After Atalanta

I came across a piece done by ABC's Primetime in a segment called, "What would you do?". [And so did Pat Griffin who offers a much more extensive analysis than mine below so...] We know how Primetime and similar shows like to go undercover, hire some actors, and put hidden cameras everywhere. Usually they are trying to catch pedophiles, this time they were publicly shaming homophobes . The article and the accompanying clip (the full thing aired on the show) set up a scenario where two gay men patronize a sports bar and engage in public displays of affection. The gay men are actors (but a couple in real life) as are an instigator and a heterosexual couple. The cameras were there most of the day and the gay couple encountered, it seemed (the clip seemed to get cut off) various situations. In one the instigator was supported in his complaints by two men, in another he was shut down by a male patron who told him to leave and told the couple they were beautiful. And in another...

Even the women and even though they are really ticked at you and your organization for denying them entry into the Vancouver games. So you don't have to run away from them! Rogge did not respond-- did not respond!--to a request by two jumpers (Lindsey Van of the US and Katie Willis of Canada) to meet when he was in Denver recently. I think Rogge should get up to the top of a jump, sit on that little board, look down the long, steep hill and reconsider how he is treating these women. [PS of sorts: Rogge has said the women should email him to tell him why they should be included.] You can sign this petition if you want to show your support. For inclusion of female jumpers in the games--not for getting Rogge to the top of a jump. Maybe I will start that one if the legal proceedings, slated to start April 20, don't work out. So I finally got my ski jumping pics loaded! And am taking this post as an opportunity to share them. I hope you get a sense of just how crazy it is to shoot d...

Today is the day many of us have been waiting for: WPS opening day. Washington Freedom (that's Abby Wambach's team!) have traveled to Carson City, CA to take on the LA Sol (that's Marta's team ). There was a little blurb in a Philly media outlet that frankly did not convey the excitement I am seeking (even given that Philly is getting its own team next year): A previous league, the Women's United Soccer Association which also had a team in Philadelphia, folded in 2003 after losing $100 million in three years. Yeah, thanks for the reminder. We're well aware of what happened. Grrr... I also cannot figure out what time the game is being played and if it is being aired. I assume Fox Soccer Channel will broadcast it--at least on the west coast. I should have gotten my friend who is attending to send me updates. Maybe she'll take pics!

I'm not doing brackets this year so I haven't been paying as much attention as I usually so. I did see some clips on ESPN of President Obama filling out his bracket and thought, "how nice is it that we finally have a president that has some clue about popular culture." And thus my feminist guard was down--and when your guard is down during tournament time, bad things happen. So it took Christine Brennan on NPR yesterday morning (and in her column) to tell me what I should have already picked up on: he didn't do a women's bracket !! Not a very good example. I hope the women's team that wins and gets invited to the White House gives him a little grief over that!

We all have teams/schools that we do not like. That we like, in fact, to dislike. I, for example, as a loyal UNH alum and hockey fan dislike Maine. And Boston College. Oh, and Boston University (sorry, Dad!). It's just my duty. And I enjoy such school-specific cheers as "U-R-I, U-R-I, U-R-I-N-E--flush!" when University of Rhode Island comes to town. (Clever, eh?) But I was never on board with saying, at men's hockey games, "you suck" (or at least not after my naive undergraduate mind was enlightened a little) and its derivatives like "Hey goalie, your boyfriend called and he says..." You get the idea. But what's happening at Duke (another school I am not fond of but for different reasons--recall that whole lacrosse fiasco a couple of years ago) is getting extreme. Haters of Duke men's basketball are launching all sorts of homophobic words, chants, videos and even Wikipedia entries at players. Seriously, people go into players' Wikipedia...

Busy mom who recently has taken on more intense athletic regimen needs a responsible person able to shield young child from flash bulbs and people with microphones asking inane questions. Must be multilingual. That's right, folks. Kim Clijsters is back . I was going to go back to my posts about Clijsters's retirement where I am sure I made a prediction about a potential comeback. But I think I don't want to know what I said. I am pleased she is making a comeback. She has asked for a wild card into the US Open (and a few other tournaments) this year. I predict that she will get them. A Clijsters return will be a big draw and no tournament organizer these days is going to turn that down.

WTA CEO Larry Scott will not be doing as much international travelling. He's been chosen as the new Pac-10 commissioner. I'm not shedding any tears . I was never that impressed with Scott despite his brokering of the Sony Ericson sponsorship. And that someone actually thought he brought credibility to the women's tour is a little suspect. I did not realize it lacked credibility in the pre-Scott era. I actually think it was Billie Jean King who brought said credibility to the women's tour--you know by starting it and promoting it and all! Scott wasn't the search committee's first choice , though. In fact they tried for Condoleezza Rice (among others) before they found a willing Scott. But Stanford's Bob Bowlsby is making the best of it by saying that the committee is impressed by Scott's negotiation of television contracts--something the Pac-10 is lacking right now. And hey, the Pac-10's (questionable) gain is a great opportunity for the WTA.

I should probably say, "when overt racism doesn't pay." And then I should probably add, "well of course it shouldn't." But still, it gives me a little bit hope (which one usually needs mid-week, or if one is a Duke fan--how about those Michigan State women last night, eh?) when people in sport realize that things just are not right, even if the consciousness is motivated by money. South Carolina continues to fly the confederate flag--at its state house. And so the NCAA will not choose any SC location for post-season/tourney play. Rightly so, of course. And because of it the state, particularly the city of Columbia where the other USC is located, loses out on lots 'o money. Like millions, according to this columnist who is doing his due diligence in printing what is probably an annual column about the situation. And for his efforts he has been called a "pansy douche bag." I found that lovely phrase in just one of the over 350 comments (at the ti...

Tonight the women of LSU (please find conspicuous the absence of the phrase Lady Tigers) will play against Louisville for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. It will likely be an uphill battle for LSU but it's been a pretty "upsetting" tourney so far so we shall see... Former LSU superstar Sylvia Fowles will not be there to root on her alma mater. She's in Russia. Moscow specifically playing for Spartak along with UConn alums Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. Actually most of the stars of the WNBA (well not Parker because she's pregnant and on the cover of ESPN Magazine and all that) are overseas playing this time of year. It's a good gig for most. Better than the one they have here playing for the WNBA. I've talked about this before. But the feature on Fowles reminded me just how lucrative it is there and how...well...not...it is here. (Note the irony--former communist country there, adamant capitalists here...) No one will say how much she is making playing for Spart...

Two stories completely unrelated except for the fact that they are both about British athletes. And I have no reason to combine them into one post but I read them on the same day and so there it is. First, did you know that the national cricket team made it to the finals of the World Cup? Me neither. But I don't live in England so I feel I have an excuse. Unfortunately it appears not that many people in England knew either. And that's because it's the women's World Cup. Apparently sport is "the last bastion of sexism" in England where token coverage has been provided during the current event and past World Cups which the national team has won. This is in contrast to the men's team, which has not been doing so well on the international stage. There's an interesting comparison of the male and female captains of both the national cricket and football teams. (HINT: it's about salaries.) Second, Andy Murray, who beat Roger Federer this past week at Indi...

Just got word that there's a new blog on sport philosophy called, appropriately enough, Sport Philosophy. It's being authored by Brian Wigley of Shenandoah University. Just one post so far about the perceptions of opponents as enemies. Could be a good blog. I will wait just a bit before I add it to the blogroll (sorry, Brian) to see if it addresses issues of gender in sport.

Philadelphians rejoice! The 8th team in the new WPS will be in Philly . But don't get too excited just yet. Or just get a little bit excited. The team will not start playing until 2010 . (And let's all--just in case--cross our fingers that there is a WPS in 2010. And of course take some action to make sure it's still around. BUY TICKETS!) I don't know much more than that. The team name will be revealed in April.

I'm off to Ithaca today for the Sport and Sexuality Conference. This means a few things: I suspect my internet access will be limited and thus posting will be as well. When I do post maybe I will have something profound to say about sport and sexuality. It may mean I actually get all those pics I took of ski jumping loaded and posted. They'll make good, entertaining filler.

March is such a wonderful month, no? Especially good if you're UConn and you're going into the tournament (starts this week!!) undefeated and with the number 1 overall seed. But also many kudos to the 14 teams in this year's tournament who have perfect graduation rates. Connecticut is actually included in this group and is the only number 1 seed to be so. The other schools are: DePaul, Evansville, Florida, Lehigh, Marist, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Sacred Heart, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Vanderbilt and Villanova. Only two of the 64 teams had graduation rates of less than 60 percent. In the men's tournament less than half of the field has grad rates higher than 60 percent.

The 18th Annual Brattleboro (VT) Women's Film Festival starts today. There are a few films that might be of interest to readers of After Atalanta. (I think even the non-sports ones look good, too though--so, check out the full schedule. Proceeds from event(s) go to Brattleboro Women's Crisis Center.) A movie I have talked about several times--and also seen several times, now--Kick Like a Girl--is part of the festival line-up. A complement to Kick is a documentary about Patsy Mink , the Hawaiian senator after whom Title IX was renamed a few years ago. (I took a little exception to the description of Mink as "the driving force behind Title IX," but I still think the documentary, which is about her life in politics, is probably still worth seeing.) The movie, though, that really looks good is Thin Ice , a documentary about a group of girls in India who form an ice hockey team. Ice hockey! (Note that I still have not seen the movie about field hockey in India. Note to sel...

Nothing pleases me more than a snarky comment about ESPN's special women's history month programming. (More on the specifics of that in a moment.) After noting the good: a profile of Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long; blogger Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says this: Danica Patrick also will be featured, presumably to show how women athletes have been empowered to sprawl across a sports car in a bikini for a magazine photo shoot even after winning an event at their sport's highest level. Love it! So, yes, ESPN is engaging in some special programming for women's history month. We could say, yeah, they're not going to sit back on the fact that they cover women's March Madness. Or we could say--hey--what about the other 11 months of the year, guys? Pick your level of cynicism. I had been tuning into Sports Center in the mornings in an attempt to get some clue about how to fill out my brackets this year. I never saw a story about women in the line-up. (This was befor...

If you're the ACC (or any other conference) you probably aren't so keen on acknowledging your lesbian fan base at this, the most exciting time of the year for intercollegiate basketball--despite the many benefits of lesbian fandom. This isn't a new issue certainly. There has been a lot of reporting on various WNBA teams and the level of attention (or inattention) they pay to their lesbian fans--of which there are many. But this article addresses the lack of marketing to lesbians by basketball conferences. This is despite that fact that there are marketing strategies in place that target other fan groups like youth and families. At this point, such a denial of a lesbian fan base is just bad business. Especially given the money lesbians spend when they travel to sporting events, including the conference tourneys and the NCAA games. Other entities recognize this: bars and restaurants hold lesbian-friendly events when tournaments are in town. Unfortunately, the basketball confe...

...about ski jumping anyway. I have put off and put off posting about all the news in the world of ski jumping (including the worlds--world championships that is) because I kept hoping--hoping--that my laptop would come back to me all fixed and I could finally upload all those pics I took of my adventures in ski jumping in Vermont. But five weeks have passed and resignation has set in--hard, harder than a jumper missing the landing. So here it is. The skinny of what's been going on in ski jumping. The first ever Women's World Championships were held last month and American Lindsey Van (not to be confused--as I have been from time to time--with American downhiller Lindsey Vonn) won the event held in the Czech Republic. Van said the women's performances at this first world championships proves they deserve to be in Sochi in 2014 (interesting that she didn't say Vancouver next year, no?). Also worth noting is that Van holds the record on the normal hill in Salt Lake City (...

I swore I had blogged about the Florida State cheating scandal already, but I can't seem to find it. Must be one of those posts that I did in my head and never transferred to the blog. [There are so many of those it seems.] Anyway the scandal at Florida State was one of the biggest (known) cases of academic cheating (within an athletic department) to date. It involved 61 student-athletes in 10 sports and included cheating on an online exam, getting answers from tutors and professors on exams, and plagiarized (written by others) papers. So the punishment , as determined by the NCAA: 4-year probation; adjustment to the win-loss records; and loss of grants-in-aid. In my humble opinion, this is nothing. Nothing! It's so nothing that Florida State imposed further sanctions on itself. For example, the NCAA mandated the loss of one scholarship in football over the next three years (that's one out of 85!); Florida State imposed another five--again over three years (in other words t...

Good article in the NYT about women's soccer (known there as football, of course) in Turkey. It focuses on the lack of acceptance for women's participation in the sport. Turkey has established a women's soccer league and getting people interested has been a battle because, according to the article, "there is a deep ambivalence in this socially conservative, predominantly Muslim society about women playing the game." This article constantly had me comparing the climate in Turkey to the one here. When a writer invokes Islam in the context of women playing sport, there seems to be an automatic response along the lines of "oh, yes, it's so bad there; they are so oppressed." After all, what are things like here in a arguable socially conservative, predominantly Christian society? This spring marks attempt number two at a women's professional soccer league in the United States. Women's soccer fans are crossing fingers, toes, and engaging in any oth...

But yes, yes, yes, yes, the new uniforms designed by PUMA for Women's Professional Soccer include skorts. Skorts! And they're ugly to boot. I believe they are being referred to as "wraps" that appear (see the pictures ) to go over the shorts. I can't imagine players actually wearing them while playing which begs the question: why the heck are skorts part of the uniform? Has soccer ever been played in a skort? No. Why now? A few guesses that have everything to do with trying to enhance the femininity of soccer players who play a sport that is seen as a little more masculine than people are comfortable with. You know what I am uncomfortable with? Soccer players in skorts. P.S. Another story about the problematic timing (because of the depression and all) of the WPS's debut; this one's from WaPo. [h/t to Because I Played Sports where I found this story!]

The Leisure Studies Association is holding its 9th annual conference in the UK (at Canterbury Christ Church University) July 7-9. The deadline for abstracts has been extended to March 15 (though the website notes abstracts will be accepted after this date if there is room). The conference's themes this year focus on "performance, learning, location, and the role of risk" in leisure experiences. More details here .

The European College of Sport Science is holding its annual conference in Oslo, Norway in June (24-27). The deadline for abstracts was March 1 and I have not seen an announcement of an extension but sometimes if you ask nicely... Registration deadline is not until May.

Interesting how weeks after the conclusion of the Australian Open the media is only now addressing the very strange 10 Most Beautiful Women of the Open slideshow on the tournament's website. [You have to listen to the accompanying audio--it's pretty bad!] Oh well, I frequently get around to things in a not necessarily timely manner, myself. Anyway, the coverage of Serena's and Venus's absence from the list has engendered some discussion about standards of beauty and racism. Good! Unfortunately some of the articles fail to actually condemn the presence of the list in the first place. This one by Jewel Wood at the Huffington Post is very good but doesn't ask why women's tennis has such a list in the first place. Why do people have such a difficult time understanding the intersections of racism and sexism?? The website The Root did their own slideshow (and accompanying article ) of Venus and Serena, which was intended to exemplify the sisters' beauty. I say int...

This conference is still accepting abstracts. Germany in June--could be nice. Here are the details: First International Sport Science Congress Facing new Challenges: Education, Health, Promotion and Integration in Gymnastics and Sports Frankfurt, Germany, 4th 5th of June 2009 during the International German Gymnastics Festival. The deadline for the abstract submission has been prolonged until the 1st of April 2009 The Congress is a groundbreaking component of the International German Gymnastics Festival. In cooperation with international sports and science federations (DTB, TAFISA, ISCA, DOSB, dvs) and under the patronage of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) the Congress will build a bridge between praxis and theory. An international pool of speakers invites you to discuss topics like integration and migration, health promotion and education of children and youth in sports. There will also be open sessions. Already participants from 13 different...