After Atalanta

I ended yesterday's post with a line about female Olympians, who are the minority gender at the Winter Olympics, receiving a greater piece of spotlight. The caveat (in addition to the fact that it actually might not be true if one does a thorough content analysis of media coverage) is that the spotlight they are under highlights their sexuality, or rather their performance of their (hetero)sexuality/femininity. Obviously in most other arenas (pun intended) the spotlight on female athletes and women's sports is pretty dim. So much so that the media sometimes forgets altogether that women's sports exist. Because when "women" gets placed in front of "sports" it has some kind of cloaking effect, rendering women's sports invisible to the world. This phenomenon was on display last year when Andy Murray won Wimbledon, the first Brit to do so since Fred Perry in the 1930s. Except for Dorothy Round Little, Angela Mortimer Barrett, Ann Haydon-Jones, and Virg...

'Tis the season for year in review lists. Outsports compiled its own "gay sports year in review."  Year-end reviews can sometimes be cursory. But I was initially impressed by the lesser known and/or remembered stories writer Jim Buzinski mentioned in the piece including a gay male high school basketball coach who came out to his team and received tremendous support. But when I reached the end I asked (out loud to the empty room), did they not include Brittney Griner? So I did a page search for "griner" to compensate for any poor reading skills on my part. Nothing. It was not just that Griner came out, or rather stated publicly that she was gay; one of the biggest parts of the story was the way in which she was, as a player at Baylor, compelled to not discuss her sexuality even after telling her recruiters that she was gay when she was just in high school. To leave this story off the list is unacceptable whether on purpose or oversight. ( Another list , also ...

...for the Scoreboard for Equality Tumblr, but it is awesome. Thank you thank you thank you to whomever is compiling all this data. We in the world of sport and gender studies are grateful. UPDATE: It's done by a woman named Molly Arenberg. You can follow her on Twitter too: @Molly_Arenberg

Last week several people told me I must listen to Frank Deford's weekly piece on NPR's Morning Edition. I finally listened to it this morning. I have not read any other opinions about it--or even looked to see if they exist. I have seen many opinions, however, on the hot new non-fiction book, Lean In , by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. I have not read the book yet. I am on the Kindle wait list at my library. I don't really want to read it. I am a little irked by the whole thing. Sandberg is pretty darned privileged. She owns $1 billion of FB stock . She is white, married to a man, and a mother of two. Who is she appealing to? I have heard the thoughts about the book and its message from non-white, non-middle-class, non-married women and they all offer legitimate criticisms. But I shall wait until I actually read it before launching into a full-scale critique. But since I have heard Deford's piece, I won't hold back. I have heard this rant before. It came from Nanc...

I remember a couple of years ago I was a regular reader of a fellow grad student's blog. When she got down to writing her dissertation, she took a blog hiatus. I thought then "well, come on. You must have time to blog even if you are writing your dissertation." Ok, so I get it now. Diss writing is in the (knock on wood) final stages, so blog writing--as you may have noticed--has become sporadic, at best. But I was recently encouraged by DrSportPsych to blog about the recent emergence at ESPN.com of a bracket to determine the best athlete EVER. We can start with the obvious: there are no women in the running. Perhaps ESPN is waiting until a month from now when we are in the midst of Women's History Month to bring out their women's bracket so they continue to tell us how much they value and respect women's sports and female athletes. But if they do I surmise it will be as compensation for this quite obvious absence. There is nothing on the page that notes...

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 ...

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.

I was getting ready for my day Tuesday morning and multitasking. I wanted to find out the score of the Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova match because I had fallen asleep Monday night in the second set. So I turned on ESPN. And while I was waiting I heard Stuart Scott issue an opinion on the Peyton Manning injury story and whether Manning would play Sunday. But he hedged his bets when he remarked "but what do I know? I'm wearing makeup." Because apparently makeup has some kind of mystical effect in which the wearer lacks sports knowledge. Now, who else wears makeup? Hmmm... Seriously. What a ridiculous statement. [In case you were wondering, Wozniacki won. I had to go look on the internet, because I shut off the television in disgust--and rushed to an appointment. ]

Finally got to watch the Brazil v. US match this morning. I knew the general outcome because the second I got back across the border (from Canada) and had my data plan back, I checked Facebook. I also got the hint that it was a dramatic game, though I refused to check for a score or details. Even knowing the outcome, it was a pretty enthralling game. So here are my thoughts (in case you were wondering): 1. When you watch a recorded soccer match and fast forward through some of it in the interest of time and getting on with your work day, the ball looks like a ping-pong ball, which just makes you appreciate the distance it travels and the abilities of the players to control it. 2. Abby Wambach: still super cute and now with some goals under her cleats. (Because those uniforms don't have belts--thankfully. Though I'm not sure it would make them any worse.) 3. And speaking of Wambach...the Girlfriend noted this morning "that those short-haired girls are making things really i...

I'm an overworked blogger (how that happened on my first official week of summer break is curious) so I am largely re-telling what the Women's Sports Foundation said to some if its constituents this morning: the Washington Post assumes too much. WaPo published a a feature on the status of youth soccer in the US and the debate over whether future national team and professional stars in the MLS should be playing high school soccer and be playing in academies. It's an interesting debate. In case you care, I am for high school sports. The whole full-time, one-sport training thing is a little much as evidenced by the plethora of disappointed former teen tennis players and their parents or even by the successful ones like Andre Agassi. But that's not the point. The point is that in an article about youth soccer, one would think we would read about all of youth soccer. But no. This is about boys' youth soccer--exclusively. And it does not acknowledge the huge youth soccer ...

Pretty interesting interview with Kathryn Bertine over at the Huffington Post the other day. Bertine is a senior editor at espnW and is trying to qualify for the Olympic Games and has written a book about her attempt to qualify in 2008. ESPN sponsored her quest to do so, but she didn't make it for those games. So she's at it again looking to be a cyclist in London in 2012. Here's what impressed me: her clear recognition of the skewed treatment of female athletes with sport itself and, of course, the media coverage. She gives the example of the lack of prize money in women's cycling, but notes that so few cyclists will speak up because of fear of alienating sponsors. Because there's nothing worse, we know, than an athlete who speaks her/his mind. And it's especially bad if that athlete is a woman who is complaining. I mean, she could be a feminist. Horrors! So Bertine, being the only cyclist from Saint Kitts and Nevis (she got dual citizenship as part of her qual...

Dr. Pants told me about the new Acura commercial a few weeks ago and Sean from at sportsBabel sent me the link last week. Apparently, I need to blog about this one. The commercial features Canadian skier Ashleigh McGivor. Let's strip the athlete down and then put her in some fancy heels and a black dress. I mean I get the Acura campaign; sporty sexy is hot. But sexy seems to be covering up sporty here. The car, like the athlete, cleans up well. But the car, unlike the athlete, can perform and be just as sporty in its new polished form. And the tagline: Aggression in its most elegant form. Well, when you apply it to people who are not supposed to be as aggressive or have to apologize for and hide their aggression by putting on fancy clothes. Well...problematic. And the same applies to the other version of the commercial featuring Calvin Johnson, an African-American football player. Hide the black man's aggression when you put the snazzy suit on him--and literally the suit is pu...

What do you get when you stay up late watching Cartoon Network as you try to unwind from a late-night class? You get to see a Red Bull commercial featuring Ashley Fiolek , on her motor bike (i.e. in action--not posing) and signing! Fiolek has garnered attention for being a woman in the historically male world of motocross and for being hearing impaired. I am now impressed by both Fiolek and Red Bull (though I still won't drink the stuff). Glad to have found this commercial because I will soon be blogging about a not-so-good one featuring a female athlete. Stay tuned!

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...

Even I'm impressed by the luscious greens and landscaping at Augusta National. But it's almost too lush--and I don't even have HD. What is it hiding? What are they prettying up? Well it's all hiding a heck of a lot of chemicals, I would bet. And then there is the lovely history of discrimination against African Americans and the ongoing discrimination against women. Somewhat old news. The new news: a female reporter was not allowed into the locker room to do interviews. Haven't we dealt with this issue already--repeatedly? Apparently it was a mistake. Security thought women weren't allowed in and so they banned Sullivan. Luckily the reporter's male colleagues shared their transcripts of interviews they did with Rory McIllroy in the locker room. And in other unofficial creepiness...what was up with all the love for Tiger Woods? How quickly we all forget, eh?

Good news, my local NPR affiliate did mention the women's tournament, specifically the semifinal games that were played last night in Indiana, this morning. But that's likely because I live near the Connecticut border and thus Husky fans are in the listening area. In other words, it's local news. But I was surprised that the little blip on the nationally syndicated Morning Edition about what is happening tonight (the men's final: UConn versus Butler) didn't lead into something about the two amazing games that happened last night. Le sigh. At least Christine Brennan tweeted, during the games, about the perpetuation of the Lady nickname, even though no Lady teams were present. I'm kind of stream of consciousing here but I'm almost done. I really have enjoyed getting to "know" Gary Blair, Texas A&M's head coach. What I have heard about and from him I like. The keeping calm technique during time outs. His demeanor during practices seems very c...

When Christine Brennan starts getting a little peeved about the state of women's sports...well then you know things are bad. While I appreciate Brennan's presence in sports media, I often find her a little too happy-happy/cheery-cheery. And I know that she didn't ask to be the spokesperson for women in media, but since she is invited to speak all over the place about issues of women in sports media and women in sports, well, I sometimes expect a little more than her (neo?) liberal speeches. But in her column this week , she's not really holding back. Well, probably a little bit. She brings out her inner snarkiness when she talks about that "other" tournament going on right now--the women's tournament. How despite the fact that the quality is at an all-time high, even less attention is being paid to it. She discusses the ubiquitous one-bracket-only pools most people and organizations--including her own USA Today-- run. Alas, I don't agree with her final...

...and ESPN has slapped me down two times already. First, when I received my invitation to participate in a pool through ESPN's Tournament Challenge Website, I got two invites. (Because my pool organizer mandates that those participating in her pool do both the men's and women's brackets.) First invite: (Host name) is Challenging You to Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com. Second invite: (Host name) is Challenging You to Women's Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com. Le sigh. ESPN had being doing so (relatively) well. They changed the ticker to NCAAW and NCAAM. And then it was suggested to me that I download the ESPN bracket app on my iPhone, which I did as I was watching the women's selection show tonight. But there is only one bracket there! And only news about the men's tournament! Is there a separate app for the women's tournament? I haven't found it. Don't forget--it's women's history month. ESPN loves to roll out stats about how women-friendly ...

Just to make sure I wasn't about to needlessly criticize Frank Deford after hearing his segment on Morning Edition an hour ago, I went to the website to look at the copy . But I was right. Deford commits that most common and egregious of errors: referring to the game of college basketball when he really means men's collegiate basketball. College basketball has been, he says, ho-hum this season, with no dominant team and not star player (except for "novelty" of the white BYU standout--is he being racist or chastising those who are? so hard to tell with Deford). Um, well I think collegiate basketball has been pretty interesting this season. The dominant UConn has retained its dominance with other teams nipping at Connecticut's (Achilles) heels. Baylor, Stanford, who beat them early in the season, Notre Dame put up a good fight last night too. Maya Moore remains an outstanding player. Britney Griner of Baylor has had a great season as well. The Big 12 has been a hotb...

So because I usually give ESPN a hard time about...well everything, I thought I would give them a shout out for the little piece that aired during tonight's coverage (on ESPN2) of the Baylor v. Oklahoma game. There were interviews with a couple of NBA players (I don't remember who because I have next to no familiarity with current NBAers) who talked about how they tune in to watch Baylor's Brittney Griner play. One of them sets a DVR alert to make sure he doesn't miss it. They think she is exciting and talented. One even said she should come play for the NBA when she's done at Baylor. She can dunk; she can rebound; she can knock balls down like no one else in the college game. And she scores points too! I thought this was especially appropriate given that the Women Talk Sports network published a question on their Facebook page today: Agree or disagree: "People don't watch women's sports because they aren't as exciting as men's sports." It ...