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Most influential US woman athlete

1970s1970s Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭✭✭
Was wondering about this yesterday for some reason.

My thinking is that perhaps it's Mia Hamm. Only because she emerged at a time when the internet and woman's soccer was really taking off, and many girls in America became influenced by her, and USA woman's soccer has become dominant. Not necessarily because of Mia, but she became the face of the sport.

Any others ?

Comments

  • MikeyPMikeyP Posts: 986 ✭✭✭
    Billie Jean King. Anyone who can with the "Battle of the Sexes" match with that wooden tennis racquet deserves to be named the Most Influential United States Women's Athlete.

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    "Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood."
  • SDSportsFanSDSportsFan Posts: 5,086 ✭✭✭✭✭
    To me, the top two would be Billie Jean King and Babe Didrickson Zaharias.

    A couple others are Nancy Lieberman and Ann Meyers, and then maybe Cheryl Miller.

    Steve
  • MGLICKERMGLICKER Posts: 7,995 ✭✭✭
    Rosie Ruiz.
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,478 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Tony Romo


    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • TabeTabe Posts: 5,920 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Billie Jean King. Anyone who can with the "Battle of the Sexes" match with that wooden tennis racquet deserves to be named the Most Influential United States Women's Athlete. >>


    It was fixed. Bobby threw the match to cover gambling debts. He played Margaret Court - a better player than Billie Jean - and destroyed her.
  • TabeTabe Posts: 5,920 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Mia Hamm is a good pick as most influential. She became super popular at a time when participation in youth sports for girls was just about to explode and her success helped really kick that off. She's not a trailblazer in the mold of many others but influence? She's right at the top.
  • GRGR Posts: 550 ✭✭
    It should be Babe Didrickson, she was and to this day is the greatest Female athlete of all time, a Jim Thorpe like Resume
    Nathan Wagner
  • MGLICKERMGLICKER Posts: 7,995 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Billie Jean King. Anyone who can with the "Battle of the Sexes" match with that wooden tennis racquet deserves to be named the Most Influential United States Women's Athlete. >>


    It was fixed. Bobby threw the match to cover gambling debts. He played Margaret Court - a better player than Billie Jean - and destroyed her. >>



    The fix has been pretty much established as true. Still a great made for TV event.
  • FavreFan1971FavreFan1971 Posts: 3,105 ✭✭✭
    The OP said Influential not best. As for influential I go with Hamm, Mary Lou Retton, Sheryl Swoopes, or Jackie Joyner-Kersee. All four of these athletes changed their sports.

    Hamm made USA Women's soccer more popular than that men's game for a good period of time. Young kids all over wanted to play girls soccer and now it is huge across America.

    Retton put US gymnastics on the map and we have not looked back.

    Swoopes was the first player drafted by the WNBA

    Jackie Joyner-Kersee put the world on notice for USA Women's Track and Field.

    My vote goes to Mia Hamm.
  • MGLICKERMGLICKER Posts: 7,995 ✭✭✭
    Kathy Switzer was the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon.

    Shirley Muldowney was the first woman driver licensed by the NHRA, and was extremely competitive in the 1970's and 80's.

  • lanemyer85lanemyer85 Posts: 1,315 ✭✭✭
    Unless we're supposed to completely ignore the business and philanthropic sides of sports, I'm not sure how this could even be a debate. Billie Jean King, not only a Top 5 women's player of all-time by any measure (ranked #10 men & women by Tennis Channel), founded the freaking women's tour. Forget about the match with Riggs, she founded the WTA that, you know, is the tour that all women still compete on today. In addition to that she also founded the (non-profit) Women's Sports Foundation which still runs youth sports programs, gives money to Olympic hopefuls, and even helps female authors get their work published.

    Women's tennis has historically been the one sport that even a decent percentage of men tend to respect on a somewhat equal level. Not in a Serena Williams could beat a top 50 men's player level, but on the artistry or shot making ability level. Sure there is a foot speed/movement difference, but the only real glaring difference between the men & women is that the men's game is largely based on the serve/forehand combination where the women's game is largely based on constructing points from the return game since the average service speed isn't as great. Women, on average, win a higher percentage of return points than men.

    Similarly, it's the only sport where shared tournament prize money is equal between men & women. Since the major tourneys are happening at the same time, the women are getting largely equal airtime. They're getting the same broadcast A teams. Women are also equaling the airtime on the "Show Courts" ie the main stadium courts. The matches have the same feel of a men's match regardless whether you care about tennis or not. I highly doubt anyone would say a WNBA game has the same feel of an NBA game.
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    Take Fed out of the equation because he's essentially on Jordan's level in terms of global popularity, but clearly endorsements are somewhat equal as well. To put that into perspective, no NFL player earned more than $12M in endorsements. There are 3 female athletes in the Top 100 Athlete earners list. All 3 are tennis players - Serena, Sharapova, and Li Na.

    With a cursory glance at some data it seems that the gap in pay for men vs women in golf is 5x in favor of the men's tour. The average professional American women's soccer player (Olympic or NWSL player) earns an average around $25K per year with lowest end players earning less than $10K. The average American men's pro (Olympics, Euro leaguers or MLS) earns six figures. I suspect the gap is similar for basketball players. Even pay aside, the non-tennis female sports collectively accrue 7% of the airtime and 0.4% of the total value of commercial sponsorships that men's sports do. In tennis it's nearly equal. So if tennis is the top women's sport in terms of popularity, TV ratings, and equality, at least in the US, then it starts with B.J. King and you can throw some support to Chris Evert for transcending her sport into mainstream pop culture some 30 years before Mia Hamm.

  • TabeTabe Posts: 5,920 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you want to go that route with Billie Jean, you've got a great case. And, fixed or not, the match with Riggs was a huge spectacle that drew a TON of positive attention to women's sports. Add in the foundation of the women's tour, the high profile of a number of female tennis stars (past and present) and you've made a compelling argument in favor of Billie Jean. In fact, I'll change my vote from Mia to BJK.
  • TabeTabe Posts: 5,920 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>It should be Babe Didrickson, she was and to this day is the greatest Female athlete of all time, a Jim Thorpe like Resume >>


    Should be but isn't. If you ask 500 people on the street who Babe Didrickson was, you'd be lucky to get 1 person who knows. That doesn't speak much for her influence.
  • The same could be said of Jim Thorpe or Christy Mathewson, yet they were very influential. Ask 100 people on the street about Nikola Tesla or Douglas MacArthur and 80 will give you blank stares.
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  • bigmarty58bigmarty58 Posts: 1,998 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My vote would be for Billie Jean King.
    Enthusiastic collector of British pre-decimal and Canadian decimal circulation coins.
  • MGLICKERMGLICKER Posts: 7,995 ✭✭✭


    << <i> Ask 100 people on the street about Nikola Tesla or Douglas MacArthur and 80 will give you blank stares. >>



    Was watching a special on Houdini last night. 80 out of 100 might know the name but probably half would not know much more.
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Cindy Crosby

    MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
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  • mikelowell25mikelowell25 Posts: 1,252 ✭✭✭
    Mark Teixeira
  • mikliamiklia Posts: 1,295 ✭✭✭
    hrrr drrrr he asked for a woman's name and I said a guy's!!! lololololol
  • DIMEMANDIMEMAN Posts: 22,403 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Billie Jean King......what a laugh!
  • GRGR Posts: 550 ✭✭
    Babe Didrickson made it on an episode of drunk history though (; very influential
    Nathan Wagner
  • telephoto1telephoto1 Posts: 4,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Derek Jeter

    RIP Mom- 1932-2012
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