After Atalanta

Here is a very "comprehensive" article about women who coach men/boys in Rhode Island. High school and college coaches and some of their achievements. The writer lists ALL of the women who coach men/boys and where they do so. There are 32 in total. No names or numbers about how many coach women/girls. Also the article kind of fails to critique the whole opposite gender coaching thing instead opting for a progress narrative punctuated, of course, by the above-mentioned list.

I have to admit I don't go to Wimbledon's official site to read the articles. I go for scores and schedules and draws. That's probably a good thing given the reporting the site did on Gisela Dulko's defeat of Maria Sharapova yesterday. The story, which was all about the sex appeal of the players, has been taken down but this columnist does a good job recreating and critiquing it. Players and promoters and agents have, for the most part, embraced the sex sells mantra in an attempt to legitimize women's tennis (hint: you're actually doing the opposite!). But the columnist is right to note that it should not be on a tournament's own site. The article seems to have turned a sports contest into a beauty contest--which player looked sexier in her all-white attire? It noted that Dulko has been named to lists of the sexiest players. It is especially unfortunate to see it on the Wimbledon site given that I have heard several stories now about how Wimbledon will not ...

The Atlanta Beat, formerly of the WUSA, will join the WPS next year as an expansion team. The addition of the Beat was announced last week. It will be the 9th WPS team As previously reported, Philly will host a team next year: Philadelphia Independence. The name of the Atlanta franchise is a carryover from the WUSA (naming rights issues were what apparently held up the announcement) but colors have changed. Team colors will be "Ferrari red and gold." Wonder which color they will go with for the skort??

Pop Star on Ice: The Johnny Weir Story . Yes the good side to this lousy weather that happened to come while I was on vacation in P-town (but thankfully a day after the bike ride here) is that it's a great opportunity to go to the movies. It was also really good for the Provincetown International Film Festival. So when the weather took its gusty turn yesterday I headed to the program guide and was psyched to see the Weir documentary--which I had never heard of previously--on the schedule for the last day of the festival. And I also thought, " Pat Griffin would want me to see this movie." So I went. I thought it would be a big draw here in P-town among some of the gay boys but it was not sold out and the crowd was mixed in terms of gender, sexuality, and age. And after seeing the documentary, I have a better understanding of why. The filmmakers establish early on--in case you didn't already know--that Johnny Weir is a little bit different; that he knows what people say...

Wimbledon starts tomorrow and the big news, rivalling the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal, is how loud it is going to be--more specifically how loud Michelle Larcher de Brito is going to be. Check out One Sport Voice for a recent post on the gendered nature of the grunting controversy. Yesterday's Boston Globe also highlights the grunting on the women's tennis tour. But they do mention the men. I don't know about all this. The tradition argument that Martina Navratilova is putting forth is little, well, hypocritical as the Globe hints at. After all, Navratilova was quite the non-traditional presence on the tour when she arrived and throughout much of her playing time. And sure, I like the quiet of Wimbledon, too. But I liked the crowd quiet. I don't really care what the players are doing. I heard de Brito from a court over at the French Open and yes, it was something new. But so was Seles's grunt when she came on the scene. And the biological arguments are interesting b...

Two stories about women coaching boys or men recently. One at Hillsborough High in Florida where Stephanie Crawford was recently appointed head coach of the boys' basketball team. Crawford was the girls' team coach at a nearby school but had always wanted to coach a boys' team. Hillsborough is coming off of a successful season and Crawford is looking forward to the opportunity to coach a premiere team. Crawford grew up playing with boys but played at the collegiate and professional levels with women. There is, of course, the double-edged sword present here. As great as the opportunity is, it is somewhat disconcerting that Crawford felt she had to be a head coach of boys' team in order to have legitimacy as a coach, perhaps as a female coach, perhaps as a female coach of color. Or maybe she just likes the challenge and likes challenging the system. Regardless, the hiring "sent shockwaves throughout the boys' basketball community." Shockwaves! I didn't ...

As I mentioned, softball made its bid this week for a (re)berth in the Olympics. But six other sports did the same: baseball, golf (Annika Sorenstam was part of that presentation), karate, roller sports, rugby, and squash. (Remember, women's boxing may be making its Olympic debut, but in 2012, because it is not considered a new sport because men's boxing already is in.) ESPN has a brief synopsis of each of the sports that made presentations to the IOC last week. PS According to Jessica Mendoza's Twitter page, the IOC was "wowed"--their words--by softball's presentation.

Making a pitch to get back in after an odd series of events got softball kicked off the Olympic roster, representatives of the sport were in Switzerland this week appealing to the powers-that-be. (You can read about some of the happenings at on Twitters--yes, I finally joined--by following Jessica Mendoza.) And they have the support of the Prince of Jordan . Prince Feisal has said he believes softball can help women's rights in the Middle East. He sees the game, which he played and enjoyed while living in the United States, as ideal because it is inclusive of all age groups, able to accommodate different dress codes, social, and not a contact sport. The group advocating for softball really stressed the international appeal and possibilities of the sport, especially in developing areas, and for Muslim women. Most believe the IOC will announce which two sports will be allowed into the 2016 Olympics in August in Berlin.

Women's Olympic boxing is looking more and more like it will have a place in the 2012 Olympics. The IOC is in the midst of considering changes to existing sports and adding women to boxing is high among them. The changes being proposed by the International Boxing Association would allow three women and ten men on a country's boxing contingent. But the IOC, which has refused to allow women's boxing into the Games in the past, seems a little more supportive this time. Of course, they do need to accumulate some documents and get the facts and all, according to IOC sports director Christophe Dubi who said that the AIBA has "provided documents concerning the medical elements of the women's discipline." That's cryptic. Let me see if I can translate that: we're worried about women's "parts" getting hurt. Probably not just the girly parts but injuries in general, though I am sure the girly parts are of primary concern. Good thing men have that ha...

This past weekend the NYT published a very good article on the access urban girls have to sport. The Title IX Blog has given some more of the details of the article itself (and provides a link), but I want to, especially in light of Golf Channel commentator Rich Lerner's questions to Lorena Ochoa the other day, comment a little further. Because my worry is that while it is often the case that girls from Latino (and sometimes African-American as well) families bear much of the responsibility for childcare duties and other domestic chores that can impede their access to sports, these realities can engender some misconceptions, some judgment, and some passivity. What do I mean? Well I worry that whenever we talk about trying to involve more urban girls and girls of color in sports we are going to encounter a defeatist attitude. As in, "well, it's just their culture. There's nothing we can do." I have already seen, in discussions of Muslim women's access to sport...

How long do you think you will stick around the golf scene, doing commentary? You know, 'cause you're married and all? Of course you've been married for a while now. You even have two kids ! And yet you still work! Amazing! And so I wonder why it is you asked the number one golfer in the world, Lorena Ochoa, how long she plans on sticking around golf--right after you asked her when her pending nuptials will take place. Yes, Ochoa is getting married in December viewers of today's LPGA Championship found out. You know, there are a lot of players out there who are married. Some even have kids and have continued to play at very high levels--a la Julie Inkster. And there are plenty of married women and mothers who play sports other than golf. This probably isn't just a gender thing, though, is it Rich? It likely has a lot to do with American beliefs about Mexican culture and the role of the woman/wife. Thankfully Ochoa assured you that she fully intends to keep playing. ...

You're thinking: "where can she possibly be going with this? These sports have next to nothing in common." True. But both are seeking inclusion in the Olympic Games--the female athletes of the sports because, of course, the men are already in. Haven't heard much about ski jumping since the trial in April in Canada. But the inclusion of women's boxing in the 2012 London Games has been getting some press of late. Because apparently this bid for inclusion has some actual support by IOC members. It also has the strong support of boxing's governing body, the International Boxing Association (AIBA), which has put forth a proposal for 40 female boxers in the 2012 games in 5 weight divisions. (There would be 246 men in 10 divisions.) It would be an interesting project to compare the efforts of women's ski jumping with women's boxing. Like the line ski jumpers are getting now from the IOC, women's boxing was told in 2005 that their sport was just not ready ...

It's all about Twitter these days. I was listening to one of my favorite college radio station Saturday and was told I could tweet my request in. (Of course I am not on Twitter yet so I would have to be a little more traditional and email it or even--gasp--phone it in!) But the Twitter/sports connection is also a hot topic. Check out Women Talk Sports for all the takes on Twitter and women's sports. And even SI.com is taking up the topic. Professional golfers and tennis players are twittering--but not from the course or court. Though I have to wonder if that is next. Might be a way to get around that whole coaching from the stands issue. (Not that that is really such an anomaly as I saw, in person, at Roland Garros this year.) Though members of the WPS are tweeting from the sidelines of their games. I wonder which sport(s) will be next. Baseball and softball seem likely candidates. Women's pro fastpitch could definitely use some twittering action, if, as some predict, Twit...

Just saw Safin a lose the French Open final. It was heartbreaking. I had a slight inclination to root for Kuznetsova, but still, I would have liked to see a better second set. And maybe even a third! Good for Kuznetsova though. As someone who has fought the same nerves Safina had today, Kuznetsova had a great match. A great tournament which included an amazing match against Serena Williams. And Kuznetsova was quite gracious in her win. There was not a lot of exuberance--out of respect for Safina. (She was crossing herself quite a bit, though. I had not known she was quite so religious.) And how amazing did Steffi Graf look in her off-white/beige suit?!

I have been surprised at all the media attention over the jersey sponsorship of the Phoenix Mercury. USA Today's Christine Brennan comments on the sponsorship (she approves) and notes that two WPS teams already have jersey sponsorships. I'm just not quite sure what's hidden in all this discourse. It could be an issue of purity and selling out. But give me a break. Women's sports are "pure" and men's sports, which have sold every inch of stadium space to the highest bidders are somehow exempt from this criticism? Women's sports should be resisting the temptation of the almighty dollar? Wouldn't that make us--gasp--socialists? Is it a marker of success--that companies will pay for placement on women's jerseys? Or is it more the above selling out; something some may see women's sports having to do because they are "less popular" and more in need of these sponsorship dollars? Brennan correctly notes that athletes who participate in in...

Glad to have an excuse to post my pictures of Svetlana Kuznetsova (and her camp which includes her female coach, Larisa Savchenko) at this year's French Open. Kuznetsova beat Serena Williams today to make it to the semifinals of Roland Garros Thirtieth seed Sam Stosur (pic from Wimbledon 07) is into the semis after her easy win over Sorona Cirstea. Roger Federer also won today beating Gael Monfils in straight sets. I was really surprised by this result. When Nadal went out--actually before he went out--I picked Monfils to win the tournament. Mostly because I like long shots, I was tired of Nadal winning this tournament, and I really like Monfils for some reason. I like his style of play and think he is generally underrated. I have not seen the match yet, though I am sure I will get the opportunity what with the constant replays of Federer's matches. Seriously--how many times has ESPN aired his match with Tommy Haas?

Well my day two anyway. Went back to RG last Thursday when the skies were cloudy and the air cool and it was perfect. Had tickets to court 1 but only headed over there at the end of the day when Elena Dementieva was taking on comeback kid Jelena Dokic. Got there to see Dokic win the first set. Was excited to see how Dementieva would respond but unfortunately Dokic had what appeared to be back spasms early in the second set; she left the court for about 10 minutes, played out a game and a half and then retired--visibly upset at having to do so. Dementieva was quite nice and went over to Dokic's chair to check on her. Saw a lot of doubles on the outer courts, which I always enjoy since I never get to see it on television. Here are some pics: The doubles team of Schnyder and Groenfeld Azarenka and her partner beat the French team of Coin and Bremond.