Stephenson: "Asians Are Killing LPGA"

[DoveTurnedHawk]

<...>

“THIS IS PROBABLY going to get me in trouble, but the Asians are killing our tour,” Stephenson says in the November issue of Golf Magazine. “Their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English when they can speak English. They rarely speak.”

Four of the top six money leaders on the LPGA Tour are Asian -Se Ri Pak, Grace Park, Hee-Won Han and Candie Kung.

“We have two-day pro-ams where people are paying a lot of money to play with us, and they (Asians) say hello and goodbye,” Stephenson says in the Golf Magazine interview. “Our tour is predominantly international, and the majority are Asian. They’ve taken it over.”

The LPGA Tour’s original glamour girl, Stephenson, 51, also believes the Tour should actively sell sex.

<...>

http://www.msnbc.com/news/978712.asp?0cv=CB20

:grr:

DTH

[VolcanoJen]

1. Is this Jan Stephenson, the Aussie golfer pin-up girl from the '80's?

:puke:

What a disgusting, immoral thing to say.

[omshanti]

2. Well then maybe the non-Asians better step it up some.

eom

[morebunk]

47. We can't stand anyone who can beat us fairly at our own game...

in politics, exonomics, or sports.

[gratuitous]

3. Damn that Annika Sorenstam!

She's the worst kind of Asian of all, isn't she, Jan? One of them Swedish Asians! Sneaky unemotional ciphers all!

[Metatron]

8. ROFL! n/t

[Richardo]

4. Jan we (apparently) hardly knew ye...

In addition to the racism, there's this:

“We have to promote sex appeal. It’s a fact of life,” Stephenson told Golf Magazine. “The people who watch are predominantly male, and they won’t keep watching if the girls aren’t beautiful. That’s not just the LPGA Tour, either. In Australia, the highest-rated television event is the women’s surf championship. Why is that?”

What a disappointment. Fits right in with fellow Aussie Rupert Murdoch's worldview, however: T&A everywhere, all the time.

Can we speak to Billie Jean King now, please?

[FlemingsGhost]

13. All women, sans bigoted loudmouths, are beautiful.

Shut the fuck up, Jan.

[beanball]

46. Yo Jan take you biased buns home(go down or is that go down under?)

old hags never know when to quit.

[benfranklin1776]

14. How pathetically shallow.

“The people who watch are
predominantly male, and they won’t keep watching if the girls aren’t beautiful. "

This epidemic of empty headed Greco Roman style glorifcation of the beauty of the body over all else is
truly disgusting but nevertheless ubiquitous. This attitude was as bad as the clueless twits interviewed by the Wash Post who stated that they didn't care about being groped by der Schweinfuhrer. They stated that they would have loved to be groped by old AHNALD DA PIG and only hoped they could look as good as Maria so that they could get a husband that looked like him.
Television and Madison Avenue have exalted this worship of the body to this level of absurdity and contributed mightily to this epidemic of vapidity. This has of course poisoned the electoral well. Candidates on the national stage must be "telegenic" or they will not be taken seriously. A sad commentary. Is there in truth no beauty? Not to the infotainment biz.

[arcane1]

15. but men watch MEN play golf all the time...

why is that, if sex appeal is the only thing keeping them on the channel :shrug:

[benfranklin1776]

16. Good point.

Don't confuse Jan with logic though. Its too taxing I am afraid.

[demdave]

34. It is the level of play, same as many sports..baseball, basketball....

The level of play is not there in women's sports that have a male counterpart. That is why there are not big crowd watching women's basketball. It might not be P.C., but she has some truth in her statements about sex appeal. As for the Asians, I agree with the personality aspect as far as it is involved in the televised side of the equation. Personality goes a long way. To simply watch people walk, hit, walk, hit.....would be monotonous. Plenty of male golfers garnered way more attention than their play would dictate because of their rather flamboyant personalities. The prize money only looks at the scorecard but the viewing audience wants to be entertained.

[dfong63]

18. so is she wrong?

no flames, please... i'm not a sports fan at all, so i don't know. i'm just curious as to whether she might only be telling an unpleasant truth. is it true that the audience of the LPGA events is mainly male, and that they "go" for the beautiful girls? we all know that sex sells in the entertainment industry, in music and film. and IMHO pro sports are basically a form of entertainment.

[bushisanidiot]

25. Give Her Time, She'll Complain That The Lesbian Golfers Are Taking Over To

o. heh..

I think it's wishful thinking on her part that men are the main audience of the LPGA. She must be thinking of the miss america contests. The main audience of the LPGA is clearly female and we like to watch good competition regardless of the competitors' race.

She needs to go have a pill with Boil Ass and get over it.

[ieoeja]

31. I know a lot of men who watch golf.

And not ONE of them watches the LPGA.

No, seriously. I really do know quite a few men who enjoy watching golf. Weird.

[0007]

39. Are they the ones that watch

ping pong matches or any other sport activity when major sports isn't on the air for viewing?

[demdave]

37. To some degree she is correct, in the entertainment aspect.

I fleshed out my opinion of how she has some truth in my reply above.

[Neecy]

38. what a dipshit

If athletic ability counts for zero, as this dipshit seems to think, why not just have a bunch of bimbos floating around golfing naked? That should increase the popularity (I almost said 'visibility') of the sport.

And of course, she buys into the concept of white=beauty. Asian women can certainly be as attractive as anyone else, but according to this racist, apparently not.

Maybe she should learn something about other cultures before she attacks their deportment. Not every culture in the world is loud and demonstrative.

[Voltaire99]

5. Dear Asians: Please kill professional golf

You'll be doing humankind a favor.

As for the racist white lady who, weirdly, wants to sex up golf for male viewers, I'm reminded of the Maryland governor's wife who blurted out this week that she wants to shoot Britney Spears. Bad week for over-50 right wing women, eh? Something in the zeitgeist?

[RaulGroom]

19. Voltaire99, I nominate you for poster of the day

I actually watch golf occasionally, but the raw comic value of this quote is hard to overstate:

"Dear Asians: Please kill professional golf"

Very funny stuff.

[leesa]

41. Hear! Hear!! Funny

Don't males waste enough time and energy on sports already?

[Neutrino]

6. "Asians" are dedicated achievers. Professional sports

-- costly in economic and personal terms. Whether one chooses to
socialize, or not, shouldn't even be in the equation. Has Stephenson
thought to learn Asian language? (If I can read and write Mandarin,
anyone can.) It isn't hard, and Asian competitors would respond
positively to the effort.

[niyad]

7. and here I thought it was just the men making

really stupid and disgusting comments. what in the world does she think she is doing?

[ReadTomPaine]

9. 2003 or 1953. You decide.

[gratuitous]

12. But I can't decide, Tom!

Faux hasn't reported yet, so how can I decide?? Golly, first Rush, now this! Someone tell me what to think!!

[Faygo Kid]

10. Ugh. Nasty. Just beat them, Jan

Another nasty quote. In Bush's America, this mean-spiritedness seems to be percolating to the top. Easy solution, if you don't like Asian golfers, black quarterbacks, etc. - Win on the field of play. Criticize athletes for their performances, not their race, religion or any other irrelevant factor. Anybody know her political persuasion? Let me guess. . .

[atlien]

26. Beating them...well, that's the problem.

This is the female Dennis Rodman. Lacking actual ability, searching for publicity via controversy.
Next topic.

[FlemingsGhost]

11. Maybe Jan can get a job with ESPN. (n/t)

Dems

[KamaAina]

17. Hey, bigot! You forgot Michelle Wie!

Oh, right, she's from Hawai'i, and is presently enrolled at the prestigious Punahou School, where a "refusal to speak English" is pretty much unheard of.

And, despite being in ninth grade, she could kick your overhyped, has-been butt around any golf course you choose!

[benfranklin1776]

21. So True!

Jan obviously has gone to the Rush Limbaugh school of racial scapegoating. No doubt they use the same drycleaners for their white sheets.

[neomonkey]

20. Golf, yech

Everytime I find myself questioning the rationale or sanity of my terrible hatred of golf, another wonderful representative of that so-called sport comes out and illustrates the disgusting elitism inherent in that fool's game and I once again find myself hating it with very little or no guilt.

[MaineDem]

22. Don't forget Tiger

Isn't his mother Asian? Is he ruining the PGA?

You know that saying about better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt? I think this woman needs to take tht to heart.

[neomonkey]

24. Problem is

this game takes ostensible representatives of people not historically representated in the annals of golf and turns them into brain-dead snobs anyways.

[Best_man23]

45. Some RWers would say he is ruining the PGA

By playing and not caddying clubs for some rich white person.

[ReadTomPaine]

23. This also reminds me of Mark McGwire's asinine comments re: Japan.

The sad thing was that he was so loved throughout Japan they tried to make excuses for his behavior. Japanese baseball fans didn't want to believe it was true.

[tkmorris]

27. She's wrong BUT, there is a point

Women's sports do not sell particularly well. They have their ups and downs but they are ALWAYS struggling to keep up. There is a very good reason for that.

By and large people will not pay to watch second rate competitions. I know a lot of you just labeled me a hopeless sexist but hear me out. It isn't the womens fault that this is true, nor is it their fault that it's second rate. Furthermore, that sad fact is not particular to womens sports. For example not many people watch Triple A baseball, nor the second level golf tour for men (used to be called the Ben Hogan tour). The MLS struggles because soccer fans are aware that it's not at the level of the European leagues, though being the only game in town it hangs on.

Ok, back to what Stephenson said. I disagree with her tone a great deal and so on but I DO think she recognizes that difficulty in competing with men's top level sports. If the PGA is to do well it has to provide something that men's sports does not. In her mind it appears that that is sex appeal. Perhaps not blatantly so, she argues that in some ways the Asian players are simply not accessible enough, not personable. She appears to think that this hurts the WPGA. She's right, provided what she says about the Asian players is true and it appears to be, at least to me. The womens tour has always sold it's players, the personalities, the people behind the game. And yes, sex. If those things are decreased by the cultural differences the Asians bring with them it does hurt the sport. In it's pocketbook anyway.

[RaulGroom]

29. Hate to be rude

But I doubt you are a real serious student of the LPGA's marketing efforts, since you don't know what it's called.

[tkmorris]

30. So don't be

I forgot and confused it. The point remains the same. Don't be flippant ok?

[RaulGroom]

32. The point loses a bit of its power, don't you think?

And "flippant" is what I do best. ;)

[Wednesdays]

28. Oh!

Asians are good at golf? Oh, the horror, the horror!

[gratuitous]

33. They may be good at golf

But they can't keep their carts on the path! It's ruining the game!

[rocktivity]

35. Whatever Rush has must be contagious!

Is she addicted to painkillers, too?


rocknation

[Chovexani]

36. I can't stand this ignorant bitch

Being someone who doesn't follow golf at all, my first exposure to Stephenson was a really good HBO Sports documentary about gender and sexuality in sports. I was really incensed by the way she seemed to encourage people to focus on her looks rather than on her talent (like I said, I don't follow golf, but it seemed like she actually had some, unlike Anna Kournikova). I got the impression that she was exactly the kind of ignorant bimbo that brings the women's movement a step back.

I am really not surprised that she made these kind of comments, but it's just shocking that someone, particularly a public figure, would be that blunt in this day and age. On one hand, it's kind of refreshing, cause you know there's probably tons of people that secretly think the same thing but are just too chicken shit to say it out loud. OTOH, it just makes you shake your head at how fucking ignorant someone has to be to think that.

As people of color make more in-roads into traditionally white-dominated sports, expect more horseshit like this to come out.

[BiggJawn]

49. Still living her "Pin-up Girl" fantasy, isn't she?

Goodness, that was over 20 years ago, and while she was an adaquate golfer (as I recall) AND prime "kitten-killing material", that WAS over 20 years ago.

I didn't know she was still playing.

[SemperEadem]

40. mediocrity leads to death

sucks to be a mediocre golfer, eh Jan? Maybe you should quit golfing and go sell golf shoes at Sports Chalet... something you could handle.

[salin]

42. blech

on multiple levels. Some folks just can't resist making themselves look horrible.

[E_Zapata]

43. Maybe those 'asian' golfers could take up figure skating?

Cause it seems the 'asian' ladies have made it a no. 1 sport.

Or, I guess, the asian golfers could just wear sequins to compete.

good gawd.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

48. I Want To See Some Asian Asskickers

Who will kick the ass of this racist moron Stephenson.

:grr:

DTH

[ozone_man]

44. Looks like it's time for the LPGA to learn "Asian".

We will all have to learn to speak Mandarin and other Asian languages soon, as the U.S. is in decline now. Losing in golf is a particularly good measure of decline (sarcasm).

[rooboy]

50. Good on you Jan !!!!

for having the guts to come out and say exactly what NOBODY was thinking.

[The_Casual_Observer]

51. This person has the right to say this AND the world has the right

to ignore and shun the bitch now if we want to.

[dbt]

52. So they won't talk, eh?

How much better would this Sad Planet be if more people would just shut the fuck up!

:freak:
dbt