After Atalanta

I just thought I would put that out there. Many of the articles I have read and radio reports I have heard about this "protest delegation" state that President Obama is choosing to send openly out athletes including Billie Jean King and Brian Boitano. Cahow's name is frequently left off the list despite the fact that she has been an activist for gay rights and inclusionary practices and attitudes in sport. Boitano came out publicly a few weeks ago. Cahow, a hockey player, has been out and part of this conversation for years. I imagine the rationale some might offer to the erasure of Cahow in the media is because she is not nearly as well-known among the American public as King and Boitano. And this would be true. But this "truth" speaks to the ongoing issues with the visibility of women's sports, especially sports that are viewed as more masculine, like ice hockey. But Cahow's resume is impressive. When media reports of the delegation mention King and ...

...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.

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...

Stories about the lesbians being kicked out of professional sports games for smooching in the stands and "offending" nearby families with small children or being denied appearances on kiss cams always irk me. Do I personally want my face magnified on a screen so I can kiss my GF while thousands of people watch? Not so much. I even try to avoid sitting near groups of small children at games because the cameras always pan to them during dance breaks and best fan contests. But you know, visibility. And as problematic as some types of visibility are--and all that underlying liberalism--(yes, I am going to address Sports babel's comments about merchandising), if you want to gay kiss on the camera at a WNBA game, I think you should be able to. So this story was kind of cute. And notably--it happened in Canada. A woman proposed to her girlfriend on the ice during the intermission of an NFL game. And the fans cheered. Check out the video .(And thanks Dr. Pants for the story.)...

...there must be some sexism in the atmosphere. I think I perhaps knew something about scantily clad young women (note that they are always referred to as girls) on ice skates who come out during NHL games for various reasons. But I don't watch much professional hockey anymore opting to engage in slightly less cognitive dissonance by watching intercollegiate hockey. So I guess I chose not to think about how hockey--like so many other sports these days--is bringing out the babes to arouse the crowd--and shovel some ice chips. This article with accompanying video--which is mandatory viewing because the article so doesn't tell the whole story--is about the tryouts the Penguins held recently for the 2011-12 Ice Crew. Tell me--what do you envision when someone says ice crew in the context of professional hockey. I think mostly men--college age dudes and/or older guys with bellies--shuffling out on the ice in their black sneakers, khakis, and nylon team jackets during the period brea...

These pictures show the unbelievable amount of destruction and violence after Boston's Stanley Cup win over the Canucks.

I don't have too much to say over the conundrum in Buckeye Land. I do think OSU President Gee's comment about firing Tressel was telling. He said he hoped Tressel didn't dismiss him . This was disappointing from Gee given that he was responsible for eliminating Vanderbilt's athletic department (during his tenure as chancellor) and incorporating it into the Division of Student Life. This move drew both criticism and cheers--from then-NCAA president Myles Brand in fact. Guess things must be different at OSU. Still it's disappointing that Gee, who reined things in at Vanderbilt, seems more comfortable letting things get out of hand at OSU. Anyway, two anecdotes related to this situation. One, this past winter/spring in a new gym (for me) I frequently saw a 20-something guy lifting large amounts of weights and often sporting OSU football gear--t-shirts, shorts--all worn (i.e. not crisp and new). He clearly knew what he was doing in terms of form and routine. He also had...

Congrats to the women on the USA Hockey Team. They are now the reigning World Champions with a 3-2 victory over Canada. This article is from my hometown paper--the one I used to write for (briefly)--and focuses on local star Megan Duggan, a key player on the USNT who ended up fifth in scoring for the tournament. (She played at Wisconsin--we'll forgive her for that-- and helped the Badgers to another NCAA title last month. And she also won the Patty Kazmaier Award this year.) I didn't follow the tournament (held in Zurich) this year, but I am pretty darn excited for next year's tourney, which will be held in my favorite northern neighbor state Vermont. Maybe I'll do some live tweeting!

This weekend is the NCAA DI Women's Frozen Four. The tournament is in Erie, PA this year and features two fairly new teams: Boston College (which isn't that new anymore but certainly not a team with any kind of storied history) and Boston University--which has surprisingly risen to the top of the women's game in Hockey East rather quickly. (It surprised me anyway. But BU has benefitted greatly from some kind of trouble at University of New Hampshire that is causing key players to leave the program. Forward Jenn Wakefield transferred to BU after a stint with the Canadian national team and is now BU's leading scorer.) BC lost (but in a close game decided in the final minute of the third period) but BU is heading to the finals tomorrow to play perennial favorite Wisconsin. It's unfortunate that this tournament takes place the same weekend the women's DI b-ball tourney starts. But here is a good article about the tournament and some of its loyal fans.

I appreciate a thoughtful piece of student sport journalism once in while; something that doesn't say "Title IX is reverse discrimination and men are now the underrepresented sex." The latter sentiment was actually one I read in response to the news the University of Delaware was cutting its men's track program. Anyway, this piece is out of Boston University, which is currently the home of the number one hockey team in Hockey East. And it's not the men's team. The BU women's team is doing quite well this season. (Far better than my own UNH Wildcats. Sigh.) What's more impressive is that the women's team is new to the Hockey East scene. Not brand new. But less than 5-years old I believe. And they have zipped to the top of the contender list quite quickly. One might argue about depth in the women's game and it's true that other conferences have, in recent history, been stronger than Hockey East for the women, but the DI women are producing so...

Burlington, Vermont for the women's hockey world championships . I've never been because they always seem to be held in hard to get to places. Burlington is not especially traveller friendly either, unless you have the good fortune to live in western MA a mere 3 hours away. The Quebecois fans should be quite excited as well. Of course, Hartford, CT--one of the five finalists--would have been even closer, but I'll make it work. The University of Vermont will be the primary host with a secondary private rink in town also hosting games for the (now) 8-team tournament.

Well I'm all about NPR every morning, but this was a particularly good morning. Frank Deford's commentary focused on women's team sports versus individual sports. He discusses the way in which women's teams sports are (barely) tolerated and how those women who play with racquets or wear figure skates or put on a bathing suit are more revered in this culture. He has some interesting takes on this phenomenon: And it's not so simple as the old glass-ceiling analogy. No, it's more emotional: teams represent our city, our college. They represent us –– the old team spirit. So, for many gentlemen, having a team of girls representing us is too much to bear. And to be frank, female fans have themselves miserably failed their sisters; they've not yet come to support women's teams as men do their own athletes. But, he notes, the UConn women's basketball team is changing that. The Huskies force people –– men and women alike –– to at least think about women'...

Been in Canada this week--hence the lack of posts. (Always an excuse, I know!) Saw some very good tennis Tuesday at the Rogers Cup. (I've included a few photos below.) Last night at the hotel bar, where I was watching a most excellent match between Kim Clijsters and Bethanie Matteks-Sands but drinking an only so-so sidecar, I saw a commercial for the hockey hall of fame. No sound so I am not sure what the exact nature of the commercial was but I was pleased, pleased, pleased to note that two of the first three images flashed onscreen were of women. The first was Cammi Granato with the gold around her neck in Nagano and the third featured members from the Canadian women's team. Since I get accused of being a Debbie Downer so often, I just thought I would take this moment to point out the good that I do have the capacity to see. Enjoy the pics!

That's the Jeopardy version of the answer posed by MSNBC columnist Mike Celizic who asked " Why no buzz about UConn women's reign ?" UConn demolished the University of West Virginia last night. UWV stayed close throughout the first half and a little bit into the second, then I turned my head away for a minute or two and it was pretty much over. I kept the game on for background noise as I finished my dinner. Then I turned on a rerun of the season finale of Glee w which was still more interesting but shared one similarity with the game: I knew how both were going to end. The Big East tournament was pretty much in my backyard and I didn't go because I didn't want to see UConn demolish everyone in its path. (Well I almost went to see Rutgers play Saturday because C. Vivian is my favorite!--but I was tired and cranky.) Absolutely the lack of interest reflects the sexist culture we live in. And while there has been some media coverage of the streak most of it imp...

Thank you, Doug Speirs, for this .

I complained yesterday about the crap I had to "deal" with in the form of the criticism levied against women's hockey by the powers-that-be, namely Monsier Rogge who wants the women to improve the depth of their game or else face elimination from the Olympics. But it's not nearly as much crap as the members of the gold-winning Canadian women's team found themselves in the morning after. Because long after the crowd had dispersed the women went back on the ice with champagne and beer and cigars. There were, however, members of the press still in the arena. And thus there are now pictures . And the IOC is investigating. Given that they kicked Scotty Lago out of the games for behavior that occurred outside an Olympic venue, one would think things do not look good for the team. But it's also a tad more difficult to kick out a whole team, that happens to have a gold medal, and also is from the host country. Not that they should be kicked be out. (Lago's ousting...

Apologies to NBC Sports for lifting their headline " Rogge: Women's hockey must improve to stay ." But seriously. Last night's game was good. Yes, it's unfortunate that earlier games were lopsided. And I have to think that Melody Davis might be singing a different tune if she doesn't have a job because Rogge kicks women's hockey out of the games. But I am not blaming her for refusing to play down to save women's hockey. Because it is after all pretty counter intuitive. But I don't think he can do that. It flies in the face of any gender equity commitment--no matter which side of Rogge's mouth it's coming out of. And obviously I don't think he should do that. [I'm being deeply analytical this morning!] In the same breath Rogge is encouraging the NHL commissioner, in the battle of the white men who control sports, to allow the pros to compete in 2014. Are we seeing part of the problem here? The men's tournament is comprised of te...

Not my own--most of the time anyway. But all this neoliberal, neo-queer stuff is really confusing. Especially in the context of the Olympics. So according to Pat Griffin , the person I go to for such information, there are only 4 out athletes at these Winter Olympics (all women), plus Johnny Weir who sometimes epitomizes these neoliberal, neo-queer discussions for me. But four! That number is quite low. So we enter the "it's the 21st century and I don't need to be out; I am who I am" kind of discussion countered by the idea that that's just baloney (articulate, eh?) and queer people are making themselves more invisible in this age of increasing visibility and controversy over issues of sexuality. But this latter argument is hard to put on someone like Weir, who will not discuss his sexuality because it's "private" (though he has no problems with privacy when showing his ass on his Sundance Channel show) but is not at all subtle in his behaviors and c...

...from about an Olympic ice rink length away. I missed but definitely heard about Canada's 18-0 win over Slovakia. I saw the US's 12-1 win over China. I watched most of Canada's 10-1 win over Switzerland. And then I saw all the critiques . (And there were indeed more than three.) It is indeed worrisome given that the IOC nixed softball from the Olympic roster because of lack of international worthiness. (Though that seemed to become the official rationale there was all that curious wrangling that is alleged to have happened over whether baseball and softball were the same sport.) And if I were an elite female ski jumper right now seeing these scores, I would be miffed that the IOC hadn't even considered my sport because of alleged international shallowness. But the delve into Olympic hockey's history is important. The men's scores in the early years of the game--even worse. And the women's game needs to overcome even more: namely the sexism and intersecti...

I am sitting here watching the US women's hockey team cream China. It's 5-0 at the end of the first period and China has only had one shot on goal. Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero scored the first goal. It was a pretty offensive-looking move for a defense person (that's right, Cammi Granato--she's a woman!). She just skated right in and slipped it around the goalie down low. Anyway here's a profile of Ruggiero from the NYTimes that highlights her charity work over the year. And thankfully leaves out her stint on that Donald Trump show. Ruggiero was the intermission interview and I have to say she looked a lot like a softball player: lots of eye make-up. I mean mascara that you could see clumping. So she's wearing a helmet most of the time but she put on the eyeliner for the intermission interview?