Women's Sports Blog

More Holiday Tales

Joe Posnanski is the Mechelle Voepel of men's sports journalism, probably the highest accolade I can bestow (and oddly both of them cover Kansas City).  In this post, he uses the release of the new Strat-o-Matic Negro Leagues set as the background to a meditation on history and memory. 

Holiday Hero: Charde Houston

Houston, who was homeless for awhile in her youth, steps up to the plate for a young San Antonian who has lost her mother to violence. 

Horses Are Athletes

Re: the tempest in a teapot involving the selection of Zenyatta to the athlete of the year list (the mare was second, and filly Rachel Alexandra was seventh), the double standard seems to be the most important hang-up to address.  If horses are considered worthy competition only in the case of female athletes, or if it it's clear that a human women did better and yet was being passed up for the slot that went to the horse, then this would be cause for outrage.  However horses have made the list for male athletes in the past, and these horses truly electrified the sports world in the way few other competitors, male or female, did this year.  Zenyatta competed, worked hard, and deserves the credit. 

Oddly enough, Serena Williams' selection was almost as controversial as that of the horses.  The end of her year was certainly ignominious, but look at all the 'athlete of the decade' nods Tiger Woods is receiving, and he hasn't even really dealt with his idiocy yet.  She paid the piper and had a fantastic season that should be acknowledged. 

102 Wins

Is Penn State volleyball the greatest Div I women's sports team ever?  

For further discussion, an American winter league team signed a 17-year-old Japanese woman to pitch for them.  Is this a gimmick or the start of something big?

I am at a work function for the next few days so posting may be sporadic.  

Race A Factor In Slumping UConn Ticket Sales?

I know someone on the WTS network has blogged this already, but wow.  Gutsy call from DiMauro, asserting that some UConn fans like their stars white.  Damn shame, because the team could go undefeated again this year and Maya Moore is a phenomenon, but who said prejudice is rational?   Another reason to be glad Della Donne chose Delaware and the true colors of some of these 'fans' were revealed. 

Hockey WNT To Be Announced Today

At the Mall of America.  Nothing says hockey like Best Buy.  The nats surely need to get some things settled because they were handled by the Canadians in the last match-up and the situation is starting to look serious. 

FC Gold Pride Moved So Fans Could *Drink*?

Really, they moved in large part because the Earthquakes were pricing them out of Buck Shaw.  But instead of admitting this and then looking for the bright side, they sent out an email that made it seem like the choice was entirely voluntary (if so, why not wait until the new stadium is finished instead of playing the first few games at a high school?).  CSU East Bay is building a soccer-specific park and that's great, but the email highlighted some annoying 'reasons' that the new stadium is preferable, including more parking/tailgating space (so crucial in these days when we should use our cars more than ever, right?) and the ability to drink beer in the stands.  Apparently certain vocal fans had been referring to Buck Shaw as 'beer jail,' as if living without a drink for two hours was a major burden (and more alcohol will fit so nicely with the expanded driving opportunities).  Speaking for myself, it was nice to attend a pro athletic event without worrying that someone was going to spill a beer on me.  It was also a marketing plus since it created a family atmosphere devoid of drunk, belligerent jerks. Also, since when is the East Bay the 'heartland' of the Bay Area?  It's not Nebraska.  It's just Hayward. 

Ugly Basketball Contest Held At Maples

Remember the inaugural WNBA game?  This was worse.  Duke has a right to complain about getting called for fouls every time one of their players ran into a Stanford elbow, but they also couldn't sink a shot with both hands (23.7 percent in the first half).  Both teams dropped the ball like it was hot, with the crowning moment coming when Duke had cut the lead to eight and was headed back down the floor, when a pass hit the unprepared post player in the back of the head. It was typical of this game that the Duke player who performed best, Karima Christmas (what a great name), was also assessed an intentional foul. 

Fashion from the beginning and end of life was displayed among the Duke coaching staff, with Al Brown sporting a pastel sweater suitable for the bassinet while Joanne McCallie went with an all black ensemble.

It's worth mentioning  that McCallie gets to pose with with her family on the Duke website, a seemingly simple decision not afforded to many coaches in college basketball. 

Mizzou, Woods, And The Real World

Voepel on the Missouri allegations: 

We’re seeing this, of course, in the coverage of Tiger Woods’ troubles, and the allegations that his wife may have attacked him. When a man is physically violent toward a woman, we’re outraged and horrified. But when it’s a woman allegedly doing it to a man, too often it’s treated like it’s somehow “comical.” Which we all know is wrong … but look no further than the recent “Saturday Night Live” skit about Woods to see how pervasive that mindset is. Honestly, I have to remind myself about this all the time.

I only wish that she were right that we, as a culture, were always "outraged and horrified," about men's violence against women. But the truth is that for many, the first thought is 'what did she do to deserve it' or 'why didn't she leave' or some other victim-blaming.  The MRAs are also going to jump on these two stories to fabricate some nonsense about how female-on-male violence is the great issue of our time, leaving aside its relative rarity, as well as the deep roots of domestic violence against women as a tool for dominance.  Hitting people is wrong.  Women should not hit men, or anyone.  But the fact that the guest on that particular SNL was Rihanna shows how little we care about women as survivors, let alone as perpetrators, of violence. 

Role Models

A lot of male hockey fans dismiss Manon Rheume's play in the NHL as a marketing gimmick, and perhaps it was.  Then again the power of one person's visibility is not something most young boys have to think about.  It mattered, a lot, to young girls.