| | | On a recent 6 p.m. SportsCenter, I read the following headline: "WNBA player might pose for Playboy."
|  | | Lisa Harrison is hardly naive. She said she'd "consider" posing for Playboy if the offer were right. |
It was a cheap attention-grabber, although it did get people talking, once again. But to me, the controversy over nude or semi-nude athletes ranks up there with the debate about women reporters in the locker room.
I'm not going to join the legion of columnists in a pilgrimage to the moral high ground over Lisa Harrison's decision. If she wants to pose for Playboy and is prepared for the consequences, she should do it.
Either way, Harrison's decision will not make her any less of an athlete. Nor will it make the WNBA less credible. Hers is not the face of pro basketball, let alone pro sports.
How things have changed. When I was a kid, my potential role models were Chris Evert, Dorothy Hamill or Suzy Chapstick. But girls today have hundreds of athletes to admire. Harrison's choice will not cheapen or change the fact that women's sports are thriving. The WNBA, WUSA, WPBA (bowling) or WPSL (softball), for that matter, will not shut their doors over this. ESPN will not renege on its deal to showcase future WNBA stars in the women's NCAA Tournament. Likewise, CBS is not going to pull the plug on its decision to televise the U.S. Women's Open final round in prime time.
What is a concern, though, are Harrison's reasons for wanting to pose. A Pat Summit-trained Tennessee Lady Vol, a starter for most of her three seasons in Phoenix and one of the best defenders in the WNBA, the 30-year-old Harrison earns slightly more than $35,000 a season. Playboy's reported offer of $250,000 would be equal to roughly seven seasons' pay. Seven seasons!
As Harrison bluntly put it, eschewing the usual third-person jockspeak, "I need the publicity. I need money. I'm not getting it in the WNBA, so I'll do it my own way."
|  | | Brandi Chastain and the U.S. women's soccer team used their sex appeal to their advantage. |
If she does ultimately say yes, she'll be in distinguished company. Star athletes posing nude -- with or without strategically placed sporting equipment -- is so in vogue it's practically a trend. Olympic swimmers did it prior to Sydney. Gabrielle Reece and Katarina Witt have done it, too. Two years ago, months before she showed off her sports bra in the 1999 Women's World Cup, Brandi Chastain showed off nearly everything else, posing nude with a soccer ball for "Gear" magazine.
David Letterman loved it and invited Chastain on his show. She talked about being proud of her body and non-self-consciously embraced the attention. She controlled the entire situation.
Julie Foudy has called the U.S. women's national soccer team, "booters with hooters." These women worked it. During the World Cup, while reporting on the players' mass crossover appeal, I asked them about their new found "babe status." They did not care why people tuned in, so long as they stayed to watch the game. I asked Foudy what she thought of teenage boys thinking she was hot. Foudy chuckled, a bit tired of the question, but she had to entertain it. You can't call your teammates "booters with hooters" -- and then get on a high horse.
In the end, they had talent that equaled or bettered their looks. While Chastain's pictures had nothing to do with her penalty kick, it helped to make her a household name. I think she would say she loves the consequences.
Judging by her initial comments after she won the Playboy contest, Harrison -- like Foudy and Chastain -- is not naive. She said she would consider posing. She stipulated there would be limits, and conditions: She would not pose for pennies.
Harrison is also confident in the knowledge that her skills are solid. Does this sound like an exploited woman to you? Try, a college-educated women making a business decision.
Should women athletes be measured on talent alone? Of course, everyone should.
But who really is?
|  | | Harrison earns just $35,000 a year for playing in the WNBA. |
I know I'm not. As for whether that's been a good or bad thing, it depends on who's judging. It is sometimes frustrating, but it's part of the territory of television. Which is why last year's Playboy poll to pick the sexiest woman sportscaster did not surprise me. Although you might have noticed that ESPN was the team without an all-star representative. We have been told we were sorely missed. Really.
Of those who were selected, I most admired Hannah Storm's response. Very pregnant at the time, she happily accepted being told that she was sexy. She did not act offended or issue a "no comment," or have her publicist push for a better photo. And she did not feel the need to remind everyone of how credible and professional she was. Everyone knew it, and the poll was not about that. It was about good looks, people's opinions and ultimately one woman's choice.
It also did not surprise me that not a single sportscaster said she would consider the offer from Playboy. All the women on that poll certainly earn more than $35,000 a year, and the consequences of posing would have been severe.
To make sure I wasn't entirely missing the role model portion of the moralists' argument, I called my 11-year-old goddaughter, Kristen -- and had to wait for her to call me back after she finished attending a WUSA game in Philadelphia. Boston was in town, and she wanted to see Kristine Lilly. It brought me back to when I was about her age, and spent hours looking for stories in the Philadelphia Inquirer or the old Bulletin about Immaculatta College. It had a great basketball program and I wanted to learn the players' names.
Finally, Kristen called back. I asked her about Harrison. Kristen giggled -- she thought the whole thing was silly -- then talked about the game for much longer. Her enthusiasm for the new league speaks louder than these thousand words about Harrison. Her innocent chatter was the most convincing argument I heard all day.
SportsCenter anchor Chris McKendry is a regular columnist for Page 2. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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