Bad Birdy

Oh my... This is truly unfortunate -

[ and I mean unfortunate that she made the bet, not that she
cancelled it - although I'm sure others may have a different
perspective! ;-) ]

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Storm star cancels spanking bet with radio host

By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
July 21, 2003
SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle Storm standout Sue Bird canceled a wager with
a sports radio talk show host who proposed to spank her on his program
if she lost the bet.

Bird apologized to fans Monday, saying in a team statement that she
made the bet ``as a good-natured way to draw the radio talent and
listeners to Storm games.''

After realizing the bet had offended some people, Bird decided to call
it off. The wager, made earlier in the season, hinged on whether
Bird's assist-to-turnover ratio would turn out higher than 2-1 at the
end of the season.

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As the bet stood, Bird would have had to cry, ``Harder, Daddy,
harder'' during the spanking if she lost. If Bird won the bet, program
host Mitch Levy would buy season tickets to Storm games next year.

``She did it in fun and she did it with the best of intentions,'' said
Bird's agent, Jimmy Gould. ``She's terribly upset about it. She
regrets it. She hopes people understand.''

Gould said Bird ``learned a good lesson,'' and wants to take
responsibility for her mistake.

``She didn't stop to think about the impact she has on younger people
and that she's expected to be more clear and thoughtful when making a
statement like that, even though it was done in fun,'' he said.

Bird was on pace to win the wager. She's the WNBA's top playmaker with
137 assists and 63 turnovers in 20 games.

The bet drew criticism, including a comment from state Sen. Jeanne
Kohl-Welles, who teaches women's studies at the University of
Washington.

``It helps feed into the images of violence against women and
stereotyping,'' Kohl-Welles told The Seattle Times. ``I don't condemn
her. I appreciate that she doesn't have the experience in life that
other women have had.

``But this could be very hurtful, not just to the WNBA, but to other
women and girls.''

Bird addressed that in her statement.

``As genuine as my intentions were, I realize the negative effect that
this bet has had and would like to apologize,'' she said.

Storm vice president Karen Bryant supported Bird's decision.

``The Storm is focused on maintaining its role as a positive group of
female role models, specifically a team of talented and strong
athletes,'' Bryant said.

The Storm and other WNBA teams have had difficulty getting men age
18-35 to come to games since the league was founded in 1997. That's
the demographic Bird said she was considering when she agreed to the
bet.

``He symbolizes that guy the league is trying to attract,'' Bird said
of Levy. ``He's talking to that guy every morning. I believe that if I
can get him in a seat to attend a game, then maybe his opinion will
change and he'll talk about it on the air.''

Efforts to reach Levy or executives at KJR-AM by telephone were not
successful Monday evening.

Bird is one of the high-profile women's basketball players in the
country. She was a key performer on Connecticut's NCAA championship
teams of 2000 and 2002 and its Final Four team in 2001.