Originally Posted by
BarracksSi
None of them have done a shoot for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue, though, have they?
What still sticks with me about Danica Patrick is the comment she made in an interview about feeling good because Bar Refaeli thought she was just another one of the models. Tells you where Danica's heart is.
Originally Posted by
BarracksSi
Because Eastern European supermodels in short skirts get ratings, while the WNBA is—and there's no nice way to say it—noticeably slower, lower, and less "Wow!"-inspiring than men's basketball.
Remarkably, women's tennis is a similar thing to IRL and Danica Patrick when it comes to marketing and publicity. Anna Kournikova is much a similar case to Danica. Played just well enough to get noticed, and then off to the modeling career. The same story: Model first, tennis player second. Thankfully for the credibility of tennis, she did wash out eventually from that. But still rather known. Not for tennis, but for modeling herself.
I'm sure, though, that the powers-that-be in tennis weren't blind to what happened with Ms. Kournikova, and made changes accordingly (looks and sex appeal get their matches shown, not necessarily the best players or most competitive matches; I'm sure along with bringing in those east-european supermodels).