After Atalanta

But I'm not going to like it. [Because I seem to be talking about this a lot lately and am truly tired of the virulent reactions to this issue.] So in case you missed it, a federal judge ruled last week that the competitive cheer team that Quinnipiac University attempted to elevate to varsity status after cutting its women's volleyball team was not a sport. Let's just be clear, overreacters, that this ruling only applies to QU. But, yes, it has implications for current and future competitive cheer teams. And it should. Because people--and not just me and a few select others--should be thinking about these things: what counts as a sport, who gets labelled an athlete, how are labels applied and what are their effects, how does an activity's history factor into these things, how do our paradigms change, what does equity look like going forward. I do hope the QU case engenders some discussion about these things, but what I have seen thus far in the media is not particularly...

In case you missed it, a dude won the Tour de France keeping alive the tradition of dudes winning the grueling, multi-week bike race. There were ladies involved, though. How could you miss those stunning outfits on the women who flanked the jersey winners? Kiss kiss and some pretty poses and smiles and a couple of very poofy white dresses with big red polka dots (for the king of the mountain jersey). (Apparently it's a pretty good stepping stone gig. American cyclist George Hincapie married one of the podium "girls" he met during the 2004 tour. He was "mesmerized" by her.) It was a watershed year for women in the Tour, though. For the first time ever, a woman rode on the back on a motor scooter and held up the time (written on a blackboard) for the cyclists. There was even a special segment on her during the last day of Versus's coverage of the tour. The one comment on the You Tube video which showed her getting ready appropriately sums things up: "oh g...

American softball player Jennie Finch announced her retirement from softball last week. I have to say, I'm not too sad about this. I was never a fan of the pretty face version of softball she--and others--were promoting. Though it will be a real loss for the game as all those men who tuned in and came out for games to see Finch and her "toothpaste commercial" smile will now abandon the game as it loses its sexiest star. Oh wait...sex appeal doesn't sell women's sports...never mind. Maybe the loss of Finch will make the game a little less heterosexual? People are hoping that Finch will stay involved in the fight to get softball back into the Olympics, thinking, I would presume, that her "pretty face" will have some kind of wooing effect on the male-dominated IOC. Let's note that softball didn't get cut from the Olympic roster because the players were ugly. It got too closely associated with baseball and did not--allegedly--have enough of an intern...

I have seen several articles/editorials since Caster Semenya has resumed racing. But this one is by far the best. (I won't even link to the really problematic one from a male sportswriter from Kenya who seemed to have some sympathy for Semenya's situation but in the end he deemed Semenya not-quite-woman and stated that she should bow out gracefully from her competitive career.) I recommend the above-linked editorial from the New Statesman in which writer Laurie Penny starts with Semenya's racing kit last week (it was pink!) and shares some (rumored) information about the extent of the testing Semenya was forced, by the IAAF, to undergo. If you have to look that hard and take pictures...guess gender isn't that obvious after all.

Just a little anecdote for this Sunday morning. Was out shopping for golf clubs Friday evening (well I was tagging along on said shopping trip mostly as a info-gathering session). So my shopping friend was looking for a rescue club and was asking the salesperson at Dick's about various brands. When she asked about Callaway, the young man said he didn't have any women's Callaways at the moment. But he did have the rescue clubs Callaway makes for seniors and noted that they are very similar to women's clubs. Snarky me said (aloud) "'Cause being old is just as bad as being a woman." Young man mumbled something about the flex being similar. For the record, I don't understand much about golf club technology. I assume, like in tennis, there are a myriad of new materials and composites and even gimmicks. I liked the rescue clubs because they are more lofted than their comparable irons (I guess I sound like I know a little bit). But technology isn't being ...

Saw just a little bit of the US Women's Open yesterday and had seen the headlines about Paula Creamer making a strong run toward her first major title . But she has, um, choked in the past. And I am not a huge fan of Creamer anyway (way too much pink!) so I opted to get to my softball game on time and miss her winning putt on 18. I do admire her comeback from injury and playing with a thumb that is only at 60 percent (how do people figure these things out anyway?) and the way she kept her cool in the last round. Still--she wears all that pink and seems a little too sickly sweet. But I imagine the LPGA must just be nearly orgasmic with Creamer's win. A white woman wins a major and it's the US Open. (That's two majors in a row; Cristie Kerr won the LPGA Championships last month.) She speaks fluent English, looks very heterosexual, and has that pretty and winning thing going for her (versus someone like Natalie Gulbis). I mean just look at the head shots of her from the O...

It's not an inaccurate characterization to describe me as a little bit cynical. I know it's a turnoff to some. I do have my hopeful moments, however, and I am not, despite recent opposing beliefs (can you tell I'm still not quite over this, yet?!) an extremely bitter, angry person. But I have to say when I read a column like this about Lebron James's teasing of the media, fans, and general public (hard to avoid this story if you have even a smidge of access to media) regarding where he will be playing next year (it's Miami, in case you missed it!), I do get a little more cynical about things. I couldn't care less about how and why James is making his announcement. Anyone who is shocked that there is so much hoopla about this one player...well, just shouldn't be. And now the backlash has begun about the prime time, ESPN hour-long announcement. And people are right to be critical and question aspects of this media extravaganza and ESPN's apparently enablin...

What seemed like endless tests and discussions over the gender of South African runner Caster Semenya have apparently come to an end with the IAAF (the international governing body of track and field) ruling that Semenya can continue (after the imposed one-year hiatus) to race against women. I guess that means the powers that be decided she was a woman. The findings will not be released of course because of confidentiality reasons--not that the whole thing was super secret to begin with. I believe confidentiality has already been pretty much blown apart. So the IAAF has deemed her eligible but they cannot say why (not that they should) but the attention they brought onto Semenya isn't likely to dissipate with her new clearance. This Salon column on the news notes not just that Semenya came under suspicion because she defied gender norms, but that the attention that her story garnered because of her non-conformity is similar to the stories from women's sports in the past few ye...

...which is not very feminine, I know. But I washed up and put on a skort and went to work out and I felt better! Yeah, right. But according to this article , putting on a skort and doing a workout should make me feel super duper feminine. But the whole thing caused the above-mentioned gag reflex. I have been sitting with this article for a while now and I still cannot figure out how to make sense of it. (I've also been kind of busy hanging in the miserable rathole with the other radical feminists , too; so that kind of limits my time). But I decided to try to take it point by offensive and misinformed point. First, in the interest of full disclosure I should say that I do wear skirts when I play tennis--though not exclusively. And I wear skirts in everyday life (though not every day). And yes, I probably do fall on the femme spectrum somewhere. And yes I have those yoga pants that are tight in the ass. But I also have baggy gym shorts and grey t-shirts. And baseball caps--not the ...