After Atalanta

 Watching the semi-final between Mirra Andreeva and Marta Kostyuk, I am struck by how they both have women coaches to whom they are not related (i.e., their mothers are not coaching them, though Kostyuk's mother was her coach until 2022). I wonder how often this happens? From my fairly faithful watching of tennis, I would guess not often. But I have not run the numbers. I am also watching the Women's College World Series the final of which pits Texas against Texas Tech. I am not rooting for either team (I am just in it for the softball which has been good. I stopped having a favorite when UCLA was eliminated.) Both those teams feature men coaches. And no one talks about this, that I have heard anyway. (I am less faithful watcher of DI softball until regionals come around every May.) I know Texas coach Mike White is a former softball player, so at least he has played the game at a high level.  And then there are the ongoing conversations in the WNBA this season about the behavi...

 I started this post on the plane ride back from a conference in CA in November. Conferences always gave me a spurt of writing energy. But the end of the fall 2024 semester got in the way of its completion and transcription (it was easier to pull out a notebook rather than my laptop on the plane). It is still relevant and so... I have been wondering if the (University of) Iowa women's basketball t-shirt (and sweatshirt) I wore last year now after the end of that 2023-24 run to the final four and the subsequent 2024 WNBA season. Last year, an observer might have wondered if I was a bandwagon fan, i.e., experiencing the Caitlin Clark effect. I am an Iowa alum (PhD 2013). with a complicated relationship to Iowa athletics (see the myriad of Title IX issues, racism within programs, incompetent and violent coaching, etc.) And though I have watched women's college basketball for some time, it's mostly because I want to support women's sports. I understand very little about str...

Hey, the WNBA draft was on Monday. In an uncharacteristic move, I turned on the television in the middle of the day, and it just it happened to be on ESPN anyway and there it was--the draft. Otherwise, I would have had no idea. I mean, I knew it was coming, but I don't pay all that much attention to the WNBA so it was not high on my list of thing to tune in to. But I am glad I did. I didn't know anything about Australian Liz Cambage (love the way her last name rolls off the tongue). I think she is, as I tweeted, going to be an interesting addition to the league. And when Brittney Griner goes pro in a couple of years--two 6'8 players! But will we watch? Shannon Owens writes about the troubling phenonmenon of collegiate stars fading into the shadows when they get to the WNBA--not because they are performing badly, but because the WNBA itself remains in the shadows of other professional sports. Owens's column focuses on Maya Moore, the number one draft pick on Monday but s...

Almost passed over yet another article about the bad economy and the effects on women's sports. You know, the one that invokes almost immediately the folding of the Houston Comets and the shaky pitch the WPS finds itself on. Though much later in the article it is noted that the WPS needed to average 4,000 attendees per game to remain sustainable and in the first weeks of the season is averaging 6,000. It is the LPGA actually that seems to be hit the hardest among women's sports and that is probably because they appeal to a different clientele. The hope among other women's sports is that the low cost of attending a game, tournament, or competition will draw people who are no longer willing to spend well over $100 for a family of 4 to attend a baseball game. The LPGA does not have those same advantages. And professional golf has always relied on high-end sponsorship because it is said to appeal to higher end customers--hence sponsorships by Rolex, Cadillac, etc. But in tough ...

Today at 3pm. Megan at Because I Played Sports (see blogroll to your left) is blogging from the draft and probably Twittering (tweeting?) too if you're looking for some live action.

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 Spart...

Perhaps yesterday I should have noted that all the sponsorship dollars being subsidized by tax payer dollars are going to men's sports. The companies who had various forms of sponsorship with the Houston Comets are off the hook. The franchise has folded in the midst of looking for new ownership. But no one would spend the money, it seems. Women's Hoops Blog has some coverage of the Comets' exit from the WNBA. And Mechelle Voepel has a very good column about how this does NOT mean the WNBA is in trouble. Read them both for a more intelligent analysis of money and women's sports than I could possibly offer.

Things are getting exciting if you're a fan of women's soccer. Women's Professional Soccer announced yesterday which national teams are heading where in 2009 when the league launches. I was surprised to see Kristine Lilly on the Boston Breakers roster. That's her former team, of course, but I had thought she might be hanging up the cleats. Guess not. Fine with me. I'll be there to see her and Angela Hucles and Heather Mitts. Wonder if Bri Scurry will be back in goal for Boston??? Abby Wambach is headed back to the Washington Freedom. I was kind of surprised by this. I thought she might be going to the NY/NJ team as she is from NY (Rochester though--not the city). That team though will not be hurting for star power though with Olympic standout Natasha Kai along with Heather O'Reilly and veteran Christie Rampone. Article linked above says Wambach is in rehab right now trying to gain back the 15-20 pounds of muscle she lost post surgery. Yikes! Abby, if you need a ...

Today marks the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beiijing. Bring on the excessive national pride and the blind faith in some kind of pure version of sport that the Olympics allegedly represents. Such cynicism, I know. But frankly, I am feeling kind of cynical about these Olympics. There's the immense political controversy over the host, there's the apolitical reaction by most athletes, in part, I believe, because of their need to believe in some pure version of sport that has been peddled to most Americans much of our lives. And then there is the problem of losing some of that blissful ignorance the more you begin to find out about what really happens within the IOC and other sport governing bodies. I don't want to rant or moan about some of the systemic and institutional problems, though. (Well I do but that would take a lot of time.) I do want to expand on a controversy I wrote about earlier this week: American "traitors." Seems like China's softball c...

I have been putting it off; my thoughts on the fight between the Shock and the Sparks last week. (In my defense I was getting ready to and then riding 100 miles on the coast of Maine.) I missed the fight live. I actually saw the first little scuffle that Lisa Leslie stopped by grabbing hold of Candace Parker at the other end of the court, thought "bet that will get some media play of the girls-can-fight variety" and then switched the channel. Oops. Guess I should have stuck around a few more minutes. Not that I haven't been able to see multiple angles of the event at You Tube. So first, the brawl itself. Whose fault? Does it really matter? Some kind of version of "equal" suspensions and were levied by the WNBA. Detroit's assistant coach Rick Mahorn received a two-game suspension. Most are saying that he certainly didn't mean to push Lisa Leslie hard enough to knock her to the ground or that maybe Leslie was already off balance so that Mahorn's light ...

Doubtful. If it's aim is really to draw in male fans by pointing out to them how stupid their own comments on the women's game are (like there's no action, the league is stale, women are not physical enough, etc.) my suggestion is to try again. Not that all the reasons why men don't watch women's basketball are not completely ridiculous. They are. But getting the WNBA's stars to verbalize them in the new ad campaign , called Think Great, probably isn't going to make many men--or many people who are not already fans--stop and say "gee, they're right. Women can take charges and play a physical and exciting game." Some of us already think women's basketball is great. And those who do not are not likely to be convinced. The ads themselves do not especially bother me. I think they should have more action shots in them. I think when a player says "women can't take a charge" the ad should cut immediately to a player taking a charge. ...

Picture the scene: group of female athletes, rookies, playing a sport joining a league that is trying to gain some credibility in the male-dominated world of sport and sport spectatorship. Learning how to apply make-up. How to dress appropriately. Comport oneself. Sounds like a scene description from A League of their Own . But no, it's WNBA rookie camp . So much for Candace Parker's belief that though this is important now, "as time goes on looks will become less and less important." I think it's time, again, to question exactly what progress is, and what we have given up, sacrificed, compromised in the name of simply having women's sports in existence. I am glad there is a WNBA; I am glad more and more women participate in the Olympics in more and more events (though still not in the same numbers as men nor with access to the same sports as we have seen in the battle over ski jumping). I am so psyched women's professional soccer is coming back. But this ...

OK, so the NCAA championship game was two weeks ago. I really meant to finish this post that week. It just didn't happen. So here it is. Hopefully still somewhat valuable and/or interesting. -------------------------------- It's a good thing the food was good at my championship party Tuesday night because the game was just so-so. This does not mean there is no parity in the women's game or that the tournament as a whole was boring. The coverage before, during, and after was littered with "they're not quite there yet" sentiments or, conversely, "they're there and now they have to deal with all the evils of success" type comments. This article from the Tampa Tribune falls into the latter category. Signs that women's basketball as made it? The "feud" between Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma, recruiting violations, cheating scandals, exorbitant coaches' salaries. What a lovely view to take of the sport. How about sellout crowds? How a...

Columnist Marcia Smith, who writes for the OC Register, may get this week's Debbie Downer award for her piece on the regression of women's sports. She bemoans the lack of attention (unless it's bad a la Marion Jones) female athletes are getting, the relative obscurity they are competing in--including American Paula Creamer, second on the LPGA money list, the lack of women's professional teams, and their overall "niche status." It may not be very positive, but Smith is not entirely wrong. I have spent much of February reading about the hundreds of celebrations of women and girls in sports. Last year there was considerable coverage of the 35th anniversary of Title IX. Celebrating is good. Some of the events geared towards getting girls active and interested early are great. But Smith is right when she references the glass ceiling in women's sports. That Candace Parker, who in in her last season at Tennessee, will get less press, less television coverage whe...

There have been a barrage of Think Pink events coming across my email (more on that tomorrow) so I have not been paying all that much attention. So that's why I kind of overlooked the press release I received about the 11th annual celebration of Women's Sports Day at St. Johns University.* That is until I saw who was the keynote speaker: Lisa Leslie-Lockwood. Wait, who is this Leslie-Lockwood? I honestly thought there was someone out there--not the WNBA star--who was named Lisa Leslie-Lockwood. Because I know who Lisa Leslie is. I hope most people do. But in case you don't, the press release provides this description: Lisa Leslie-Lockwood, a WNBA all-star known for championing women's issues, will mark Women in Sports Day at St. John's with a presentation on the importance of early screening and detection. Obviously one of those women's issues is not the importance of challenging historic constructions and present-day manifestations of women as the property of m...

This is the question asked by LA Times columnist Kurt Streeter this past weekend. Before I go any further, I have to say I don't have an answer. Streeter doesn't really have one either so I don't feel that bad. My first question from the column, though, is: does the WNBA need "saving"? We can trot out dismal statistics about attendance and television viewership but all those things do is put the responsibility firmly on the WNBA--and sometimes a little bit on the NBA--for failing to make the league popular. But the WNBA, over ten years ago, was established in a culture that 1) is not lacking in the number of professional sports; and 2) is pretty sexist and misogynist--especially when it comes to sports. Professional sport seasons seem to get longer and longer and no one is benefiting. Does the NHL really need to be playing in in April--especially given the downturn in popularity post-strike? When the WNBA began, the decision was made to have the women play in the...

1. There must have been a rerun of The Family Guy episode in which Peter disses the WNBA relying on sexist and homophobic stereotypes. There have been a lot of hits looking for "WNBA Family Guy." If it is really as harmless as some of the commenters on the original post suggested, I don't think people would be looking for blog commentary on it. 2. There have also been a lot of searches about the Tonka "boys are built differently" ad campaign. I actually have not seen the ads of late because the little television I get to watch these days does not seem to be aimed a toy truck-buying market. But I hope every parent that sees those commercials is outraged. It seems that a feminist forum on a My Space page has linked here as evidence that others are perturbed by the blatant essentialism in Tonka's ad campaign. 3. Have I missed a big story about women's wrestling or race and gender in wrestling? There are a lot of searches for women's wrestling or black ...

Here's a Q&A with Ron Terwilliger , the owner of the new WNBA franchise in Atlanta on how the team came about, why Atlanta is a good spot for an expansion team, and how it will get up and running so quickly. One little bitty concern I have: Terwilliger said--as part of his answer as to why he wanted to do this--"I've watched some women's basketball on TV..." [emphasis mine] Some? Uh-oh. I realize team ownership is a business but it would be nice if the owner actually came into it a fan already. That said, Terwilliger does see the WNBA as a successful league already but one that needs to mature. And he wouldn't undertake this business venture, I would think, if he did not have confidence in not just his team's, but the league's, success.

Atlanta will be home to the newest WNBA franchise . Beginning in 2008 Atlanta will become only the 6th independently owned franchise. No decisions on name, logo, colors or where the games will be held. Women's Hoops Blog has a link to the press conference announcing the new team.

The Chicago Tribune has a feature on the Chicago Sky* and the WNBA generally, the specific angle being how the Sky exemplifies the uniqueness of the WNBA, as compared to the NBA, of course. I was going to let this article go unexamined even after reading Sky player and WNBA veteran Chasity Melvin's comments that "women are just different than men. We're more sensitive, we're more emotional." But not to fear, Melvin says, they are still very competitive. So much for Nike's ATHLETE campaign that attempts (also problematically) to erase difference between male and female athletes. The athletes themselves are touting the difference--in a classic liberalism, Mary Wollstonecraft kind of way. Even though I found Melvin's comments irksome and essentialist I wasn't sure I was up for blogging about it--until I read rookie Armintie Price's take on promoting the WNBA, which, according the writer of the piece offsets all that competitive mentality and is a ...