Diapers Or Defense

The family values chorus started singing in the sports world recently.

It didn’t happen in Dallas, where Nate Newton’s defense against a sexual-assault charge was that he had been conducting an extensive extramarital affair with his accuser.

It didn’t happen in Salt Lake City, where former Winter Olympics chief executive Thomas Welch pleaded no contest to charges of beating up his wife.

Instead, it happened in the WNBA, where Sheryl Swoopes returned to the court six weeks after giving birth. No less a sideline pundit than Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller has weighed in on the topic, saying Swoopes should stay home and care for her son, Jordan Eric Jackson.

Miller is a commentator for Lifetime Television’s WNBA coverage. Twice in the last month, he has said he believes the WNBA’s inaugural season should not distract Swoopes from her son’s first months of life.

The network received so many phone calls and e-mails in response to Miller’s comments he defended his point of view during halftime of Friday’s game.

“This is just a game we play,” he said. “Life and motherhood are so much more important.”

Miller, as far as anyone knows, has neither a womb nor a child of his own. But he does have a jump shot and a microphone, which probably qualify him to speak on the subject of family values as much as, say, Dick Morris.

Besides, Miller is only leading the chorus. He isn’t singing alone. Among the many phone calls and e-mails to Lifetime, there have been a few supporters. Jason Whitlock, a columnist in Kansas City, seconded Miller’s comments, going so far as to say the ability to breast-feed should separate Swoopes from all of the male athletes who find fatherhood and athletic fame perfectly compatible.

To which I can only say: Now that a male sportswriter has spoken his mind on breastfeeding, never again should a woman hear that she can’t cover football because she didn’t play the game.

Other than that, I have only questions. For example, where have these commentators been? Did any of them stand up for David Williams, the Houston lineman who lost a paycheck in 1993 for skipping a game to remain by his wife’s side the day after she gave birth?

Where were they after Elvis Grbac’s poor performance last year in the 49ers’ game against Dallas? He explained later he wasn’t adequately prepared because he had been so wrapped up in his 9-month-old son’s recovery from surgery.

Grbac got sympathy, but not complete absolution. Certainly, no one went on the air and said he shouldn’t have been expected to play when his son was ill.

Swoopes’ baby is, by all accounts, in ideal health, receiving equal attention from mother and father. Only a month remained in the WNBA season when Swoopes returned, and her team, the Houston Comets, was near the top of the standings. Under the same circumstances, has any male athlete given up his job?

Would Miller give up his? He hasn’t answered that question, but he and the chorus seem to believe that motherhood is a special calling, something holier than anything men can experience.

But here’s the inconsistency: They want to put Swoopes the Mommy on a pedestal, yet they don’t even respect her decisions as a parent. Swoopes is making a reported $1 million this year in both endorsement money and salary from the Comets. She is paid to be a basketball player. By returning to the Comets as soon as physically possible, she is honoring a commitment. Perhaps that is a value she and her husband, Eric Jackson, a student and aspiring football player, want to impart to their children.

If, as Miller suggests, motherhood is so much more important than basketball, why doesn’t he crusade against a culture that pays Michael Jordan $30 million a year to play a game but begrudges impoverished mothers $300 a month in public assistance? If motherhood is so important, why not televise shows about it instead of the NBA Finals? Or give full scholarships to the top home-economics students coming out of high school?

Picture recruiting wars, postseason parenting tournaments, a latter-day Title IX for men who want to share in the bounty. Where might it all lead?

Possibly to a scene like the one described in USA Today recently. Baby Jordan and his dad, Eric, were sitting in the stands at a game. Charles Rousseau, brother of the opposing coach and father of three, saw the pair and said: “Congratulations, man. That’s the best job in the world. There’s nothing like it. Just stay focused and enjoy this time.”

Stay focused is an athlete’s mantra, but here it was applied to fatherhood, at a women’s professional basketball game. Mom goes to the hoop. Dad changes diapers. Baby gets to see all the action, up close and personal, growing up with broad ideas about what men and women can do.

And, as it turns out, you really can learn family values in a sports arena.