In this battle of the sexes, the boys took it on the chin
Serious pick-up players have said it.
Weekend warriors have said it.
High school players have said it.
Even some people in my own family have said it.
When the topic of WNBA basketball comes up, many guys seem to have a default response programmed into their heads.
"I bet my high school team could beat a WNBA team," they snicker, puffing out their chests.
Of course, I do what I always do. Roll my eyes. And argue.
Can I say with certainty that the idea is completely out-of-line and ridiculous? Can I say that no high school boys teams could ever beat a WNBA team?
No, of course not.
There have been some pretty darn good high school boys basketball teams just around here alone.
Take Derrick Rose's Simeon teams that won back-to-back IHSA Class AA state titles in 2006 and 2007. Could they beat a WNBA team? Could the Peoria Manuel state championship teams of the early 1990s take it to the ladies? How about the state championship East St. Louis Lincoln or Proviso East teams of the late '80s and early '90s?
Those are tough ones. Maybe they could defeat a WNBA team. But maybe not.
What about your run-of-the mill high school boys teams?
Now, that's not quite as tough. I still say maybe not much more often than maybe for those teams.
All I know for sure is that I just got a little bit of tangible ammunition for the next time someone underestimates a WNBA team in front of me.
It's called the E-League.
The E-League is short for Entertainment League, a private basketball league made up of 16 all-male teams that is based in Los Angeles and comprised of movie and television stars, recording artists, directors, producers and other Hollywood types who also happen to be serious basketball players.
Very serious, in fact. That's what I was told on Tuesday, when a collection of E-League stars was in Chicago to play the Sky in its final exhibition game before the WNBA season tipped off Friday.
"Everyone here is actually a very good basketball player," said "Malcolm in the Middle" star Frankie Muniz, who is a speedy, 5-foot-5 point guard but remained on the bench in street clothes for the game with a broken foot and torn ACL knee ligament. "These guys don't play around. Sometimes you go to games like these and the celebrities are playing jokes, goofing around. These guys are all like dead serious. There are a lot of really good basketball players in the league."
And yet, the E-Leaguers took it on the chin in a big way at the UIC Pavilion.
I mean, this one had to hurt.
The Sky, not even in mid-season form, destroyed the E-Leaguers not by 10 points, not by 20, not even by 30 points.
No, the Sky hung a whopping 47-point loss, 102-55, on the E-Leaguers, which featured 6-foot-4 wide body Michael Clark Duncan of "The Green Mile" fame, 6-foot-4 singing sensation Brian McKnight, a former high school state champion who scored 52 points in the E-League championship game, 6-foot-4 comedian Bill Bellamy, "One Tree Hill" heartthrob James Lafferty and Tank, a singer and songwriter and former high school basketball standout whose ball-handling skills were first-rate.
Granted, these guys aren't NBA just-misses. There's a reason they're actors and singers and comedians and not professional basketball players.
But they were decent, and for the most part, in good shape. They just weren't quite on the women's level.
"We had a very rough day," said Tank, who scored a team-high 13 points for the E-Leaguers. "I'm no longer calling it the WNBA. It's just the NBA, Part 2. They took advantage of everything.
"We went as hard as we could and the score - is kinda not very close. Now, if they come down to the studio and try to lay down a track, I'm gonna win. I gotta get those ladies to come over for a singing contest."
And with a puff of his chest, Tank flashed me a smile.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com