After Atalanta

So some of the news out of professional football this week is the return of Michael Vick to the NFL. Where exactly he will end up--and he will end up somewhere--is still unknown though word is he's getting close to signing with the Seattle Seahawks. Vick's return to the NFL after serving nearly two years in federal prison for running a dogfighting ring comes with conditions . Interesting, eh? As Dave Zirin says , it isn't likely that the NFL is a huge proponent of animal rights. They are all about appearances. And given the public outrage over this incident, the NFL is playing the PR game with the conditions and all the statements. And, of course, Vick is too, having met with the president of the Humane Society of America. So the question over how the public will react to Vick's return lingers. And it's all a little disturbing. Because, as Zirin also notes, the NFL is full of people who have done something wrong including domestic violence and sexual assault. Some h...

So I was prepping for dinner, washing my first batch of local green beans when I heard myself say aloud "don't do it, Alex. Don't make me blog about you--again." But here I am blogging once again about Alex Trebek's general chauvinism and how it seems to appear in the context of sports. Because as Alex moved his way down the row of teenaged contestants to the only girl, he asked her to smile (first moment of my wariness), and notes how pretty her teeth are (that's two), and that they are all her own teeth before noting that the reason for this charade (my words, not his) is that young Audrey is a hockey player. She's a goalie though so she has a face mask, he says. (Of course all players have face masks now, Alex.) And then he calls her "a brave little girl." *sigh* Thankfully my spirits were buoyed by the airing--live--of the Boston Breaker versus the Washington Freedom game. My two favorite teams!! Alas Breakers player Alex Scott got ejected wi...

Saw a funny editorial out of New Zealand a while ago and tucked it away thinking I should blog about it--then, of course, I forgot about it. But it's too good not to share so please check out the Kiwi humor (or humour) about women's sports, homosexuality, and skirts. Apparently a team of netballers in New Zealand has been ordered out of their shorts and into short skirts. The editorialist talks about Wimbledon's recent scheduling of the pretty people and Mary Jo Kane's research on how sex does not sell women's sports and the general fear of non-feminine women and its effect on women's sports. All in an incredibly sarcastic and witty way!

In a comment after my own snarky heart, sportswriter Tom Mahon of the Philadelphia Daily News notes that President Obama, in hosting the reigning WNBA champions, the Detroit Shock, basically gave the same speech about women's sports, and being a dad, yada, yada that he offered to the Connecticut Huskies, 2009 NCAA champions, last spring. Really? You can't find something new to say about women's sports? I think he needs a new speechwriter; one that knows something about women's sports. So if anyone from the Obama administration is reading this just know that 1) we've noticed the lack of knowledge the president seems to have about women's sports (not including Title IX which he seems to have a handle on, thankfully) and 2) I am looking for a job. [I am also pretty good on women's issues generally and yes, I can tone down the sarcasm.]

There is a lot of bad stuff happening in the world today. Lest you think I only know about the bad stuff that happens in sport, I will let you know that I do have an awareness of national and international happenings. (And that I am equally jaded about them as what happens in sport most of the time.) But really, some things I just don't want to know. And I want to be able to opt out of certain headlines and stories, like the current one about a Texas mother who killed her infant in an atrocious manner. This is something I certainly did not want to find out about by reading a headline on my aggregated Yahoo news stories. When the Olympics or World Cup or other international sporting event has occurred but the event has yet to air in the US, reporters often say something like "put your TV on mute now if you don't want to know the results." I think the same standard should apply to other news happenings.

Remember last year when sideline reporter Erin Andrews of ESPN was approached from behind by a collegiate football player who simulated a sexual maneuver as he was leaving the field? Well if you don't check it out here, along with my take on that situation and Andrews generally. At that time, I noted that many people got angry at the people who spoke out against the harassment and that Andrews pretty much laughed it off in that awkward way one laughs off sexual harassment when you can't make a big deal out of it because, well, you're a woman in sports and you like your job. But I kind of knew this would not be the end of it. And I hate to say "I told you so" but... A video of Andrews naked in a hotel room has appeared on the internet. An as-yet-unknown peeper took the video through a peep hole he/she drilled through a wall or door. In no way am I saying the Andrews asked for it. But this is not surprising given that she has failed to speak up against the overt se...

Every time I hear about saving softball, people invoke young girls. We're doing it for all those girls in the stands, commentator Michelle Smith says. I am so sick of this rationale. Why do women's sports have to invoke the future of girlhood as a primary reason for saving the sport? I agree that it is part of the larger argument. But it is almost always proffered as the sole reason--at least during broadcasts of softball games. I haven't completely dissected the rhetoric yet and this is not the reason behind this post, so moving on... Since these girls in the stands are the future of softball and Smith likes to talk about the skills necessary for youth players to develop if they want to play collegiate and eventually international ball, I think I should add that in addition to 1) becoming a leftie (seriously--lefties are ubiquitous on team USA); 2) learning to sneaky bunt or slap; 3) and making it to first in less than 5 seconds young girls are going to have to learn the a...

Next March when you issue your press release during Women's History Month about how much coverage you provide of women's sports, I hope you don't count the softball game you are airing right now in your list of accomplishments. Because when I saw that women's softball was airing during prime time on a Thursday, I was pretty psyched. But the World Cup final you are showing is from LAST YEAR. Last year! And that "previously recorded" you have in the upper right corner of the screen is a little bit misleading. Previously recorded shouldn't really apply to LAST YEAR. Isn't that what ESPN Classic is for? Previously recorded is for a game that was played this afternoon or even earlier in the week. Don't make me come down to CT and explain it to you. Sincerely (pissed off), ken UPDATE: Ok, so it turns out ESPN did end up airing the USA v. Netherlands game a little after 9pm EST. There was a power outage in Oklahoma. So I take back the harsh tone. Still ...

The women who train under USA Wrestling have filed a grievance claiming they are receiving inferior treatment. Some of the top female wrestlers in USA Wrestling's program say discrimination exists at multiple levels and includes: less qualified coaching, more harsh punishments (including being publicly demeaned by coaches), and differences in monetary compensation. USA Wrestling executives will get first crack at addressing the claims. If they do not do so in a "reasonable time" or not to the satisfaction of the women, the grievance will be sent to the United States Olympic Committee.

I'm not going to go into my "I really do like Dave Zirin, but sometimes..." intro here because, well, that pretty much captures it. A recent Zirin column asks "Which pro athlete will come out of the closet?" It's a curious question because, of course, there are already out professional athletes. Athletes who came out or have come out during the course of their professional careers. There's Billie Jean King (forced out but still) who Zirin invokes in his article as a pioneer for women's rights. She was an out athlete. As was Martina Navritilova. As is Amelie Mauresmo. As is Lisa Raymond. But these are all tennis players, you say. Well, ok so: Vicky Galindo (who plays professionally for the Chiacgo Bandits), Rosie Jones, Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Lappin, Latasha Byears. But they are all women, you say. Well yes, they are gay women. (Galindo identifies as bisexual.) Gay is not a gender-specific term. The gay liberation movement means gay men and women so...

The LPGA worked fast and appointed Marsha Evans temporary commissioner of the oldest women's sport organization. Evans is a former CEO of the American Red Cross and a Navy Admiral. Of course Evans has a past. She was forced out of the Red Cross in 2005 after contentious relations with her board. (So were her two predecessors, though--both women--one of whom was Elizabeth Dole.) Apparently they board of governors did not like her "command-and-control" management style. Wonder how that will go over on the LPGA... Meanwhile, a search committee has been formed and one member assures us that the new permanent commissioner will have a background in sport management. (Bivens did not.) Annika Sorenstam has stepped up to become an advisor to the LPGA board in the time of transition. And right now the three names being floated for Bivens's permanent replacement are (drum roll, please): Donna Orender (current head of the WNBA); Cindy Davis (current head of Nike Golf); and in-hou...

The Women's Tennis Association has found a new CEO . It is a familiar face: current president Stacy Allaster. I know very (very) little about the leadership of the WTA except that I was not a huge fan of Larry Scott who announced his leave from the position in March and is now head of the PAC-10. So Allaster has a blank slate as far as I am concerned. We shall see...

It was somewhat surprising how few under par rounds there were at this year's US Open; and that Christie Kerr feel apart on Sunday; and the way Eun He Ji calmed her nerves and pulled off that amazing birdie putt at 18 to win her first major. Not surprising was Paula Creamer bright pink Sunday outfit (is this going to be a permanent thing??) and the "resignation" of LPGA commish Carolyn Bivens. Bivens's ouster has been in the works and when a group of prominent players signed a letter after the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic (the last one ever because of funding/sponsor issues) a few weeks ago asking for her resignation, her fate was pretty much sealed. The LPGA will have to pony up $1 million to buy out her contract, however, which runs through 2010. In the meanwhile, the LPGA is seeking a temporary commissioner while it searches for a suitable "permanent" (because, really, what job in sport has any kind of permanence these days?) replacement. So here'...

...at least in Canada. The quest of the female ski jumpers who filed a lawsuit against the Vancouver Olympic Committee saying that their exclusion was illegal under Canadian civil rights laws has come to an end it seems. The judge in the case dismissed the lawsuit saying that allow it was discrimination and it was indeed "distasteful" that there was really nothing VANOC could do about it because the decision comes from the International Olympic Committee. Judge Lauri Fenlon ruled, not surprisingly, that the Canadian courts were not the place for the lawsuit because the IOC was a "non-party." It's too bad because the IOC will be having a big party in February and the female ski jumpers will not be allowed to attend.

If you look at the accumulation of comments on Soccer Lens' "The 15 Greatest Sports Cheats of All Time " you would think the biggest controversy is whether Maradona's "hand of god" goal in the 1980s was worse than boxing coach Panana Lewis's tactics that lead to the loss of vision in a fighter Billy Collins, Jr. and, indirectly, his death. Or why Marion Jones was left off the list. Of course I think the biggest controversy was the inclusion of Stella Walsh. Walsh was a track & field athlete from Poland who, it was discovered after her death, to be intersex. She had a set of XX and XY chromosomes. So according to the people at Soccer Lens, Walsh was a cheat. This is despite the fact that she passed--passed!--the gender verification test which consisted of a physical examination of her genitals. There was suspicion throughout her career, the writers say, that Walsh was a man. Except, that she wasn't a man. She was clearly raised and lived as a woma...

Everyone, it seems, has weighed in on the Centre Court sexism. But Wimbledon winner, 11-time Grand Slam singles champion, Serena Williams definitely got the last word (even if Dave Zirin wrote his column after Serena's win). Her shirt at the post-match press conference said it all. "Are you looking at my titles?" (You can see a pic of her wearing it at One Sport Voice .) It's appropriate given the attention women's bodies received this Wimbledon fortnight--not for their athletic ability but for their aesthetics. And especially appropriate for Serena Williams whose body is often the focus of attention [too muscular, too fat, too slow, too fragile (i.e. injury prone)]. This Wimbledon was the same for Serena. A columnist felt the need to talk about her butt--which he so cleverly (note the sarcasm) termed her "backpack." Jason Whitlock, writing for Fox Sports (which explains a lot) is overtly offensive in his treatment of the younger Williams. Example: Serio...

So this one time, in band camp...we learned naughty things to say to other teams during basketball games. And now Texas Christian University is in trouble . For the bad band's actions during the first round of the 2009 women's national tournament, the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee has reprimanded the university: The committee determined that members of the Texas Christian band made disparaging and inappropriate comments to both the game officials and student-athletes of a participating team during the first- and second-round games in Lubbock, Texas . No word on what the exact behavior was or the extent of the reprimand. I saw the TCU pep band a few years ago at the Hartford regional and nothing seemed amiss. I guess the band isn't allowed to trash talk the way the athletes are. Maybe band should be a sport , too. Some of the players certainly seem to have the attitude thing down.

Various bloggers over at Women Talk Sports have already mentioned this issue, so--having been scooped--I'm simply adding to the discourse. In a one step forward, two steps forward kind of way, Wimbledon has stopped putting Miss (or Mrs.) on the scoreboard. (Though the umpires still use the honorifics during matches.) But in a move that is so very high school, the Wimbledon powers-that-be have decided to schedule women's matches on the show courts based on looks . And everyone has noticed-- even ESPN where columnist LZ Granderson writes: Doing so [selling sex] might hurt some of the players' feelings, but it's not undermining the integrity of the sport. Court assignments don't affect the outcome of the match or tournament. Well sometimes court assignments do affect outcomes--I mean there is a reason court 2 (the former court 2 anyway) at Wimbledon was called "the graveyard of champions." OK so that's mostly superstition but don't think that tennis d...

Addressing the issue of cheerleading as sport, Inside Higher Ed this week published an article on the controversy entitled "But I'm an Athlete." It's a good piece but I giggled a little when I read the title and wondered how many Inside Higher Ed readers picked up on what--I'm assuming--is the play on that cheerleading/gay rehab satirical film But I'm a Cheerleader . If you haven't seen it--do. It's not really about cheerleading but about a camp to reform young homosexuals. The lead character gets sent there after an intervention during which her family and friends accuse her of being a lesbian. Her defense? "But I'm a cheerleader." The implication being that a cheerleader cannot be gay. And the suggestion/question of the IHE article: an athlete cannot be a cheerleader. There are probably a lot of things going on here. But this is what I take from it. Despite the athleticism involved in cheerleading these days, its status as a sport and ...

When the Sports Museum of America went bankrupt and failed to find a buyer, the donated memorabilia became contested property. One of the most notable donations was from Brandi Chastain--the sports bra she revealed (that created far too much controversy, I thought) after scoring the winning penalty kick in the 1999 World Cup gold medal match. At one time it appeared Chastain, and other donors, were going to have to pay $250 (plus shipping, of course!)for their items. But Chastain's lawyer did some wrangling and the bra is back with its original owner after spending some time--we think--in a NJ storage facility. Initially Chastain did not appear too concerned about her bra and there was talk about it going to the Soccer hall of Fame. But it is, after all, the 10th anniversary of that victory. And so the bra will be back on display this weekend at FC Gold Pride's (Chastain's current team) match against St Louis Athletica. No word on what it's next stop will be.