After Atalanta

Here I go again, back to that slippery slope of sport: cheerleading. Is it sport? Is it--well not sport I guess? And yet again I refuse to fully take up the question here. But I do know that cheerleaders in World Team Tennis are wrong--just wrong. I had never seen cheerleaders at WTT events before--but I haven't watched a lot of WTT so it's possible I have just missed them--though they seem pretty hard to miss. Today's airing of the contest between the Houston Wranglers and the Newport Beach Breakers on OLN (anyone know why OLN is changing its name to Versus? Versus what?) included shots of Houston's cheerleaders. I thought the whole point of WTT was that the fans become cheerleaders of sorts--ringing cowbells, yelling, bopping to music between points, etc. WTT philosophy espouses fan involvement where the fan can eschew the usual decorum associated with professional tennis and just let loose--similar to fan behavior at other professional events Do we really need the ch...

Yes even sport merchandise catalogs warrant scrutiny on this blog. Not that I am seeking out these moments--they just find me. Such was the case this afternoon when I went to check my mail and found in the box a catalog that the former owner of my house receives. It's a biking catalog I had never heard of, Bike Nashbar. It contains everything for cycling--road and mountain--and had some pretty good deals, especially on shoes--not that I need another pair. Anyway as I was flipping through it casually I noticed that in the clothing and shoe sections all the women's merchandise had a little bitty corner of the page. So, for example where there were at least 10 options for men's shoes there were only 3 for women. Also of note, only the women's gear was labeled. So if it wasn't in the little women's box, we had to assume it was men's gear. This was very interesting to me as I thought about cyclists. Cycling is a male-dominated sport (see for example the Tour de F...

MFHP and I left the Gay Games this past Thursday. On our way out of town though we caught water polo--fascinating though very complicated to understand all the rules. And because basketball was right across the hall we went there too. There were several games going on including what seemed to be the feature match in the center of the gymnasium with young guys in intense competition. But on the other side of the gym I caught what I initially thought was a practice. But when I walked closer I saw that it was a three-on-three contest and all the participants were women over 60. And they were good and it was just as intense a contest as the young guys on center court. And MFHP and I started to cry thinking about the opportunities these women didn't have growing up as pre-Title IX athletes. I had thought I would have cried earlier in the Games--people warned us it would happen. But it hadn't and we thought we would leave without shedding a joyful tear. But these women did it for us....

Tonight is my last from the Gay Games. My favorite hockey player (MFHP) lost this evening and will not be playing in the medal rounds that begin tomorrow. That means we are heading back east tomorrow. But we had fun today anyway. After a productive trip to IKEA, we went to Navy Pier to watch volleyball. Initially we headed to North Beach to watch beach volleyball which was scheduled from 10-5 with today being the last day of play. But when we drove by at 2 it looked like people were clearing out. So we asked some lesbians (from whom there were many to choose) and they said it was all over. Bummer. So we went south to the pier and caught some team volleyball. And we ended up seeing an amazing match between a Chicago team and a Mexican team--who we qucikly adopted as our favorite. Upon initial observation of the players, I thought it would be a fun yet casual match; i.e. not especially skilled, though I never doubted the intensity or desire of the competitors. What I am trying to say not...

The heat has finally broken here in Chicago. There was a big storm last night and this morning around 10 when we went outside we were pleasantly surprised NOT to feel the air cling to us. This made our outing to women's soccer in Oak Park much more enjoyable. There was a nice breeze and sitting in the stands was not in the least bit miserable. Oh--the game was pretty good too. We went to support the Thunder Kittens from Madison and they beat a San Francisco team 5-1. Hopefully the Mad City Blades can score a win tonight too at the hockey venue. Yesterday was good too--besides the insane heat. We checked out flag football which was fascinating. Because the Gay Games accepts gays and straights (a fact all the articles in the Tribune mentions repeatedly) it was initially difficult to tell whether the teams were just here to compete in an event and may have had a few gay members (a la the rowing competition). But continued observation reveals that most of the members--if not all--are i...

So I am in Chicago at the Gay Games supporting my favorite hockey player but also doing some pre-dissertation research. We went to the opening ceremonies last night. They were good--very long and a lot of unnecessary interpretative dance (i.e. the GG were trying to be a little too much like the Olympics) and it was incredibly hot and humid. But it was cool to see a giant rainbow flag made by lights being held by queer athletes on the same field where "manly men" play football, grrr. Today we drove over an hour from where we are staying to Crystal Lake to see the rowing. Rowing only took place today and it was a very controversial event because the people of Crystal Lake were not too hot on a gaggle of queers invading their fair town. So we felt we should go to support the athletes and make our presence known. We have only ever been to one other regatta but we liked it so we were looking forward to it. Alas it was disappointing. First of all the event was supposed to start at ...

go to Amelie Mauresmo for a spectacular win at Wimbledon and to Annika Sorenstam for her US Open playoff win against Pat Hurst in Newport a few weeks ago. I have been packing and moving and unpacking and painting during some of the best events of the summer. But I did catch some of Mauresmo's win over a pouty Henin-Hardenne. It was a sweet victory especially given Henin-Hardenne's withdrawal in the championship match of the Australian Open. I thought Sorenstam's was equally spectacualr given that on the final day of play (which was 36 holes) there were at least 5 contenders going into the final three holes. Sorenstam missed a putt that should have gone in that would have given her the championship. But she came in strong the next day. Upcoming this summer is the US Open series. To watch for: 1. Will Serena Williams be back (that's the plan) and how well will she do after her "mental break"? 2. Will Venus Williams (who made it to the finals of the mixed at Wimb...

Before the start of Wimbledon Venus Williams wrote a column about the tournament's continuing practice of awarding the men and the women unequal prize money. Good for her, I thought to myself. But then I read it and was not as convinced it was such a valuable exercise. It was well-written and she made some good points. But I was surprised by her meritocracy argument which she personalized by discussing her own struggles and the work ethic of her father who conveyed to his daughters that hard work pays off. That Williams buys into the myth of meritocracy is disappointing to me. She must literally see how American systems (education, legal, etc.) work against some people (mainly racial and ethnic "minorities") and work for others (primarily white people). And most of the time it doesn't matter how much hard work one puts in. Williams does a disservice to everyone who has worked hard only to have the system descend and keep them down by extolling the value of hard work. ...

...I'm going to the Gay Games. That's the rationale of White Sox coach Ozzie Guillen who called journalist Jay Mariotti a fag last week, took a lot of flak for epithet, then issued a non-apology, received more flak and is now claiming he can't be homophobic because he plans on going to the Gay Games next month in Chicago. MLB has fined Guillen (an undisclosed amount) and is making him take sensitivity training classes. Come on--he's going to the Gay Games--can't that count as his sensitivity training? Some kind of transfer credits. I'm not a homophobe because I am going to the Gay Games is similar to the hackneyed rationale offered by white folks that "I'm not a racist; I have black friends." A problematic rationale in itself that refuses to see racism at the structural level or acknowledge and account for the invisible system of white privilege. To make it more analagous to Guillen's situation though that rationale would be given by someone wh...

Are there women playing Wimbledon this year? I see scores scrolling along the bottom and I saw Maria Sharapova interviewed this morning but I haven't seen any of them actually playing. Instead I get to watch the Nadal match that, despite being on grass, still took two hours to play 2 sets. It seems that ESPN is sticking with its French Open policy of staying with a match, no matter how lackluster, until the bitter end. And unfortunately all these matches feature men.

Last month I noted how a grunting black French man probably wouldn't sit so well with the Wimbledon traditionalists. Gael Monfils may not even have to utter a guttural syllable to irk some. (And I didn't see any coverage--if there was any--of his first round match to be able to calculate the decibel level.) 'Cause Monfils has undone the corn rows he was sporting at Roland Garros. So he has this great not-quite-an-afro going on. The only thing holding it all back from being completely "wild" is his Nike headband. James Blake is also sporting a Nike headband--blue--but it holds back nothing and seems like it might just create a very odd tan line. Of course Monfils lost in the first round. It doesn't look like he is playing doubles. The mixed draw isn't out yet, though. But it appears that any raised eyebrows Monfils may have garnered have past. So too those raised at the appearance of Svetlana Kuznetsova's first round opponent, Romina Oprandi have quiete...

Wimbledon started today. Well it tried to start anyway. Rain got the better of day one activities and no one was able to finish a match. So ESPN2 chose to air--when I flipped over anyway--last year's women's final between Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport. Williams is in this year's draw and got a decent seeding. But Davenport withdrew before the draw was even made as did Mary Pierce and Serena Williams. I hope today's airing of last year's final is not the last time we get to see Davenport who has been troubled--again--by injuries this year. I haven't ever really been a Pierce fan along the way--her personality is a bit off to me--but I think her perseverance over a decade of competition in this sport has been amazing. Her last few years of play have been especially impressive. And Serena Williams. Well again not so much a fan but I do have some empathy for all the crap the media has strewn at her over the years. Sure her family seems a little odd--but who...

Jenny Haigh, the soccer coach at Northwestern resigned the other day. Perhaps we should put resigned in quotes, though. She is leaving in the wake of the hazing incident. Or rather she is leaving in wake of the publicity that emerged when photos of the incident were found on the internet (posted by team members on a personal website). I was a little surprised by her resignation because--unlike the Duke lacrosse coach who seemed to know about and condone the behavior (pattern of behavior--not just the alleged rape)--Haigh likely had no specific knowledge of the event. I don't know the climate at Northwestern around athletics. All teams seem to have some kind of bonding events at the start of the season. This one crossed the line to hazing. Others have crossed that line as well. But there were no records of it. I am not diminishing the severity of hazing (see previous entry below) or that it is symptomatic of an attitude that collegiate student-athletes have certain immunities. But ...

I was in San Francisco this past weekend and went to a reception at the GLBT Historical Society and Archives. I actually kind of tagged along with friends with whom I was going out with afterwards but I am really glad I went. There was a new exhibit on the history of GLBT athletes and sporting events. (I stole this picture from the web site. I hope they don't mind. I am doing it for promotion rather than exploitation.) It was very well-done. There were lots of pictures and various installations. I was impressed given that the organization is primarily volunteer-based and in a very small space. The archives were amazing too. They have tons of stuff one could get totally sucked into--pictures, letters, flyers, signs. I hope to get back there for some research on the Gay Games. Anyway--if you're in the bay area check it out (it's about 2 blocks from the Montgomery BART station). And if you want to help preserve GLBT history (it was mentioned that often times the archives get d...

This was the post I started when I was at the airport late last week waiting for my flight to CA. But alas I am only finishing it now because there was no where in the whole city of Oakland that had free wi-fi and I was not going to pay $10/day for internet access at the hotal. So here it is: This story about student-athlete behavior came out a few weeks ago but I was busy watching and blogging about tennis, golf and softball. I mostly thought it was amusing--ok, yes somewhat serious--but somewhat missing the point as well. So some schools have mandated that their student athletes refrain from using Facebook or MySpace. OK sure--such rules impede naive SAs from posting incriminating photos of themselves hazing other team members a la the women's soccer team at Northwestern. But the rule misses two key points. The first is that--hello there appears to be rampant hazing going on and just because there may be a decline in a photographic record of the incidents doesn't mean this is...

Michelle Wie won her first major this weekend at the LPGA Championship. Oh wait--no it was Si Re Pak who won the tournament in a playoff against Karrie Webb, who herself won the first major of the year. Headline said Wie; article was correct in noting that it was 30-year old Pak, already qualified for the Hall of Fame, versus the teenager who hasn't won a major yet. What does this faux pas suggest? Perhaps on the most basic level it shows that there is a sloppy headline writer somewhere. But of course if I was happy with things on the most basic level I wouldn't bother to blog. Obviously I don't know what happened but it seems like one Asian golfer was all too easily confused for another. Wie of course is the headline grabber. Ask someone not familiar with golf to name a female golfer my guess is that either Wie or Annika Sorenstam are the top guesses. Pak, though just a few years ago was tearing up the LPGA. She, like Webb, have had some rough years. This, in part, is why...

I swore I had blogged about this last year but when I went back through my archives I realized I only started blogging in earnest in July 2005; after the McDonald's LPGA Championships were held. And I can't remember whether ESPN and/or one of the major networks actually showed the tournament last year. Regardless, this year it's ALL on The Golf Channel this year. I have been reminded of course that I am not even going to be near a television this weekend. But that is little consolation (especially since I am definitely here today). Frankly I was surprised that not even the final round would be on a more accessible network. I mean Annika is going for her 10th major and Michelle Wie is eager to prove she can win against women. With the crop of young women that have been in contention this year including Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel who have made good showings the past few weeks plus the folks you can never count out: Gulbis (hungry for a first major), Carrie Webb who appa...

I only checked in occasionally this morning to Gaels Monfils match against Djokovic. But whenever I did, I noticed that there was a lot of grunting going on. Grunting that seemed on the same decibel level as Sharapova (who was noticeably more quiet this year except maybe for that last match against Safina). It seemed to be coming mostly from Monfils side of the court. They're not going to like that at Wimbledon! A black Frenchman making lots of noise on the hallowed grounds? Oh the horror!

It was a weekend jam-packed with sports--well sports I am interested in anyway: softball, tennis, and women's golf. It was especially difficult this afternoon trying to channel switch between the three when they overlapped. The saddest moment of the weekend was Amelie Mauresmo's three-set loss to Vaidisova. Though Mauresmo was my sentimental favorite to win the French Open, I was not that surprised that she lost and to an up-and-coming teen. Didn't she lose to an -ova last year too? I just didn't see her making quick enough work of her early round opponents to carry her into the second week with enough mental and physical confidence. I don't know is going to show up at Wimbledon (Serena W. is out but Davenport?) but I think she will go farther there. The high of the weekend has to be Northwestern's amazing unbeaten streak at the WCWS. They took on #1 seed UCLA this afternoon who, coming out of the losers' bracket, had to win this game. NU held a 1-0 lead for...

The Women College World Series is this weekend--action began on Thursday and it was a great day of softball. But of course given that my team lost in the regionals several weeks ago, I am left figuring out who to root for. I have chosen Northwestern because 1) they're the only Big Ten team to make it through to the final weekend, 2) they had an amazing win over Alabama on Thursday, 3) I really like their coach, and 4) they have a very visible, positive team dynamic and oodles of unbridled enthusiasm. But there are other games to watch of course and because I come to softball fandom with a tennis fan mindset, I have to have a favorite--or at least a leaning--for all the games. Thursday's game between Texas and Arizona State was hard to pick though. Pretty much anything Texas makes me a little queasy and I am not--unlike everyone else--a Cat Osterman fan. I don't know why. I do like her better than Jenny Finch however, because I think she is a better pitcher. So I was ready t...