The Curse of Young Attractive Female Athletes...

I was skimming Simmons's mailbag earlier today and noticed a question comparing Anna Kournikova and Danica Patrick. This got me thinking and of course my mind then jumped to Michelle Wie. What is it about these young, talented female athletes where that combination just seems to be the kiss of death to success in their sports? The minute Kournikova looked like a decent tennis player and started getting attention she seemed to shift her focus from tennis to getting attention from every Russian hockey player and endangering the entire NHL back when hockey was still a sport (how do you say "statutory rape" in Russian?).

And it's the way that these female athletes fall off. It's just not pretty. Like Michelle Wie's near nervous breakdown last month eventually resulting in her just quitting in the middle of a round after a frustrating shot. When was the last time you heard of a professional golfer doing that? This isn't Uncle Frank losing it after a 6-pack and hitting his ball in the water; this is supposed to be a potential top-tier professional women's golfer we're talking about. It's just bizarre.

The other thing I find odd about all this is that it just doesn't seem to happen on the men's side. They're dealing with the same attention and problems handling fame that women athletes are dealing with, but this just doesn't seem to impact them when it comes to excelling at their sports. My theory is that the women know that they CAN get by just on their sex appeal. Look at Kournikova, at one point she was not even in the top 100 players and she was number 2 in endorsements for women's tennis players at about $10 million per year. Michelle Wie is looking eerily similar. I don't know her exact endorsement numbers, but I'll bet they are heading in the same direction of Kournikova's were while her ranking is similarly slipping at an age when she should only be improving. Meanwhile, guys like Jeter and A-Rod who show up on magazine covers in their late teens and early 20's and definitely benefit in endorsements from having female (and i'm sure some male) admirers, just never seem to fade in the same way.

One comment I heard once that is often true is that, in general, women (and Jeff Garcia) think of men as a total package, and a critical failing in one area can kill the guy even though they have any number of great attributes in other areas. Men, on the other hand, see an array of parts and any one great attribute (ie, appearance) can make up for a laundry list of failings in other areas (ie, being the age of consent, attitude, intelligence, and whether they'll take off with your kidneys at 5 am when you pass out). Essentially, women aren't going to be impressed with a guy's appearance if his reason for being in front of them in the first place ain't up to snuff. Meanwhile, as long as Kournikova was wearing those short shorts and running around guys could care less about her tennis ability... as long as she kept running after that ball, perspiring ever so slightly... as the sun gently caressed her perfect, lithe tan body.... floating around like an angel from...

Whoa! It's okay... i'm okay. Just a Kournikova flashback from the last 90's. I'll be fine...

--dwyermaker