The Game airs Mondays on The CW

"The Game": Ballers, Money, and Groupies...Oh My!

CW brings a a behind the scenes look at the lives of NFL wives

By: Alyssa Cagnolatti

Posted: 11/29/06

"I'm the envy of all my friends

See I pulled me a baller man

And I don't gotta work at the mall again."

-Kanye West, The New Workout Plan

Like any other Monday I was sitting on the couch flipping through the various television stations when I came across a program titled "The Game" on the new CW network. The show depicts the lives of three women and how they deal with the careers of their loved ones who happen to be professional football players. Themes of the show include the main character declining an offer at a top medical school to live with her "baller" boyfriend, a football wife using sex as a way to coerce money out of her husband, and the women attending away games to stop the "ballers" from cheating with groupies. This show is yet another display of how this society puts an unnecessary emphasis on professional athletes and materialism, and the ideals that the show conveys contribute to the downfall of women.

Groupies, pro-hos, and gold diggers. Yes, we all have heard these terms but what exactly causes women to make themselves sexually available to professional athletes? At one point, I thought of groupies as women who have nothing substantive going on in their lives so they attempt to attach themselves to athletes in order to receive a piece of fame and wealth. But I'm starting to see that women of all types of professions, ethnicities, and social statuses have groupie tendencies--even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a former boyfriend who was an NFL player!

What exactly causes women to aggressively seek and attach themselves to "ballers"? It is all about socioeconomic status, according to Dr. Jane Bock, a professor of women's studies in the Sociology Department at USC. "Despite much of the efforts of the feminist movement for women to achieve status on their own, the fact exists that men still out earn women," explains Bock. "We still live in an economic structure that values men's labor over women's, and women know that."

While many women feel that they will gain financial success and status by attaching themselves to an athlete, there is a downside to their method. "I don't feel any better being his girlfriend; in fact my self-esteem has suffered," said anonymous who is a pre-med college student at CSULB and currently dating an NBA player. "I know he sleeps with other women even though he says he doesn't. My man flies me out to his place, gives me money, we have sex, I don't hear from him for a month, and the process repeats over again." When asked why she continues with the relationship she replies, "I mean he's one of the top athletes in the NBA. I'd be a fool to drop him. I accept the fact that women are just a part of the game--only a few athletes have real relationships."

Many relationships with professional athletes are exactly that-- a game. The athletes get partners who will do things at their beck-and-call and in exchange the women receive money and perceived status. However, one USC student refused to participate in "the game" and severed ties with her ex-boyfriend who now plays in the NFL.

"Once he entered the draft he told me that I need to lose my attitude and do what he says if I want to continue the relationship," said a senior communications major. "Our relationship wasn't about love anymore; he wanted to make it into a business contract. It's ironic because I hated the fact that he was an athlete and that was the reason he said he loved me so much-- because I wasn't a groupie. But the money changed him, and I refused to let it change me."

Dale Carnegie once said, "If you tell me how you get your feeling of importance, I'll tell you who you are. That determines your character." How do you get your feeling of importance? Is it through getting a college degree, landing a dream job, or helping the community? Or does carrying a Chanel bag, driving a Range, or dating a multi-millionaire athlete make you feel important? We as women need to evaluate where we get our sense of importance from because only then can we truly become strong, independent and respected.