After Atalanta

I happened to be in the home of a stranger (it was a craigslist thing) who was watching the start of Davenport's first round US Open match yesterday. Seeing that she was hitting and serving well, I said aloud "wow--seems like her shoulder is better." And the stranger basically said Davenport was never really injured that badly. That she may have felt some pain and just opted, two days before the Open started, to pull out of the final in New Haven last Saturday. I was shocked by his explanation. I didn't see the match against Henin-Hardenne but I read the coverage. I read Davenport's statements about how wanted to saw her arm off. And she did lose the first set 6-0. I believed her. I still believe her, despite this man's very strong, matter-of-fact assertion. I believe her because 1) I have seen people tank matches and it doesn't look like that. I have seen people who have been slightly injured give less than their all. And when there is a twinge, the score...

I am sitting in on a sport sociology seminar this semester at a large state school that has a strong DivI athletic program. Almost all the other students are in sport management or sport kinesiology and, as such, have positions as graduate assistants on the university's teams. I think this will make for interesting discussions where people can draw on their current experiences. But I also hope the class, which will be discussing issues such as race, gender, sexuality and sport, will help some of these folks see and/or realize the way they have been thinking about and acting on various constructions of sport and identity. In part because I think it will help the athletes with whom they work currently but also because these students will likely take positions in sport management and administration and thus have the ability to help challenge these hegemonies. For example, when we went around the room introducing ourselves, one man noted that he worked primarily with the men's tenn...

I went to New Haven yesterday and caught a day of action at the Pilot Pen, the last tournament in the US Open Series. It was a great day. It got a little hot after noon which just meant one opted for seats that perhaps were not as good but in the shade. The Yale Tennis Center is a pretty good facility except that they only have one set of bathrooms and they are at center court which is at one end of the complex. And when you're drinking lots of water to stay hydrated well...you have to plan well. But the tennis was good. Here's what I saw and thought. 1. Anna Chakvetadze will not be a consistent top ten player. Why? Because she seems to have some issues with the mental game. Chakvetadze was the player who withdrew against Hingis last week at the Roger's Cup in Montreal. It was the match that prompted that entry below about "drama" on the women's tour and Gimmelstob's comments. I didn't doubt the injury the way Gimelstob did and it was taped yesterday b...

Just back from a very nice and relaxing vacation with perfect weather. There was no internet but there was cable so I caught some tennis but I was jonesing for some women's sports this afternoon and so quite pleased when I caught the Hingis match at the Rogers Cup. Not much to report except that the commentators like to say "drama" a lot when there are injury timeouts and there was a not so subtle implication from courtside commentator Justin Gimmelstob (isn't he still a player?) that the female players exaggerate injuries, thus creating the drama. Anyway, the point of this was that after the match I found the finals of the AVP Chicago with Misty May and Kerrie Walsh won easily. I guess I haven't watched beach volleyball in a while, but I was shocked by the skimpy swimsuits. I have, to a certain extent, gotten over the fact that they play in triangle bikini tops. All of the women in the court didn't really need a lot of support so these worked just fine. Well ...

Last night, in the penultimate episode of college Jeopardy! , there was a category called Athletes in Double Jeopardy. I was so pleased that of the five answers, three were about female athletes: Danica Patrick, Kim Clijsters, and Annika Sorenstam. The Danica Patrick one was just a picture of her, a posed shot, not action, but at least she was in uniform. This, in my mind, made the question, which was in the $2000 spot, a little on the easy side. But I was surprised that the answerer paused and made it seem like it was almost a guess. I mean, how many other females are sporting racing gear these days? (Yes I know there are more female racers than Patrick, but none that are nearly as famous. The woman has a deodorant commercial!) But on the up side, all the questions about women were answered correctly. Though the answerer of the golf question (about winning the career Grand Slam) said "Sorenstam" and I thought he should have been made to give her first name given that her sis...

...your mother starts noticing the disparities in the coverage of women's and men's sports. Well I guess it's not the same for everyone's mother. My mother though is 1) not a huge sports fan and 2) probably would not self-identify as a feminist. I don't mean this in a bad way of course. She is a smart woman and it doesn't take that much to see what is going on. But people come up with numerous excuses and have blindsports when it comes to actually seeing inequality. But my mother this afternoon, as I was channel surfing looking for coverage of the British Open, noted that it hasn't been on much and has been on at odd times. Today's coverage of the third round was less than two hours on ABC. My mother noted that the men's British Open that was contested a few weeks ago got extensive television time. I didn't watch the men but I wouldn't be surprised if one day's worth of their coverage was greater than the three day combined (thus far) of ...

I came across this picture of Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo about a week after she won her second grand slam title. I was dismayed. As attractive as she is, this dress does nothing for her. Perhaps because it doesn't seem like her style. If Ellen DeGeneres, he most visible lesbian in Hollywood can wear styling pants suits to the various awards ceremonies than Mauresmo, the most visible lesbian in tennis, can certainly do so as well. OK sure it was the champions' ball at Wimbledon, arguably the most venerable tennis tournament in the world. But the dress is just so not Amelie. I have felt that Amelie, while not going back in the closet certainly, has not been as out on the tour as she was when she first burst on the scene at the 1999 Australian Open. Of course at that time she might have been a little naive about the reaction. But still we never see a girlfriend in the players' box or hear her thank a significant other. Other players aren't required to sequester the...