After Atalanta

Having lived in Red Sox Nation* for the greater portion of my life and never having an interest in professional baseball, I have to say, I'm not quite sure of the way this manifestation of fandom works. Now I don't live in dark cave nor am I visually impaired; I've seen the anti-Yankees stuff. The Yankees Suck t-shirts. The Calvin peeing on a Yankees cap car decal. I'm aware of the rivalry. I'm also aware of the generally high level of fanaticism among Boston/New England fans. But I was pretty shocked to see a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "A-Rod slaps balls". I wonder how he explained that to his young son who was shopping with him. "You see, son, slaps balls is a double entendre meant to convey the Alex Rodriguez likes playing with men's genitals which means he is gay, which makes him less of a man and thus less of a ball player even though he just set that record. Because all the people we don't like are gay. Even if they aren't, we c...

It's not an inaccurate characterization to describe me as a little bit cynical. I know it's a turnoff to some. I do have my hopeful moments, however, and I am not, despite recent opposing beliefs (can you tell I'm still not quite over this, yet?!) an extremely bitter, angry person. But I have to say when I read a column like this about Lebron James's teasing of the media, fans, and general public (hard to avoid this story if you have even a smidge of access to media) regarding where he will be playing next year (it's Miami, in case you missed it!), I do get a little more cynical about things. I couldn't care less about how and why James is making his announcement. Anyone who is shocked that there is so much hoopla about this one player...well, just shouldn't be. And now the backlash has begun about the prime time, ESPN hour-long announcement. And people are right to be critical and question aspects of this media extravaganza and ESPN's apparently enablin...

...and apparel and equipment and a lifestyle. It's the last part that seems a little off when we think about--or when Christine Brennan makes us think about--Nike continuing to sponsor Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisberger, and Kobe Bryant. Sure "image is everything" is Canon's slogan. (Of course it was famously spoken by one-time Nike client, Andre Agassi.) But clearly, as Brennan points out in a very good column* (and sometimes I think Brennan is a little too easy on certain aspects of sportocracy so I was pleased by this one) Nike does not think it's image will be harmed by continuing to be associated with these men. Conversely, Nike also sponsors out US soccer player Natasha Kai, so I guess their devotion to their stars cuts in many different directions. Former Women's Sport Foundation CEO Donna Lopiano felt that Nike's refusal to admonish their athletes sends a clear message to consumers about the image of the company (macho, edgy--Kai certainly fits the la...

...be keeping pressure on the NCAA to keep itself disentangled from Focus on the Family. As noted last week, the ads on NCAA.org have been removed but there is still the possibility that television ads will run during the men's NCAA tournament on CBS which has an advertising deal with Focus on the Family. Here's a video explaining the situation in greater detail. It also includes, at the end, how you can (and should!) contact the NCAA to voice your concern.

The the letter below is one I just sent to the NCAA who, if you have not heard, recently accepted banner ads from Focus on the Family. Thanks to the amazing work of Pat Griffin and other advocates who got the word of the offense out quickly, the NCAA has pulled the ads from the website. But there have been plans for CBS (you remember--they're the station that aired the Super Bowl with the infamous FoF Tim Tebow ad) to air more FoF ads during March Madness. There is no word, according to Griffin's blog, about the status of these ads. So I emailed the marketing and publicity department at the NCAA and told them 1) good job taking down the ads (I didn't bother to mention the mistake they made in accepting them in the first place) and 2) please don't run them during the tournament next month. You can do the same by emailing ( pmr@ncaa.org ) or calling (317-917-6762 )their public relations department. ------------------------------------------------------- I was quite please...

According the Title IX Blog, the University of Iowa athletic department is in trouble --again. Several years ago there was Pierre Pierce incident in which the star basketball player was accused of sexual assault against a female student-athlete. His coach, Steve Alford, came to his defense long before any evidence was in. Turns out the evidence did not quite exonerate Pierce who, regardless, got off lightly--to put it mildly. Not too long afterwards he was involved in another criminal offense and this time he was out. Now a couple of members of the football team have been accused of assault and harassment of a female student-athlete who was told not to come forward with her allegations because it would handled from within. Except that it wasn't, of course. The harassment continued despite assurances from football coach Kirk Ferentz and AD Gary Barta that things would be taken care of. I mentioned this case to someone not as familiar with athletic department culture who was incredul...

Lest you think Justin Gimelstob is an anomaly in his thoughts on women and female tennis players, think again. Diane at Women Who Serve posts on recent comments by Serbian Janko Tipsarevic (whose most recent claim to fame was his Wimbledon 2008 upset over Andy Roddick) which reveal his utter misogyny. And I am here to add these little discussed comments by ATP tour professional Dmitry Tursunov who feels that smashing a racket is like having rough sex. I was going to copy and paste the remainder of the comments but they're pretty violent and misogynist so you can read them for yourself here . In sum, Tursunov sees breaking a racket as similar to breaking a woman. And he only feels a little bit sorry about it when it's over. Lovely.

I thought I could just subtly overlook this story and let bloggers like Diane take care of it, but the story about Justin Gimelstob's sexist, misogynistic comments seems to making more news a week after it broke somewhat quietly across the pond. I didn't have anything profound to say when I read about Gimelstob's trashing of female tennis players generally, his sexualization of a few specific ones, and his violent comments toward Anna Kournikova (all his comments, in my mind, inflict a certain amount of violence, but his one about hitting Kournikova was most explicit). And I don't suppose I have anything especially profound to say about it now either. Am I surprised a male athlete who only had a so-so professional career by modern standards and has been given a mouthpiece by the media so easily dispenses with misogynist rants? Nope. Am I surprised that the apology he issued (or Tennis Warehouse issues--hard to tell) wasn't really an apology? Nope. Am I surprised th...

About a month ago I came across this curious post on the Golf Blog about the potential demise of women's golf when Annika Sorenstam leaves. I was shocked because I see the LPGA as having a lot of depth--granted I don't watch men's golf so I have little as a basis of comparison; but when I look at the rising young talent in golf, it reminds me of the viability of women's tennis which will go on now that Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, and seemingly Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati have left. And it will go on when marquee names like Serena and Venus Williams are no longer on the draws. Don't people generally like it when there is no one top contender? Isn't this past of the reason why men's tennis is losing its appeal? Roger Federer, as great as he is, has become a little too predictable--unless he's playing Nadal. I would think people--who aren't Sorenstam fans--would be happy she has slipped from the number one spot. I thought men--who seem to b...