After Atalanta

One of my favorite college administrators had a lot of interesting axioms, which those of us who worked with her believed were largely of her own creation. But now I realize, they were just old. Like nineteenth century old in the case of one of my (and I believe her) favorites: a tub on its own bottom. The exact phrase is "every tub on its own bottom" and is apparently used all the time at Harvard (of course). It means a decentralized economic system and is employed up by university administrators to describe the way each unit is in charge (for better or worse) of its own finances--its own success, and arguably its own demise. She used it in reference to the athletic department at my undergraduate DI school. I have, being the good marxist feminist (kind of) that I am, taken a cultural interpretation of the phrase as well, and translated it to mean a unit of the university that is so financially different than others that it has its own, exclusive culture. And this is certa...

After a hefty amount of silence about the investigation into the abuse claims against Hall of Famer Bob Hewitt, the tennis powers that be have indefinitely suspended Hewitt from the hall. That seems like the same thing as being kicked out, given that his "legacy has been stripped from the institution." The 72-year old Australian is living in South Africa currently. He was also recently removed from the South African Sport and Arts Hall of Fame.

It's never great to be outed. It's probably worse to be outed because you have been arrested for aggravated assault against your ex-girlfriend. That is the situation former WNBA and Tennessee Vols player Chamique Holdsclaw finds herself in this week. An arrest warrant was issued for Holdsclaw who turned herself in today. She allegedly fired a shot into the backseat of Jennifer Lacy's SUV which may or may not have had gasoline in it. Lacy is a current player for the Tulsa Shock. Nike never said anything about whether letting girls play sports would decrease their risk of becoming abusers. What else is going to happen this week?

For the record, I don't hold female athletes up to any kind of gender-specific standard regarding role model suitability, general public presence, altruism, or good decision-making ability. In general, I don't understand why professional athletes are default role models. Because they are in the public eye? That seems to negate all the other reasons that might make them unsuitable: unhealthy focus on winning which leads to illegal behaviors; rigid schedules that mandate time away from family (for the family values folks); lack of real-life, everyday skills; a somewhat necessary solipsism required for success (especially in individual sports). So my post yesterday was not at all about how disappointed I was in Hope Solo as a role model for all the children I don't have. I was mostly just sad for her. Sad for her positioning in this sociocultural moment in which a highly talented elite-level athlete is defending someone who seems to be a bad guy and then marrying him. Maybe ...

I'm pretty sure there was something I was supposed to blog about in the wake of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) annual meeting in New Orleans last night. But I can't remember what it is. So instead thanks to one of my NOLA roomies, Dr. Pants, I will blog about Hope Solo instead. Dr. Pants is a big fan of Hope Solo; she even read her auto(ish)biography Solo: A Memoir of Hope. I personally am not a Solo fan and though I considered reading the memoir for scholarly purposes, I couldn't get past the title. I might be interested in some version of a sequel, however, given the latest news about Solo that I received from Dr. Pants. Hope Solo is married! She also hosted a party of a small group of friends a few days ago which resulted in the arrest of her then-fiance Jerramy Stevens. There was some alcohol, there was fighting (apparently over where the happy couple was to live), there was pushing and shoving and maybe some hitting. There was blood...

Here's a bold move in this era of big-time sports: Spelman College is eliminating its intercollegiate athletics program at the end of the year. The all-female HBCU, lead by President Beverly Daniel Tatum, will take the $1 million annual budget for athletics and use to establish fitness programs to be available to the entire 2,000-women student body. Spelman will keep its PE requirement but will expand opportunities for activities  like yoga and aerobics. The emphasis, according to Tatum, will be placed on life-long health: “We want them to live long and healthy lives so they can get the return on that investment they’ve made in higher education…. We really see this as a life-saving activity that we are engaging in.” The emphasis on mind and body is refreshing especially in light of the population. Black women are at greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and various cancers than their white peers--even when accounting for economic status and education. ...

This week on NPR I heard a review of the new book about Thomas Jefferson and the evidence the author presents about the pretty much unequivocal hypocrisy of the founding father. And not just the now well-known relationship with his slave, Sally Hemmings, but how he was encouraged by his peers to free his slaves, but wouldn't. So continuing on the social justice and the personal-is-political theme, a poem by Natasha Trethewey from her book, Thrall . The poem can be found here. Enlightenment In the portrait of Jefferson that hangs      at Monticello, he is rendered two-toned: his forehead white with illumination— a lit bulb—the rest of his face in shadow,      darkened as if the artist meant to contrast his bright knowledge, its dark subtext. By 1805, when Jefferson sat for the portrait,      he was already linked to an affair with his slave. Against a backdrop, blue and ethereal, a wash of paint ...

Summer lovin', happened too fast. Christine Brennan has declared the Summer of Women (in sports) over. And, today, she and I are on the same page. Eternal pessimist that I am, I suspected--as it was happening--that the surge of interest in women's sports that was ignited primarily by the Olympics but also by the concurrent news and (mostly) praise of Title IX during its 40th anniversary year, would dissipate. It's a roller coaster ride. Luckily we only have to go down screeching down that big hill of disappointment once every 4 years (and down a smaller hill of disappointment after the winter Olympics end). Brennan was brought back to her reality after hearing UConn women's basketball coach, Geno Auriemma, discuss his stance on lowering the rim in women's basketball to make it a more popular sport that people (i.e. men) want to watch. People who don't like women's sports are not going to watch them. And inferiorizing the sport only provides the haters mo...

This poem by Alicia Ostriker is from the current issue of Massachusetts Review. It was posted at Poetry Daily recently. I've been doing a lot of talking in my classes about more complex understandings of race, so this fits in quite well. They Speak of Race Honey I am one gorgeous permanent wave of dunebeige yellowgold coalblack European Asian African force funneled through centuries of ejaculating ancestors right here to me said the impure old woman Absolutely true science informs us we hybrids are the ones that survive the endless brutalities of storm and drought and the rivalry of our peers said the naturally selected magnificent red tulip Any tribe keep doing the same thing with the same folks they gonna die out soon so procreate like me with strangers go mix it up mongrel is powerful said the dog

A few weeks ago, I neglected, among other things, to post about this amazing column by wrestling coach Hudson Taylor that was posted at HuffPo. Hudson, since he was a student-athlete, has been an ally of LGBT athletes and works to end homophobia in sport. Taylor demonstrates a very keen awareness of the way in which homophobia and sexism are intertwined. It is not a coincidence the sport has a history of sexism and homophobia. They reinforce each other. How different is it really when a male athlete is referred to as a "girl" or as a "fag"? Both are meant to question his masculinity and inspire a man-up moment. What about the ways that the lesbian stigma in women's sports is connected to its inferior status? So, good job Hudson Taylor. And much awe and respect to Pat Griffin for her column this week posted at Opposing Views. The day I read it I was teaching in my class two articles: a piece called "Patriarchy" by sociologist Allan Johnson and Pe...

I foresee a future dissertation on the topic of women's arm wrestling. I mean if it's good enough for NPR to cover , some grad student should be snapping it up. I have to admit, the topic seems a bit unusual. The story, which aired on All Things Considered, notes the similarity to roller derby and wrestling (the theatrical aspects of it). But, based on the story's main source, it seems to tip more towards that than athletics. I suspect the same issues will arise regarding self-sexification as a seeming requirement for participation; the empowerment potential of the performance; subcultural aspects; and how the sport will be presented to the general public. Already participants are referred to, at least by NPR (tsk tsk), as "lady arm wrestlers."

I'm not the only one trying to get back on course (sorry for the lack of blogging). Professional skiers start their competitive season soon. And American skier Lindsey Vonn, the it girl (much to Julia Mancuso's dismay) of the last winter Olympics, is looking to compete against the men in the first race of the season. It does not seem that people are opposed to the coed competition. Skiers--both male and female--are encouraging Vonn's attempt to test herself. The issue is that the men's competition is on the same course the women's race will be held at the following week; a race that Vonn wants to compete in as well. But she--or any other racer--is not allowed to race the course beforehand. Various committees and powers-that-be are looking into the whole thing. I think if Vonn gets permission we will see a lot more men versus women talk. Interesting and irksome is how the FIS World Cup is divided. Under the gender pull-down menu on the calendar page is "me...

I started reading this column with a little hesitation. The end of the Kournikova era? Really? Are not female athletes, including the columnist's celebrated Alex Morgan, still stripping down to promote their bodies, um, er, their sport, um...? Yes, it's still happening. It's still problematic. What's different, as the columnist points out, is that in the Kournikova era there seemed to be no space to which to have a discussion of women's sports. We were polarized. We had to talk about the sexualization of female athletes (or if you were outside of the critical discourse you discussed their hotness factor) and it made it difficult to talk about actual women's sports. But why did the Kournikova era end? What was it about that historical moment that pushed this woman (then girl) to be the most googled, searched for, downloaded entity? What was the sexual tenor of the country (of the western world?) in those years? Or was it just Kournikova? Did she just happen ...

I have decided that Poetry Friday means poems can be posted on Fridays--not necessarily that they will. The blogging has been slow, but the dissertating has been progressing so...compromise. Anyway, I was looking for a poem about the start of school. I found this one instead and it amused me; so here it is. The Latest School G. K. Chesterton See the flying French depart Like the bees of Bonaparte, Swarming up with a most venomous vitality. Over Baden and Bavaria, And Brighton and Bulgaria, Thus violating Belgian neutrality. And the injured Prussian may Not unreasonably say "Why, it cannot be so small a nationality Since Brixton and Batavia, Bolivia and Belgravia, Are bursting with the Belgian neutrality." By pure Alliteration You may trace this curious nation, And respect this somewhat scattered Principality; When you see a B in Both You may take your Bible oath You are violating Belgian neutrality.

Making news internationally ( as far as China !), one of the world's most famous golf clubs, Augusta National, has finally admitted two women as members. Condoleeza Rice and Darla Moore, the VP of an investment company and major donor to the University of South Carolina (the business school is named after her). The controversy over the lack of female members has been been consistently cyclical. Every year when the Masters is played there, the issue is reinvigorated with various levels of vigor. Last year was a renewed burst of criticism/activism due to the then-recent naming of Virgina Rometty as the new chairperson of IBM--a position that has always come with a membership at Augusta. But Rometty was not one of the two women--because Augusta does things on its own terms. As former chairperson of Augusta, Hootie Johnson, said during the years when the controversy was highest (i.e. Martha Burk was protesting nearby), Augusta would make changes in its own due time and not "at th...

This is a brief follow-up--or in-addition-to--to the post about the lack of larger sized apparel for this summer's female Olympians. Apparently--and I had not been aware of this--several female athletes competing in London have been scrutinized and commented on because of their weight leading into the games. I think this is quite interesting in light of all the press about how equal these Olympics are; how the US team is comprised of more female athletes than male athletes; how every nation finally has a female competitor. US-based media call this the " Title IX Olympics"--somewhat problematically . But, of course, things aren't equal--on either concrete numbers (still more events for men) or in treatment. At the opening of the games Christine Brennan of USA Today declared "Finally--It's all about the women." Yep. It's still about how female they are (i.e., Caster Semenya and whomever else was secretly gender tested during these games or leading u...

This article features comments from US Olympic weightlifter Sarah Robles about how athletic gear is not made for larger women. One could argue that clothes in general are not made for larger women. But Robles point is that she, as a heavyweight lifter--an athlete, has to wear the clothes for men because Nike and whomever else is contributing to Team USA's uniform/gear does not make the women's clothes in her size. I know Nike makes "plus size" clothes for women. I just saw a tennis skirt in a 3X yesterday in a store. So they will make up to a certain size. But for the Olympics, one would think they could make whatever for the athletes so women like Robles, who don't want to wear "dude's clothes" as she calls them, don't have to. Because she's right--they don't fit the same. Interestingly, there are limited options for women who either do not want to wear traditionally feminine clothes but on whom menswear is too big and not tailored cor...

There was some concern over the cold weather in London and how it might prevent some women's beach volleyballers from wearing their bikinis. And it has. Looks like Getty though has been getting in as many photos of bikinis while the sun is out. This piece is a comment on the ways in which women's beach volleyball has been photographed and what such a frame might look like on other Olympic sports.

I had heard that Chick-Fil-A was not exactly pro-gay, but it didn't much matter to me since I hadn't eaten there since I was a teenager, have no franchise near me, and don't eat fast food anyway. In other words, I had no occasion nor desire to frequent them--an unintentional boycott. I had not made the connection, however, between the company and its sponsorship of a college bowl game. Now that the president of the company has come out and explicitly stated his position as anti-gay marriage (because he worries that god's wrath will be brought down upon us for defying Jesus's will) what will the NCAA do? Will Chick-Fil-A be prevented from sponsorship of NCAA events? We shall see...

Anti-gay tweets are not that unusual. Anti-gay sentiments among athletes are not especially surprising either. Regarding the latter, though, most public anti-gay statements have been confined to the world of professional men's athletics. (Though more straight male professional athletes are voicing public support for potential gay teammates these days. See Ron Gronkowski --or rather read his statements. You can see him--all of him--in the latest iteration of ESPN Magazine's The Body Issue.) But outward/overt homophobia in women's sports--especially at the collegiate level--is not as prevalent, which is why it is sometimes difficult to convince people that it still exists. It got a little easier recently when tweets from Florida Gulf Coast University student-athletes were picked up on. Three tweets from three different athletes within one month: “Golden rule of softball: ‘No bow, lesbo,’” an FGCU softball player tweeted in March while thanking a teammate for the advice. “...

The IOC would have looked quite foolish if, after all the negotiating, the Saudi Arabian government did not send any women to London this month. I am soooooo curious as to how the negotiations went down over this issue. What threats were levied? Retorts offered? Etc. Etc. But however it all happened, there will be two women on the Saudi Olympic team : a judo practitioner (judoist? what is the correct term?) and a runner (800 m). This is old news by now, I know--that's all I have time for these days. Old news but seemingly good news.

After a lot of feet dragging and failed attempts to keep the story quiet, the International Tennis Hall of Fame has said it will investigate the claims of sexual abuse made against inductee Bob Hewitt . This news came out last week, just as the HoF was getting ready to host its annual pro tournament and induct the class of 2012. Claims against Hewitt in South Africa are being looked into. The statute of limitations for alleged abuse that occurred in the United States have all passed. But concerned parties, including the women who allege they were victims of Hewitt's when he was a coach, asked the HoF over a year ago to address the situation. After saying they would draft a policy to deal with future similar situations, rather than addressing the past, the HoF received a great deal of criticism . Now they have hired a Boston law firm to do a confidential investigation. But no one from the organization has commented--apparently all the HoF powers that be were at Wimbledon last we...

So will Saudi Arabia be allowed (by the IOC) to get away with not sending any female athletes because they just can't find any? The top choice, equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas, cannot attend . Will the IOC allow Saudi officials to say "well, we tried." I hope not. So do others. This is a very strong editorial about why the IOC should ban the entire Saudi Olympic team if it does not contain any women. The author rightly notes that wild cards are available--and surely the IOC will grant them given their stake in this situation--to athletes who do not meet Olympic qualifying standards. But even if that was not the case--would it be ok for the Saudis to say--well, give us some more time? This has been an ongoing issue. It is not about time, it is about culture. On a related note, FIFA has (finally) said it will allow players to wear the hijab.

I have been watching (in the background, on my computer mostly) a lot of tennis of late. Wimbledon ends this weekend ("oh, good" the Girlfriend says) and I thought it would be a good time for a tennis poem. I wanted to publish all of Robert Pinksy's "Tennis" but I couldn't find it. (If anyone has it--send it my way). So I will just publish one of the sections of the poem. "Winning"   Call questionable balls his way, not yours: You lose the point but have your concentration, The grail of self-respect. Wear white. Mind losing. Walk, never run, between points: it will save Your breath, and hy pnotize him, and be may think That you are tired, until your terrible Swift sword amazes him. By understanding Your body, you will conquer your fatigue. By understanding your desire to win And all your other desirs, you will conquer Discouragement. And ...

The Gatorade commercial with Abby Wambach makes me cringe. Even her voiceover "acting" is bad. Part of it is probably the script, too. "She's lost a lot and water won't put it back." Who says that?? "Yes, she is easy to spot. She is also easy to break." Thankfully Gatorade has redeemed itself with this commercial about keeping young girls in sports: I liked the BP commercials featuring athletes who will (likely) be competing in London. Both able-bodied athletes and paralympians. Alas, it is a commercial for BP. And I think about how an oil company is using those differently-abled bodies to sell its product and improve its image. This one I believe is airing on Great Britain. I haven't seen it on US television. Couldn't find the one that is currently airing in the US, tough.

The Saudi female athlete most observers thought would be heading to London next month after Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on female athletes in the Olympics--will not. Equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas could not meet the Olympic qualifying standard after losing valuable training time when her horse sustained an injury. A reader pointed me to this article about the situation. There are, apparently, other unnamed female athletes under consideration.

Some people I have spoken with don't like Maria Sharapova because they think she's too pretty--and not much else (besides a good tennis player). I think she's pretty smart and has a good sense of humor. I love the way she deals with the corps of media folk who ask her largely inane questions. And Sharapova continued to handle herself well yesterday when asked to respond to Frenchman Gilles Simon's comments about how tennis should go back to the days when women got paid less than men at the Grand Slam tournaments. Simon thinks men's tennis is more entertaining; that the matches are more interesting. Of course he didn't offer any means of how to measure entertainment value. He didn't note that the rest of the year women earn less at their tournaments than the men do at theirs. And he was forced to acknowledge that his straight-set loss at Wimbledon was probably not that entertaining. Simon was recently elected to the ATP Players' Council, which seems to...

There is a tie for the third spot on the women's 100 meters (running) US Olympic team. No solution yet on how to determine which runner, Allyson Felix or Jeneba Tarmoh, will get the spot. Justin Gatlin, the men's 100 meter champion at the trials, suggested they two women wrestle in out--in either Jello or mud. I am sure they appreciated being given two options. Gatlin got a lot of crap for the comment which many have--not surprisingly--deemed sexist. But he said it was taken out of context. Oh--do you mean the context of patriarchy where you think all kinds of comments are permissible? The thing about dominant ideologies is that they all have a little bit of wiggle room; there's a lot of pushing and pulling; and hegemony has been known to spring a leak.

A lot of the recent chatter about women in the Olympics has been around 1) Saudi Arabia's ban on women's sports and 2) just how much testosterone a woman can have before she crosses the line into "man." But even "normally" hormoned women not from Saudi Arabia are having issues as thy prepare for London. Sania Mirza, who was chosen to by the Indian Tennis Federation to represent India, has been at the center of an odd argument about who shall play with whom. Apparently the men on the Indian team are arguing about who they want to partner with for doubles and for mixed doubles. And they are using Mirza to try to get their way. The father of one of the players wants Mirza to guarentee, in writing, that she will play with his son. Someone has said he will only play with someone else if Mirza plays with him in mixed doubles. It all sounds 1) a little but middle school and 2) a lot bit patriarchal. And Mirza calls them out on all this . It's an amazing ope...

I have largely stopped posting about the (mis)gendered language in sports. But language still continues to fascinate me. And I was particularly struck by the incongruity I heard at Wimbledon yesterday while watching Kim Clijsters's match. Wimbledon refers to female players as either Miss or Mrs (last name) depending on their marital status. While the formality is quaint, the practice seems antiquated--especially in this situation: Clijsters is married. She gets referred to as Mrs. But she never changed her name. So she is called Mrs. Clijsters at Wimbledon. It sounds so odd.

Saudi Arabia announced today that it will allow female athletes to compete in the Olympics under the Saudi flag (i.e. not invited by the IOC and under their "neutral" flag). The press about the decision contains a lot of platitudes from Saudi representatives about the spirit of the games. No word on which women will be there; Saudi officials have said they will allow any woman who qualifies to attend. Unfortunately given the lack of support (to put it mildly) for female athletes in Saudi Arabia, not many women meet Olympic qualifying standards. The IOC is likely to make exceptions just to get Saudi women to London this year. More of a sure thing is equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas who is a Saudi citizen who was born in the United States. There were no given reasons for the change of heart by Saudi administrators. The IOC had been working with government officials since the spring and kept reporting "progress," but in April the Saudis announced they would not be se...

So the NBA pumps weren't exactly offensive. These, however, are. Discomfort on so many levels! Adidas has reconsidered releasing these, though. No shackle sneakers for the consuming public .

Truly excellent column in the NYT about the IOC's proposed changes to rules regarding the testosterone levels of female athletes.

It's hard finding a poem to celebrate fathers' day. Sylvia Plath isn't quite appropriate for the occasion. But this one is pretty good. The details may change, but the sentiment remains. So Happy Fathers' Day to the dads out there and especially my own, who helped cultivate my love of sport (none of us know where the poetry thing came from) and keeps me stocked in sport gear. FATHER by Ella Wheeler Wilcox He never made a fortune, or a noise In the world where men are seeking after fame; But he had a healthy brood of girls and boys Who loved the very ground on which he trod. They thought him just little short of God; Oh you should have heard the way they said his name – ‘Father.’ There seemed to be a loving little prayer In their voices, even when they called him ‘Dad.’ Though the man was never heard of anywhere, As a hero, yet somehow understood He was doing well his part and making good; And you knew it, by the way his children had Of saying ‘Fathe...

Caster Semenya is on something. Say that about almost any other track and field athlete (or cyclist-- even the now officially retired "I've- never tested positive" Lance Armstrong remains under scrutiny) and you think doping. An athlete seeking an unfair advantage. But not Semenya--and not, according to secret and not-so-secret sources--are numerous other female athletes who apparently are meeting standards of performance, of hormone levels, of muscle mass not associated with the socially acceptable definition of female. Interventions have been made. Drugs administered. Surgeries completed. At least that's the impression given by this article . We all know the controversy over Semenya's performance and appearance. When it was seemingly over, the horror over the whole experience--the invasion of privacy, the (largely undiscussed) racism and colonialism, the general ickiness of it all--was supposed to be a closed chapter. An additional stain, but one that the Th...

OMG! I'm watching sand volleyball. Right now. Collegiate sand volleyball. Pepperdine versus Long Beach State.  This is the first ever national championships in the sport. Not NCAA sponsored. I think, actually and somewhat perversely, Jack-in-the-Box is sponsoring these championships. I was curious about uniforms when this sport was proposed. Pretty modest (compared to what we will see from most women's teams in London, where it's not going to be super warm, btw). Pepperdine has tank tops and what looks like running shorts. One of the Pepperdine assistant coaches is the coach of famed American duo Misty May and Kerry Walsh. Long Beach is wearing tankinis. It looks like most of the other teams in the tournament are doing the tank top/shorts combo. Pepperdine has already won the team title. Now they are looking to win the individual title. I love having a girlfriend who has more sports channels than she even knows exist!

...show your fandom in your feet, females! Fan gear that limits your activity level. This is something to put in my female fandom file for that not-yet-written article. Previous commentary on this issue has been about 1) pink apparel or 2) heteronormative marketing. My last post on the heteronormative marketing of sports gear, trinkets, mementos brought a comment from Sean at sportsBabel about why I would want to be included in the grand capitalist scheme. True, true. And when I saw this little piece of news about how the NBA will be making $250 stilettos, I was mighty glad to not be in the target audience.These things don't seem very practical. I mean, high tripping/slipping hazard when walking around the arena and up and down stairs to your seat. And you definitely don't want some drunk fan to spill beer on these!

Sadly, I just watched Sam Stosur lose in the semifinals of Roland Garros to Sara Errani. Errani played very well and I kind of like her style. I hadn't paid too much attention to her prior to this run at the French. But I liked her glasses and bandana look from the quarters the other day. She looked tough. Stosur always looks tough because the woman is ripped. But she is not a man. In case you were wondering. Dominika Cibulkova, Stosur's opponent from the quarters seemed to be wondering that after being defeated by Stosur fairly handily . I actually didn't hear the post-match comments or the comments on the post-match comments. Thankfully I have friends who keep me informed while I sit in the library endlessly coding data. This is nothing new, of course. Just a different set of characters. Cibulkova who could not handle Stosur's heavy topspin serve and was put on the defensive by Stosur's amazing forehand, thought this meant that Stosur was man-like in her style....

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX. Each anniversary engenders a good deal of media attention about the equity in education legislation, but this year, of course, the attention is greater. The Title IX Blog has been covering some of the anniversary coverage. A trend that I have noticed is the focus on the everyday athlete . We are hearing testimonials and personal histories and reflections from women who are not elite athletes. ESPNW is collecting pictures and mini-stories from women of all ages and abilities that are entered into a collage/mosaic on their website . This opinion piece on an NBC website fits this trend of hearing from the everyday women and the way Title IX affected their lives. Jelisa Castrodale also discusses what she sees among the girls of today and their relationships to sports, the access (often unquestioned) they have to sports, and the ways sport is incorporated into their everyday lives. The title of the column is "Don't call us tom...

No--just kidding. Don't burn anything. Fire is dangerous. But at least female badminton players can ditch their skirts if they would rather play in shorts (or pants I would assume). The Badminton World Federation has nixed its plans to require female athletes to wear skirts in competitions. There was a sizable enough outcry to make it a rule not worth fighting for. But the federation--still concerned with the aesthetic appeal if its female athletes--is urging the women to look as good as possible for the cameras in London. The men, too, though apparently their appeal is not tied to skirts. Still looking for more appealing and camera-friendly outfits, though, the BWT is working directly with apparel companies in an attempt to get them to offer players better outfits. So, technically, they could encourage these companies to offer mostly skirts and dresses to women while providing just a few shorts options. But they wouldn't do that, would they?

Has anyone written about the highly problematic tenure of IOC president Jacques Rogge? I want to fast forward to a few decades from now and read about his legacy. I can't imagine it will be favorable. The inspiration for these frustrations? The IOC, as lead by Rogge, is still trying to work it out with Saudi Arabian officials to get some Saudi women to London in a few months to compete in the Olympics. The only firm thing: Rogge said Saudi women will not be competing under the (neutral) IOC flag. The IOC is getting pressure from human rights groups around the globe to sanction the Saudis if they do not allow women to compete in these games. But Rogge is not ready to talk sanctions. Some of his comments on the situation: I t's not an easy situation. We're working steadily with them to find a good solution. There is a commitment. (to what and by whom?) We are continuing to discuss with them... Wait and see. We do not want to enter into any hypothetical questions. ...

A little Shakespeare; a little (melancholy) spring sonnet. From you have I been absent in the spring... (Sonnet 98)   From you have I been absent in the spring, When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, Hath put a spirit of youth in everything, That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him, Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell Of different flowers in odor and in hue, Could make me any summer's story tell, Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew. Nor did I wonder at the lily's white, Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose; They were but sweet, but figures of delight, Drawn after you, you pattern of all those. Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away, As with your shadow I with these did ...

...against the sexualization of female athletes as epitomized by the Lingerie Football League. It didn;t happen here in the US. But the Australian Minister of Sports had a few choice words for the Lingerie Football League which is trying to expand its brand down under. Those words included: degrading, cheap, and perv(erted). I am sure if the US had a minister of sport, s/he would speak out against the LFL. And the Lingerie Basketball League. And the new inline Bikini Hockey League. Maybe we need a Minister of Sport.

In 1992 South African Bob Hewitt was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame. It's possible that I was even there that year to see it. (I'd have to ask my dad.) What very few knew then was that years later women from all over the globe would come forward with charges of sexual abuse against Hewitt, who served as a tennis coach in the US and abroad after his playing career was over. Various entities are investigating the charges, (the statute of limitations has expired in the US for filing criminal charges) but th e Hall of Fame is not one of them --despite earlier promises that they would. Abuse perpetuated by coaches is not an uncommon as we might like to believe. There have been years and years of silence in a myriad of sport: swimming, gymnastics, figure skating, among others. But sport federations and associations are starting to own up to the past and taking actions in the present to try to prove they will not turn a blind eye to sexual abuse. When the US Gymnastics Hall ...

The day was warm, the hills were long or steep--sometimes both. And as I sped down one such hill--a series actually of downhills--I thought "what's the point?" I had climbed and climbed and climbed all morning. And my reward was these downhills. But they didn't feel like a reward. What's the point of all the climbing, of all the hard work if I'm just going to go downhill at 30 miles an hour? Why bother going uphill at all? It's so easy to go downhill. The hours of work is negated in minutes. It is so easy to lose elevation after fighting so hard to go so high. The downhills--which I usually enjoy--felt like failure. Maybe it was because the roads were bumpy and every time I hit a particularly egregious bump at 30 miles an hour, I was reminded that I really needed to pee. Maybe I was dehydrated. Maybe I was just having a bad day. I did snap out of it by the end of the ride. Perhaps it was all the recorded reality I was able to examine post ride: how far, ...

Several things have conspired to lead to this post--the most recent being that two minutes ago a woman ran by the cafe I am sitting at grading papers wearing a running skirt--just as I was thinking about running skirts and the reasons women give for wearing. I was thinking about this because of this article about the growth of female distance runners . This piece focuses on Portland, Oregon. It was a smidge of history. I did learn that Joan Benoit Samuelson would walk when a car drove by her as she was running. The piece overall is an important reminder of how women's participation in distance running does not have a long and rich history. It has a controversial history, however, as noted by the article sent to me by a friend. If you study sport and sport history, you likely know about the one time the IOC decided to let the women run a little bit longer and then they all collapsed from the exertion of running 800 meters and it was too much for people to bear and so they banned ...

WPS announced that it is folding. Not a surprise. Something most of us have been bracing for. Tough week. Lost Donna Summers (did my little tribute to her in spin class this morning) and the WPS. This column lays out the sitch including the role that the former owner of MagicJack had in the league's demise. And it offers some hope to fans of women's soccer. Don't forget--there are still two semi-professional teams. The Boston Breakers still exist, for example. And it includes premier players.

...the Bikini Hockey League . One of the first things one teaches in a Sport Sociology course is how to define a sport and the various criteria that have been used at various times in various cultures. It might be time to add to that conversation about definitions. This league obviously isn't meant to be sport. The tryouts aren't even tryouts. It's a casting call --with no requirement that a potential "player" mention anything about her hockey skills. And the press release reveals that this is all about creating a reality show--not an actual hockey league. Sex it up and dumb it down (for audiences) I guess is the motto of this production.

A story about the baseball team from Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrows Academy forfeiting a state championship because there was a girl playing on the opposing team . I thought it was a farce. It is ridiculous--but it is true. The academy, located in Arizona, is founded and adheres to the principles of the Society of Saint Pius X, a separatist branch of the Catholic Church. One of these tenets is the separate teaching of boys and girls--which extends to sports. Perpetual Sorrows is a regular season opponent of Mesa Prep--the state winner, by default--but the players in questions, second baseperson Paige Sultzbach had voluntarily sat out of previous encounters. But she didn't think it was fair to forfeit her own rightful place as a player in a state championship. So Perpetual Sorrows opted not to compete. It's their right to do so of course.  But I wonder what lessons their students are learning from this? Opting out is not new. Stories about male wrestlers "choosing...

As I mentioned yesterday, the critiques of professional football have trickled down--and created new critiques of both college  and high school and even youth football. In a public debate on college football , Buzz Bissinger reiterated his argument about the economic and educational costs of college football. On his side of the debate was writer Malcolm Gladwell who focused on the injuries incurred. On the other side of the debate, held on Tuesday night at NYU, were former NFL player and current broadcaster Tim Green and Fox Sports commentator Jason Whitlock. Polls were taken before the debate, sponsored by Slate and Intelligence Squared, and then afterwards. Bissinger and Gladwell had a solid majority and seemed to have swayed the most people with their arguments. Green and Whitlock pointed out things like the lack of long-term studies on brain injuries, the camaraderie of the game, and that it teaches diversity, tolerance, and cooperation. (My guess is that gay men probably di...

I was having deep discussions with my collaborator just yesterday about how to make changes in intercollegiate athletics that benefit both women and racial minorities. Football always seems like this monstrous blockade to potential solutions. It's hard to simply say "nix football." But someone has. The writer of Friday Night Lights, Buzz Bissinger, has written a column for the Wall Street Journal saying that football serves no purpose in colleges and universities--causing more harm than good. He focuses mostly on the economic harms and the false promises football makes. He doesn't even mention the physical harm to players, an issue that has become even more salient since Junior Seau's suicide last week. Frank Deford does though in his weekly NPR piece . He notes that even as former NFL players pursue their class action suit against the league over safety issues, that the lower levels of the game should also be concerned. According to Deford, 5 million teens ...

I'm hanging out at Yale today so I thought I would put up a poem by an alum. J.D. McClatchy earned his PhD here in the 70s. I like this poem--perhaps even more so because I don't relate to it all. Have no experience of being a middle aged man with a boggy prostrate. But I still it's a great piece of (good) nostalgia, longing, reluctance. LATE NIGHT ODE It's over, love. Look at me pushing fifty now, Hair like grave-grass growing in both ears, The piles and boggy prostate, the crooked penis, The sour taste of each day's first lie, And that recurrent dream of years ago pulling A swaying bead-chain of moonlight, Of slipping between the cool sheets of dark Along a body like my own, but blameless. What good's my cut-glass conversation now, Now I'm so effortlessly vulgar and sad? You get from life what you can shake from it? For me, it's g and t's all day and CNN. Try the blond boychick lawyer, entry level At eighty grand, wh...

I know I'm a slacker blogger whenever Dr. Pants sends me a link to a blogworthy story/article/column. Sorry. This one is especially good because it's about female fandom, soccer, and sex objects--and people who say dumb things.  This time is was an employee of Major League Soccer (MLS) who disparaged avid female soccer fans basically by calling them unsexy. A few issues about this statement: First, as the author of this opinion piece on Bust Magazine's blog notes, women do not exist for the sole purpose of being sexy for men. Second, can soccer in the US really afford to be disparaging fans? Haven't we heard over and over how unpopular soccer is in this country? Third, a question: so what's this all about? I haven't seen or heard of similar critiques of female fans in other sports. And there are some pretty avid fans out there of, for example, various NFL teams. Is it because these avid soccer fans are wearing team or country colors and not pink, deep V-...

After a little hiatus, Poetry Friday is back--just in time--or rather, half a month late--for National Poetry Month. I like W.G. Sebald and stars so this one seemed appropriate. The Sky at Night A belated excursion to the stone collection of our feelings Little left here worth showing alas Is there from an anthropological perspective a need for love Or merely for yearnings easy to disappoint Which stars go down as white dwarfs What relation does a heavy heart bear to the art of comedy Does the hunter Orion have answers to such questions Or are they too closely guarded by the Dog Star

I only found about this story from a FB friend who posted a link to the petition on Change.org. And despite my searches for more info--I cannot find any. So I wonder if this is actually making news in Beverly--which, coincidentally, is my home town. So a woman was told she cannot take her daughter into the children's locker room before swim lessons at the Beverly YMCA--where I once was a little guppy trying to work her way up to dolphinhood. Why can this mother not take her daughter into the kids' locker room? Because the woman was born a man. And apparently she still has "male eyes" and her gender presentation is confusing to people. First (though in no particular order), pretty condemning of men, no? All men are looking at little girls with leering eyes is the suggestion here. Of course, the message could (most likely?) be that a transwoman is more likely to be some kind of pervert. Second, let's perhaps use this as a teachable moment, people of the Beverly...

Two weekends ago I headed north to Burlington, Vermont for a quick, last-minute getaway that happened to coincide with the IIHF Women's Hockey World Championships. (Timing is everything!) Here is what I observed: Nothing indicated as we drove into Burlington that this event was taking place. I did however learn about when the farmers' market was starting and an upcoming parade. So that was a bummer. The store on the pedestrian mall that sells UVM merchandise did have a window display of USA Hockey gear and a poster of Jenny Potter and Angela Ruggiero (who actually "retired" this year and so wasn't playing--oops!). Also good--the day we arrived was the day of the US versus Canada first-round game. Tickets were sold out--good sign generally. Not so much for us. But thank goodness for iPhones and craigslist and some good bargaining skills. Tickets were scored a few hour before game time. And the game was amazing--if you were an American fan. I actually was more in...