LSU football trying out a female kicker

Several men in my life* have sent me word of a former female soccer player at LSU who is trying out to be a kicker on the football team.
Obviously this is not soooo out of the ordinary. Many people know of the story of Katie Hnida, who actually entered college with intentions of being a kicker on the football team. After a troubling (to put it mildly) time at Colorado, Hnida went to New Mexico where she became the first woman to put points on the scoreboard in a DI football game.
So Mo Isom is not going to have that "first" opportunity. But it seems that she has a lot more support than Hnida received (at least when she was at Colorado). LSU coach Les Miles is giving her a fair shot at a spot on the team. She has had access to LSU football staff as she goes through the tryout process.
What I find interesting is the reporting on the story.
This is the headline from one of the links I received. It is from The Advocate, which seems to be a local paper out of Baton Rouge.
LSU Homecoming Queen to try out for football team
Despite the headline, the article starts out with Isom's accomplishments on the soccer field. She was the team's goalkeeper and has been involved in national team development programs. Isom acknowledges that there may be some naysayers. And the comments sections of the above article supports that view. Several comments have been removed for violation of the site's commenting policies. But, reading other responses to said comments, it appears they were pretty misogynist and reactionary.
In short, despite the headline and some talk of her homecoming queen title, the article pretty much focuses on her athletic abilities and history as well as her personal history and overcoming physical challenges (she was in a traumatic car accident).
The second link I received was to a Yahoo sports column where the headline focuses on the coach:
Les Miles has 'no reservations' playing female kicker Mo Isom
Good that Isom's name is in the headline, at least. Obviously the reaction of the coach is huge in a situation like this--especially given Hnida's history with Gary Barnett. The photo accompanying the story is of her as homecoming queen rather than as a student-athlete. But the mention of her reign is later in the story--as it was in the previous link. Also included is an embedded You Tube video of Isom scoring a goal (in soccer) as a keeper from 90 yards out--a feat that earned her a lot of internet attention at the time.
The comments section has a range of responses. General sexism and misogyny and then some sexually violent responses about how she will last until the team hits the showers for the first time. Nice. Also comments on how letting a woman play would turn the SEC into a sissy conference.

I obviously have not read all the media coverage about this story. But what I saw was pretty decent. The comments, however, reveal what is at stake when the masculinity produced and enforced by football culture becomes a little less secure.




* Oh, I guess I do have men in my life! Still--please don't buy me sports memorabilia.

Where are they now: The LSU edition

Tonight the women of LSU (please find conspicuous the absence of the phrase Lady Tigers) will play against Louisville for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. It will likely be an uphill battle for LSU but it's been a pretty "upsetting" tourney so far so we shall see...
Former LSU superstar Sylvia Fowles will not be there to root on her alma mater. She's in Russia. Moscow specifically playing for Spartak along with UConn alums Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. Actually most of the stars of the WNBA (well not Parker because she's pregnant and on the cover of ESPN Magazine and all that) are overseas playing this time of year.
It's a good gig for most. Better than the one they have here playing for the WNBA. I've talked about this before. But the feature on Fowles reminded me just how lucrative it is there and how...well...not...it is here. (Note the irony--former communist country there, adamant capitalists here...) No one will say how much she is making playing for Spartak but rumors say something around $700,000. She makes $44,000 with the Chicago Sky just as a point of reference.
Also in Russia and with Spartak is Pokey Chatman. She is serving as an associate head coach. No word on how much she is making either. I do hope she is allowed someday to come out of exile and coach in the US.
What kind of bothered me (besides the obvious salary issue) is that Fowles is so blase about playing in Russia. She very purposely does not go out and experience the culture. It seems a big waste to live in such a great city as Moscow and not bother to check it out.


[h/t to JB for sending me the link]

Transfer fever?

As came up during the recent discussion of Elena Delle Donne's transfer from UConn, it's not as if this kind of thing hadn't happened before. And it certainly wasn't the last incident--even of the 2008-2009 season. LSU announced that first-year guard Crystal Riley will be granted a full release so she can pursue the sport at another university. Riley was not exactly a benchwarmer. She played in six games already this season.
Maybe some of my colleagues at Women's Hoops Blog can fill in some blanks??

What's up in women's hoops

Mechelle Voepel runs down who's who and what's what in college hoops this season, coaching changes mostly. So if you were in a coma last season and just awoke check out her column--smart and witty as usual--to find out who's out and who's in and who went overseas.
The latter refers to former LSU head coach Pokey Chatman who resigned right before her team went into the NCAA tournament due to allegations of improper conduct with a former player. Chatman settled her complaint with LSU for $160,000 which precludes her from further legal action. The settlement though does not seem to contain a gag order but that does not mean anyone is talking. Chatman isn't saying anything about the incident in question including denying it.
So she has been exiled to Russia where she will be coaching. Given the allegations, an overseas job was probably the only thing she could get right now. But will she be back? I want to say yes, but something in me says no--oh yeah, it's that rational, cynical side of me. Chatman was accused of, and has not denied, having a sexual relationship with a player. What school is going to let her coach again? It's already extremely difficult for women who are suspected of being gay to get coaching jobs and most of them are in the closet. Chatman has been outed and then she was ousted (or maybe she was ousted and then outed--hard to figure out the order). This is not to say that what she did was in any way acceptable. But she will pay more dearly for it than male coaches who seem to be able to rebound from allegations of sexual misconduct much more easily.
When I fight off my internal cynic I think that perhaps, just maybe, Chatman could get a job in the WNBA. I mean if Nancy Lieberman can do it, Chatman can. And Chatman, I am sure, would not be so careless as to sleep with a current player ever again (as Lieberman is alleged to have done--and when I use the word allegedly, I don't really mean it). I wonder if the new Atlanta franchise has a coach yet...
Still things won't be the same this season not being able to watch Chatman's dynamic coaching style. I doubt Van Chancellor, despite his successes, will be as entertaining or engender as much excitement.
Voepel's column also reports some good news on diversity in basketball coaching: three women of color have new positions as head coaches this year. Coquese Washington at Penn State, Tia Jackson at University of Washington, and Jolette Law at Illinois.
And Voepel has a nice little dig for former PSU coach Rene Portland who sold much of her Penn State gear at a yard sale before she hightailed it out of PA this past summer. Wonder if any of it ended up on Ebay. It's all tainted goods anyway.

[h/t to JB for sending me the column.]

DF (no kids) looking for coaching job--no lesbian tendencies

LSU announced a couple of weeks ago now that they had found a new head coach for the women's basketball team. They hired Van Chancellor, a former WNBA, Olympic, and intercollegiate coach. I did not blog about it then because all I had to say about it was this:
I am certainly not surprised LSU went with a male coach.* I am pleased that at least it is a coach who has substantial experience coaching women's basketball but I think LSU could have made a strong statement by hiring a woman and I worry about the repercussions the Chatman incident will have on other hiring decisions.
But I had nothing else of substance to say about the decision. The New York Times, however, has delved a little deeper. The article examines the decline of female head coaches and cites the big names in the sport sociology/sport management field who all, not surprisingly, agree that the fear of predatory lesbians is a huge factor in the lack of women head coaches in intercollegiate athletics. This is still despite the fact that there are far more incidents of abuse and misconduct by male coaches.
But the big problem--before an athlete even gets to a school--is recruiting, according the article. Negative recruiting, where coaches not so subtly let recruits know where, allegedly, the lesbians coach and play, is rampant. And athletes' families are also asking those questions about who is and who isn't and what the "policy" on homosexuals is.
UMinnesota professor Mary Jo Kane reported on a conversation she had with a female coach who said the best personal situation for a female coach is to be divorced (to affirm heterosexuality) and without kids (to be free to travel extensively).
The author also interviewed UConn head coach Geno Auriemma who said he doesn't think the Chatman situation will impede women coaches and points to people like Gail Goestenkors who just left Duke for Texas and Joanne McCallie who left Michigan State for Duke.
Not great examples if one considers that Goestenkors is divorced and McCallie is married with young children.

* Interestingly, Carla Berry, the assistant coach who alerted administrators to Chatman's misconduct, has resigned and it looks like will not be returning to coaching. Not sure who Chancellor will choose to replace her. An all-male coaching staff would certainly send the signal that LSU is trying to wash its hands of any remaining lesbian stigma, but might also come across as overkill.