After Atalanta

... I blog anonymously .

I just read about the forthcoming issue of ESPN , The Magazine which is being called the "Body Issue." (Isn't every issue of a magazine that covers sports exclusively always a body issue given that they are talking about and photographing bodies?) The USA Today article makes it seem like a good excuse to get some athletes nearly naked. (Or at least that was my interpretation.) So I was really surprised to see that Mendoza, current president of the Women's Sports Foundations, was featured with some of her team USA colleagues. Plus I also knew that given the date of the magazine, Mendoza was likely pregnant during the shoot. And I was right. I headed to her blog where she wrote briefly about the photo shoot. She presents it a little differently than USA Today. Then last week I did a photo shoot with teammates Cat Osterman, Natasha Watley and Lauren Lappin for ESPN the magazine’s new “Body Issue”. I am really excited about this because I feel the “bodies” young girl...

So of course the tennis world is all atwitter with Justine Henin's not-so-surprising announcement last week that she would be returning to tennis. And so begins an even more fervent discussion of the player sabbatical or the non-retirement or the mental break or the recharge--whatever you want to call it. It's an important discussion to have given the recognized intensity of the sport. (Both the men's and women's tour are making concerted efforts to reduce the playing schedules to offer more down time to players.) But the concept of the sabbatical--an official one--is not one on the table at either tour's next organizational meeting apparently. This means that the current practice of retiring and staging a comeback remains the only option for players who need a break. Pam Shriver finds it wrong--of course. She told USA Today : I'm tired of them announcing retirement when what they are really doing is leaving the tour for a period of time. Well, Pammy, what choic...

Since the issue of intersexed individuals has arisen lately, I thought I would share these two opportunities to learn more. Especially because the Caster Semenya situation revealed just how little people seem to know. Granted, because intersex is an umbrella term for many conditions, it can be confusing. Here's the chance to educate yourself. The first is geographic specific (sorry). If you live in the western MA or northern CT area Mount Holyoke College is sponsoring a talk on Monday September 28 called Intersex on the Brain: 7:30pm Gamble Auditorium Mount Holyoke College In this unique blend of spoken word performance and Intersex 101, author and intersex activist Thea Hillman navigates the tricky intersections of sex, gender, and sexual orientation and suggests ways to make the world a safer place for differences of all kinds. Logo is also airing, On Demand and online a documentary called 1 in 2000 . It is part of their Real Momentum series. http://www.logoonline.com/video/one-i...

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I was just talking to a friend the other day about how roller derby is such a hot topic in sport studies because it's a great venue for examining gender roles, subversion, aggression, alternative sport, sexuality, and a host of other things. And of course the forthcoming (I cannot wait!!) Whip It with Juno star Ellen Paige and directed by Drew Barrymore will draw even more critical and popular attention to the sport. Unfortunately, with the recession, roller derby has been experiencing some problems. Most articles about sport and the recession have focused on keeping fans in the stands, but this one is about keeping players in the rink. Roller derby is not a professional sport--the players do not get paid. They have to finance their own gear, travel expenses, and health coverage. And we all know what kind of a state health care is in these days. And even though some players could skate by (pardon the pun) on multiple part-time gigs, if they are without health care, roller derby i...

Title makes it sound like this is my only one of the season. May be. Remains to be seen Anyway mostly it's a generic title meant to encompass two articles I came across that I don't want to talk about in two different posts. The Wall Street Journal has an article entitled " What's the Point of Cheerleading ?" Such a title is more appropriate for an editorial it would seem, but I have to be honest, I nodded me head in a agreement for a second. Unfortunately it's not a great piece of journalism really only highlighting the high injury rate and then chastising cheerleaders for being whiners because the catastrophic injury rate in football is so much higher. So once again we have all athletic endeavors being measured against football. The only helpful question the article asked was whether cheerleading has moved too far afield (hehe) from its original purpose. Unfortunately it does not really ponder that issue too much deferring instead to a history of the practi...

In the wake of the leak to the press about some findings from the medical examination of Caster Semenya, Dave Zirin and Sherry Wolf (I am going to hear her talk tonight!) have another Nation column about the situation. They take to task the IAAF of course but also Australia (probably not the whole country) who called for the initial examination and the Australian press that printed the leak from some IAAF official, and all the people--officials and press--that continue to use the quite unenlightened term "hermaphrodite." One would have hoped that the people who were actually doing the examining would know better. But even some using the term intersex are transferring the literal definition of hermaphrodite. There are many intersex conditions; they do not all--actually very few--manifest in the presence of both (historically defined) male and female genitalia. Dr. Alice Dreger must be very busy these days. I think every member of the IAAF and any person in the media who has c...

Myles Brand died today after a battle with pancreatic cancer. We knew his medical condition was not good when he did not attend the the last national conference so his passing is not a huge surprise. Still the NCAA president will be missed. A former philosophy professor and president of Indiana University (he fired Bobby Knight--yea!!), Brand worked, during his NCAA tenure, at reforming NCAA policies on academics and other issues such as recruiting.

Throughout much of the US Open I was thinking, "glad I don't have kids!" But the other day I started thinking "I gotta get myself knocked up!" Why the radical switch? Well the former sentiment emerged after hearing, ad nauseum, about coming back from pregnancy and all the emphasis on motherhood in the wake of the Kim Clijsters return. All the attention made it seem like motherhood is some kind of disability. Is it really so astonishing that someone who is a great athlete, is young, and gave birth over a year ago can get to the top of her game again? So what's up with the kid gloves for mommies? Then there is the opposing discourse which cites all the benefits of pregnancy: an increase in red blood cells, the endurance from said increase, the mental benefits, increased flexibility (which could be a bad thing depending on where it is happening and what sport you do), possible muscle increase in the first trimester because of the hormone surge. There have been...

Every once in a while I catch WaPo 's Top 10 sports photos of the week. And I have to say, I think they do a pretty good job--not just the quality of the pictures which, of course, are great--but in what they choose to photograph and display. The variety of sports they present is impressive. I mean it is the start of football season and only two of this week's ten are of football games. In addition there is a pic of team rhythmic gymnastics and a female canoer, men's rugby, and Canadian cheerleaders.

Well they put it much more politely, of course. But here is the letter by female ski jumpers basically asking for explicit answers as to why they have been excluded from the forthcoming winter Olympics. In addition to citing the human rights laws of Canada--the ground they attempted to stand on in a recent lawsuit--they also cite the IOC's statement that the sport had not met the technical merit criteria. They are asking what constitutes technical merit, citing a journalist's earlier assessment of the lack of technical merit--under IOC standards--of women's pole vaulting as compared to ski jumping. Given the clearly subjective nature of technical merit, I am not guessing the women, and the rest of us who support their cause, are going to be getting any satisfactory answers any time soon.

Ok so I have decided to address the Serena Williams incident in the context of all the other interesting gender stuff that occurred at this year's US Open. We had all the "women's game sucks" comments from the print and television media. Commentators of course were not saying such things--preferring to highlight the interest that comes with not knowing who is going to win any given match. The men's game, at times in the not-so-distant past, have been subject to similar criticisms. But much of the "lousy women's game" discourse entailed some problematic blaming on fragile minds (and a little on fragile bodies). The Serena situation and Melanie Oudin's amazing run quelled some of that talk. But it has re-emerged with Kim Clijster's win last night. In the end, though, this was not--obviously--the big issue. Which I will get to--hold on. First, let's talk about smiles. I heard a lot about them this tournament. In addition to the usual talk ab...

And troubling news all around really. Unofficially, the "gender tests" Caster Semenya underwent during and after the World Championships indicate that she has internal testes and no ovaries or womb. She has pulled out of a race in South Africa that she had said she would compete in. It seems doubtful that her gold medal from worlds will be taken away from her because it was not a doping case and because so many in South Africa have come out in support of their new superstar. (The apparent contradictions in South Africans' behavior on gender and sexuality have been noted including their early denial of the AIDS crisis and its effect on women and the problem of "corrective rape" against lesbians.) Words such as hermaphrodite and normal are being thrown around rather problematically. It is so very unfortunate that the issue of intersex is so misunderstood (Oprah did very little to shed light on it when she tried to address it a few years ago) and that Semenya...

What was so great about Caster Semenya's response at the World Championships to the controversy over her gender presentation was that she did not change a thing--and she won the gold medal. She was completely unapologetic about not meeting the standards of femininity set by all around her. Something changed. Perhaps as the weeks have gone by she became more aware of the severity of the controversy. A South African coach (not her personal one) resigned because he was part of keeping Semenya somewhat in the dark about the nature of the testing--he initially told her she was being tested for doping. Other high-ups in the South Africa have come out publicly condemning the tests. Perhaps she realized the ripple effects of this situation and felt the need to quell criticisms. Because this is what her latest response is. I don't usually publish pics from other sites but this one seemed important. The blogger at the above link does a good job parsing out the situation and has a simila...

Live-blogging--sorta--the quarterfinal match between Bondarenko and Wickmayer. Had never heard of the latter before this. I got down to the Pilot Pen this year after she had already been eliminated. Bondarenko is down a break. Leg is still heavily strapped. (Are we back to this strapping over the physio tape stuff? Haven't seen much of that at the Open.) Saw her and her sister play one set of doubles in New Haven this year. They retired in the second set but not sure whose injury prompted it--both had their legs strapped at different places. Um...Bud Collins what do you mean it's rare to see a woman volley well? Yes Wickmayer's stab volley was very nice but there have been plenty of other good volleys executed by women this Open. How does Bondarenko play with that large pendant necklace? Wickmayer's grunt reminds me of Seles's in its two-syllable-ness. Nice hat, Bud. Very daring to go with polka dots. How cute are those shorts of Wickmayer's? She wears Erke, a C...

The perennial debate in women's hockey is back, intensified by the forthcoming start of the season, and the Vancouver Olympics. To check or not to check. It's an issue the semi-pro players in Nancy Theberge's study of Canadian hockey spoke about. And it appears not that much has changed in 10 plus years. Some want it. Others don't. US defenseperson Angela Ruggerio has said she would like to check--but acknowledges her opinion is based on her ability as one of the larger players in the game to effectively check. In general, she doesn't feel it would be good for the game as a whole. And many others feel the same but for different reasons. There's the: no one wants to see girls get hurt rationale which extends to the "mothers won't sign their daughters up for hockey if they can get hurt" thinking. Not a fan of this line of thought. After all, if we don't have a problem with boys getting hurt... The other reason is the one I subscribe to: it's ...

OK, yes, in the " killing fields of Flushing " as one reporter put this year's US Open women's field, Melanie Oudin is the proverbial (or hackneyed) beacon of hope, ray of sunshine, girl-next-door. But she is not going to save women's tennis or even American tennis all by herself. And she's going to be facing a lot more pressure than that imposed by Caroline Wozniacki's backhand if she is deemed thus by the media. But it already seems to be happening. In fact, after all the putting down of women's tennis in the lead-up to the US Open, this NYT article is suggesting the women's draw is far more interesting than the men's this year. Um, yeah, I think so too. But I always thought that. In a separate but related story, the NYT also addresses the lack of diversity in American women's tennis post-Williams sisters. It's true. For a while--like that one summer many years ago--it looked like Alexandra Stevenson could be a suitable successor, but...

I am headed to a Harvest Bonfire tonight which means it is getting chillier (at least at night). And if it's getting colder out that means.... Hockey! The US National Team, heavy on the youngsters, is prepping for the Olympics. Right now they are in Vancouver at the Hockey Canada Cup. They beat main rival Canada 4-2 the other day. Demolished Sweden 7-0 after an opening game loss to Finland (3-2). [You can follow the team on Facebook which is where I get all my info given the dearth of coverage in mainstream media.] But the really cool news is this: UNH is playing Northeastern January 8 at 4:30. So what, you say. Sounds like Hockey East business as usual. But oh no, my friends. The game is being played at Fenway Park! Oh yes. In a Hockey East promotional the teams are playing outdoors on a rink to be built in Fenway. Tickets go on sale to the general public September 17. I have the secret password though and should be getting my tix shortly. It might finally be the year to knit tha...

The Atlantic has a good piece on the Williams sisters in which writers from different media outlets contributed their thoughts on the, as one writes, most dominant pair of women in sports. The highlights include a point that I think has not been made enough: with all their success (they hold 6 of the 11 last Grand Slam titles) and longevity (they have outlasted their contemporaries and show no hint of retirement) they are the most downplayed story in sport. Even if one has issues with their personalities or their style of play or their father, let's remember that sport media love these things. And yet the common equation of success plus controversy does not seem to have garnered the Williams sisters the kind of media attention given to say Tiger Woods or Brett Favre. I was quite disappointed that the last comment was a critique and one that I find completely unjustified. Greg Couch of Fanhouse calls the Williams sisters underachievers. This is not a new argument but most go on to ...

A study out of Canada about the gendered nature of fandom reveals that women are not huge fans of professional sports. Not a shocker despite the plethora of popular media accounts of women forming fan clubs and becoming the latest target demographic for fan apparel. Some women just don't like professional sports, some go just for the social aspect, and some like sports other than professional sports. In other words, it's not that women don't like sports. Studies like these--or rather the way they are reported on--always worry me because of the generalizations that often manifest. Otherwise I don't find the results startling in the least bit. I mean did anyone see the Cardinals game a few nights ago when that women got a beer spilled all over her? Who wants to pay (a lot) for that privilege? I personally used to like professional hockey. But I stopped going to games and watching on television (for the most part) because it was just getting too violent. Too gratuitously v...

Seriously, what is this about? When Steffi Graf ruled the court people didn't like it. When the Williams sisters were squashing everyone on their way to finals, people didn't like it. And now that things are up for grabs? People don't like it . Most admit that the Williams sisters dominate most of the time. But injuries and reduced non-Slam schedules mean they now meet before the finals. Though again let us recall that not too long ago the above-mentioned complaints about this frequent meeting in the finals and their dominance over other players. So now we have Dinara Safina at the #1 spot in the rankings and the US Open seedings. And what do they say? She hasn't earned it because she hasn't won a Grand Slam (and she has choked in a few slam finals of late.) But she's getting to slam finals and she's pretty entertaining along the way--on the court and off. Today she had to fight it out again, almost becoming the first number one seed to lose in the first rou...