Wonder who is the most popular female athlete today? The answer is both surprising and telling.
The people at Marketing Evaluations Inc., which has compiled its Q-score familiarity ratings for more than 40 years, asked sports fans in March who their favorite athletes were.
Michael Jordan topped the list as usual, followed by Tiger Woods. The first female ranked No. 22, just behind Larry Bird.
Her name? Kristi Yamaguchi.
Yes, Kristi Yamaguchi. She won a gold medal in figure skating in 1992, then toured with “Stars on Ice.” More recently she was skating in her own “Friends and Family” ice show.
All fine accomplishments, but she hasn’t competed in 15 years.
Three of the top five women in the sports Q ratings are retired figure skaters, which by itself should tell you something about the state of women’s sports. The top active player was Serena Williams at No. 50, followed a few spots later by softball player Jennie Finch.
And for all the hype over the 1999 women’s World Cup and its promise to transform women’s sports in the United States, Mia Hamm is the only player from that team to crack the top 100.
My guess is that Laila Ali may surpass them all in the next survey, not because of her boxing skills but because of her name and the fact she has become a hit on “Dancing With The Stars.”
The WNBA has had a decade to prove itself but remains a niche sport, the women’s pro soccer league is no longer around, and the LPGA has to buy its own time if it wants to be on network television.
Yes, Saturday’s a big day if you’re a WNBA fan. The league opens its second decade with five games, including a game between Sacramento and Detroit that will be televised on ABC, and opening game crowds should be respectable.
They might even get a few highlights on ESPN if Arena Football doesn’t hog them all.
But until women fans become fans of women sports, this may be as good as it gets.
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