2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Gavin is a Major League Baseball player where he’s known everywhere he goes, lacking anonymity. What do you imagine are the unique issues wives of these men face? How do you think it impacts their self image?

I would imagine there is a lot of pressure on wives of sports celebrities have little, if any. privacy in their lives. This would especially be true if the wives and girlfriends groups were as
portrayed in this book.

Gavin's career would be challenging for a new couple. Thea didn't have enough time to adjust to a pregnancy, a marriage, and being the wife of a ball player. It takes a strong couple to work through a first year with this pressure. Thea is starting with a low self-esteem. Gavin's career will add to her insecurities.

Women often throw themselves at celebrities, and the spouse must sit back and take it quietly, so the fans aren't offended. I'm sure Thea compared herself to the other wives and the women who tried to throw themselves at him. Thea's past would make it worse. Her father didn't love her and her sister as much as his next fling, and her mother was a sad excuse for a mother. There's no way Gavin and Thea would have a smooth start.

A couple of years ago, I watched a few episodes of the TV reality show (I believe it was called WAGS). It was utterly awful. You’d think they’d bond similarly to the SEAL Team spouses as described in Troubleshooters but it’s a completely different dynamic. You know how the SEALs avoided the groupies? Not so much in the professional sports arena. For a lot of the men, their appeal stems from their infamy and wallet. These women are cutthroat and lack substance. The backstabbing was incredible.

We saw a bit of that here but Thea and Nessa were cut from different cloths. Gavin should have better prepared Thea for this and protected her. He kind of threw her to the wolves.

The pregnancy threw everything off. Maybe if they’d had that first year with just the two of them they might have communicated better.