but like I'm sure there's research available that shows that men dominate in terms of sports watching. So if you wanted to get women more interested in basketball, how do you even address it without just fully leaning into the fact that on average they don't know as much as guys do about sports? And the opposite point for the "Guys night out" ticket packages... wouldn't that be equally sexist? Because its like you say that only guys watch sports (even though for the most part it's true).
I went to the one in 2010 and loved it. I loved it even more after I won an iPad 7 months later from a State Farm raffle I had entered at the event. They didn't have one last year because of the lockout but I really hope I can attend the one this year. It wasn't called Hoops & Heels name attached then, but I think it's a good addition so it sounds more like an event for woman rather than a crash course. Does the name Basketball 101 offend me? No. However I do know 2 female big time Rockets fans who chose not to go because I think they were a little bit offended by the title of the event. I'm pretty skeptical when I meet other females that are "Rockets fans" or "basketball fans" about their knowledge of the game. I'm not offended when guys think I know squat about basketball at first because I'll prove my knowledge within a minute of conversation. At the event they did a good job of giving a foundation of the game for those that needed it and still made it interesting for those who already know the game. Having played basketball since I was 6, I didn't need a 101, but I still enjoyed the locker room tour, the speakers, meeting Coach Gunning and Respert, having laughs as we did drills, and just meeting other female Rockets fans. I also got to attend a post game meet and greet with Brooks the following night. Here is what I wrote up about my experience at the event in 2010. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=199490 Spoiler I’ll also give a summary of the Rockets Basketball 101 for Women because well 99% of you couldn’t attend the event because of your gender. It would be a great gift to get your sister/wife/girlfriend/mother in the future. The price includes a shirt, 2 tickets, and 2 entries to a Q&A and autograph session which means you could tag along to the game and Q&A. We started off in some big room on the suite level and had those giant Toyota Center cookies and Papa John’s pizza. I love that Papa John’s is always the Rockets choice of pizza. I can’t wait to eat some after the Rockets Run tomorrow which you all should sign up for. The event started off with Patti Smith speaking. Patti Smith has been broadcasting the Rockets games for quite a few years, and it was interesting to hear her experience and stories of the Rockets players. I really liked the fact that she didn’t talk about how difficult it is to be a woman in the sports broadcasting industry. With that recent story about that one female news reporter in the NFL locker room, she could have easily taken that "poor me" approach. She said that it sometimes it is actually an advantage being a woman because men can be chivalrous and people are less likely to say no to a woman asking for an interview. She was pretty funny and even did a quick impression of Mutombo. The second speaker was Samantha Hicks-Nila who used to be a trainer for the Comets and Rockets. I was interesting hearing here experiences about training, what they do when players get injured, and her experiences in the Rockets locker room with Rockets players being shirtless which definitely appealed to the female audience. As a female who is interested in the sports industry as a possible career path, it was great to hear these two women speak. From there we split into three groups. We headed to the Toyota Center court and my group did some offensive drills with Coach Respert. We did some warm-up drills and then did some passing drills and some layup lines. It was pretty entertaining to see some of these women play basketball who I don’t think ever had in their life. Everyone seemed to have a good time though. Then we switched to the defensive side with Coach Gunning. We focused on the pick-and-roll defense, pretending we were Rockets and Celtics players from the night before. It was a great time getting to talk and hang with those 2 coaches and play around on the Rockets court. The final thing my group did was tour the Lexus Lounge, Woodforest Club and THE LOCKER ROOM! I had seen the first 2 before but not the locker room. Scola had pictures of 2 of his boys in his locker and Shane Battier had a list of goals in his. It was signed in 08 and read something like “1.win a championship 2. Make it out of the second round 3. Win Defensive Player of the Year 4. Make All Defensive Team”. In a handful of the players’ lockers it had pictures and names of all of the NBA referees. Pictures were not allowed in the locker room, but what I would have taken pictures of would be the players’ shoes! There were sooo many shoes in there. I enjoyed seeing their shoes especially made for them that I have only seen up close with pictures on Clutchfans. In the locker room I got a chance to meet Adam Clanton from Channel 2. We follow each other on twitter, so we recognized each other. He interviewed me, and the story he did on the Women’s Basketball 101 clinic was show on Channel 2’s Sports Sunday last Sunday night.
