Obviously, as a progressive in a conservative sports world, Nash comes at life from a different place than about 85-90 per cent of the male team sports athletes. It is also a bit of a sad commentary that this story only jumps out more due to the male athlete investing it, not any of the women who will be playing in the fledgling Women's Professional Soccer League. (If it gets Marta on to North American TV and stadia on a regular basis, that would be a good thing.)
Nash doing this does drive the point home there is an athletic class of women in team sports such as soccer and hockey who have the drive to be professionals and deserve to make a living wage. Men who've been blessed with that same gift should feel compelled to help. Look, 12-13 years people scoffed at the notion of the WNBA, saying stuff like, "If I wanted to watch a bunch of people 5-foot-11 and can't dunk, I'd go organize a pickup game," but the NBA saw an obligation and now it has a pretty healthy subsidiary. (A couple WNBA teams even have stand-alone ownership.)
It can be done. Steve Nash always seems to know where things are headed. It goes without saying this should raise questions about a certain pro sports league very near and dear to Canadians and what it's doing -- or not doing -- to foster the growth of women's hockey.
Related:
Cash splash from Nash (Ben Knight, globesports.com)
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