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What is it about The Palace at Auburn Hills and basketbrawls that happen to be broadcast on ESPN? Is there hidden language in the TV contracts? Something in the Motown water? Too much adrenaline pumping music from native son Kid Rock on the radio?

In any event, while Tuesday night’s brouhaha between members of the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock pales (thankfully) next to 2004’s gold standard between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, it certainly featured some legit fisticuffs tossed, an activity typically absent from ladies roundball. A plethora of suspensions were just announced, but what of the fall out, if any? The Sparks’ Lisa Leslie, herself suspended a game and the center of some controversy after being shoved by Shock assistant coach Rick Mahorn, said the following after the game:

“This is not the way we want to represent ourselves and the WNBA. For it to be a television game, we’ll probably make some highlights, but it’s not the way we want to get attention.”

From a politically correct standpoint, this was absolutely the right thing for Leslie to say. She may actually believe it, considering her status as a WNBA icon and spokesperson (not to mention a genuinely sweet person who probably doesn’t enjoy a fight). But there’s a saying made famous by Irish author Brendan Behan: “There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.” That sentiment is especially fitting here, since the WNBA is completely starved for publicity of any kind and it’s always felt like the league’s obituary could be delivered at any minute. Thus, I’m going to disagree with Leslie. I actually think it’s a very obviously great thing, looking at the bigger, realistic and pragmatic picture.

I’m not claiming it’s “good” when athletes fight. Clearly, it’s not. But even acknowledging that fights aren’t acceptable in sports, I also don’t work myself into a frenzy of self righteous indignation whenever one happens. I don’t condone the behavior, but emotions run high in sports, which will result in fights every now and then. And in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal. A bad occurrence, but only about a 3 on a “bad” scale of 1-10. Even in extreme cases like the Palace Brawl, all witnesses eventually recover (except David Stern, who’s come off ever since like he’s petrified that the NBA consists entirely of players willing to rush the stands at any moment, but that’s another story).

And in the WNBA’s case, not only does a few ballers putting up their dukes fall way short of “earth shatteringly” bad, but the long term effect could turn out good. Let’s be honest for a second. The attempts to convince Joe Q. Public that the WNBA may be PH balanced for a woman but strong enough for a man have failed miserably. We’re reminded that Leslie and Candace Parker can dunk. Fantastic. So can the average shmoe at a rec center game. We’re reminded through commercials that WNBA players dive for loose balls, body for paint position and play in a generally physical manner. Great, but shouldn’t that be a given, as opposed to a bragging point?

For so long, the WNBA has worked a horrible marketing strategy trying to convince the unconverted that their league is as good as the NBA. Guess what? It’s not, and the WNBA would do themselves a huge favor if they’d stop inviting comparisons. The NBA’s athleticism, skills and speed are better than the sister league’s. Period. That discrepancy is here to stay and the sooner the WNBA faces that fact, the better off they (or at least their slogans) will be.

But that doesn’t mean the enthusiasm and love WNBA athletes have for their game can’t translate. Thus, seeing a few women willing to exchange blows could go a long way towards shrinking a gap, whether you’re talking about how men and women’s sports are viewed or the schism between the WNBA and viewer eyeballs. Is fighting undignified, unproductive and unsportsmanlike? Yes, yes, and yes. But it’s also a reaction that- while wrong- speaks to most male sports fan, the same dudes the WNBA- whether they like/acknowledge it or not- needs as audience members to elevate beyond cult status. All “men love a good cat fight, wish there was some Jello involved” jokes aside, men will appreciate and respect seeing Plenette Pierson and Parker on the floor going at each other, if for no other reason than the passion on display (as my L.A. Times colleague Helene Elliott points out).

More importantly, this incident has given us a thought provoking reason to talk about the WNBA, a rare flash of light the WNBA has no reason to be afraid of, despite the back story. Truth be told, the best case scenario would be to somehow exploit it, but that would be difficult to pull off without appearing transparently obvious. But I definitely wouldn’t worry about the effect this incident could have on the league. Best case scenario, it could prompt a few more people tuning in to see if another dust up may happen (and perhaps along the way, growing to appreciate the product on the court).

Worse case scenario? There is none. Nobody is watching anyway. There’s only one way to go, and the ticket to “Up City” may have just come in the form of a few clenched fists. I’m not saying the WNBA should do their best WWE imitation, but let’s wait for this to become a recurrent problem before panicking. And don’t be surprised if it actually turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

AK

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