Griner’s punch not about women’s sports, but sportsmanship in all college play

By Laura Pappano

Here we go again. Baylor’s Brittney Griner’s outrageous act last Wednesday – the now-viral YouTube image of her socking Texas Tech’s Jordan Barncastle after the two jostled beneath the basket – has some wondering: What’s going on in women’s sports?

We had foul-mouthed Serena last summer, and then the pontytail pull in November. But instead of gasping and getting all whipped up over girls fighting, let’s look at what’s happening during college competition. (And why it may be a bigger problem in men’s college sports — did we already forget last year when Houston’s Aubrey Coleman foot-stomped Arizona’s Chase Budinger? video here).

Point One: Bad (and, yes, sometimes dangerous) behavior by college athletes occur at all levels of play — and starts in youth sports. (Read study abstract here or check out the story last month of the gym-clearing brawl involving 30 adults and children during a high school-level youth basketball game in Upstate NY). The NCAA Division III Annual Report for 2008-2009 records “conduct fouls,” and clearly shows this is a dramatically greater problem among male athletes.

– Average yellow cards issued to players was 18.35 per team for men compared with 3.89 for women; red cards issued to players (per team) was 0.98 for men; and 0.17 for women.

– In DIII basketball, men’s teams averaged 3.4 technical fouls per institution while women’s teams averaged less than a fifth as many at 0.64 per team.

– And in DIII ice hockey, men averaged 4.27 misconduct calls per institution, well above the women’s 0.45 misconduct calls by referees.

– Dr. Brian Crossman, ethics committee head for the National Soccer Coaches Association (representing 2,500 men’s and women’s teams in the NCAA plus NAIA, NCAA, and NJCAA) says there is a red card issued in one of every 10 soccer matches, and represents three consecutive years of increases. He sees “a growing disconnect between the severity and number of red card ejections and the standards of conduct” expected of players. Read his take here.

– NCAA data on DI women’s basketball technical and flagrant fouls shows unsportsmanlike conduct among players at its highest point in three years in 2008-2009 (306 called, up from 161 in 2006-2007, and 257 in 2007-2008). In the NJCAA, according to a recent report, last year there were 101 ejections in all of women’s sports with 37 identified as “violent” — while men’s sports tallied dramatically more with 648 ejections, 177 “violent.”

Point Two: College athlete conduct is troubling enough that some NCAA governing bodies are clamping down on bad behavior, including:

– Last month, the Men’s and Women’s Water Polo Rule Subcommittee decided to toughen penalties for rough play, increasing the length of suspensions from one to two games for those participating in a fight.

– The NCAA Football Rules Committee endorsed a proposal last month that would make unsportsmanlike behavior – including “a taunting gesture to an opponent on the way to scoring a touchdown” a live-ball foul that could nullify the TD and penalize the offenders from the spot of the foul.

– While we are on “taunting,” let’s recognize that Brittney Griner’s punch did not come out of the blue, but in an environment in which she’s been verbally and physically harangued on the court and from the stands.

Point Three: If we believe competitive sports teach lessons that matter as much off the field as on, then let’s not just sit back and hope lessons emerge. A 19-year-old freshman like Griner may not intuitively be able to handle the pressure (including expectations that she is the future of women’s basketball), without explicit support. If press reports are even half right, Griner will someday be both a superstar and a stand-up person. But players (especially those with targets on their uniforms) must be taught to shrug off trash talk and physical contact under the basket; not everyone is comes to college play with that skill.

College fight songs evoke battle. Just past the rally call of brass and bass drums, athletes push themselves to the edge of physical ability. Griner was absolutely wrong to throw the punch, but in the heat of intense competition she is not the only college athlete with troubling conduct.  She just happens to be the one we’re watching right now on YouTube.

Posted in Basketball, Money, Power & Politics | Post a Comment »

Reader XC ski question answered: Why change skis in the 50k race?

An FGN reader asked a terrific question about why racers changed skis in the 50k race.

Rosie Brennan, a member of the Dartmouth College XC ski team who spoke with FGN contributor Sarah Odell, offered this explanation:

You do not have to change skis. In fact, it used to be against the rules to
change skis. In many races, it still is. The officials will put a stamp on each
of your skis and you have to finish with at least one of the skis with the
stamps on it (allowing for mishaps and breaking skis). Recently they have
changed the rules and allow for skiers to change skis in the longer races. The
reason you would want to change skis in a longer race is because you might have
missed the wax and either have slow skis or slick skis that make it hard to ski
up the hills. Additionally in long races, kick wax (the sticky stuff just under
the foot that allows you to propel yourself forward) wears off after awhile so
it can be beneficial to switch skis part way through. The reason it was so
prevalant in this Olympics is because the conditions were changing often and
quickly making chosing the right wax very difficult.

Posted in The Athletes | Post a Comment »

They bring fight, but get sunk by fouls: Rhode Island women’s season ends (Year 2 begins)

The Rams gather before the game; freshman Anisha Wilson

The Playbook

The Playbook is an occasional series on University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball team and head coach Cathy Inglese as she works to turn around a losing program. See most recent prior entry here.

By Laura Pappano

When Coach Cathy Inglese called a time out with 10:32 left in the second half, the Rams were down by one, trailing St. Bonaventure, 40-39. The music system at the Ryan Center pumped out up-beat lyrics, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fuh-uhnn!!” and it looked like there could be some celebrating when this was over. Celebrating because winning could let the Rams squeeze into post-season play in the Atlantic 10 tournament (only the top 12 go and they were in a three-way tie for that last spot).

Inglese, with all her intensity (it’s not clear why she has a seat in the sideline because she is pacing, calling, shouting, cajoling her players or the refs) draws plays on her clipboard, reminds them to hang tough, but warns — ineffectually, it turns out — “no more fouls!”

The fouls have been killing them. Every other minute, it seems, there is a Bonaventure player at the foul line, especially No. 5 Dana Mitchell ( she shot 12 of 13 from the free throw line). When it’s all over the stats show that the Ram got four shots (made 3) and St. Bonaventure had 30 shots (making 25) from the foul line.

For a tightly fought game that ended 63-53, that is a massive mis-match in free throws. Rhode Island fans, (including Inglese’s younger sister) let the refs hear their displeasure: “Call it at BOTH ENDS!!!” Was it unfair? Should Apolo Anton Ohno have been disqualified in the 500m short track event? Hard to know, given how aggressively both teams battled at both ends of the court.

This is DI basketball and things happen — or don’t happen. The Rams lost. Their season ended. But what was striking about the game, coming as it did slapped as the finale on a 11-game losing streak, was that if you hadn’t known of their struggles, you would never have guessed.

They played at times brilliantly — sharp, intuitive passes, steals, speedy Anisha Wilson tearing down the court or scrappy Lara Gaspar leaping up and twisting in all kinds of traffic to float the ball through the hoop (she scored 22 points).

Later, after her team slipped on warm-ups and ducked out beneath the blue and white streamers and balloons hung optimistically over the locker room entrance, Inglese would push aside her frustration — and when you are building a program there is plenty of that — to give her team credit. Yes, there were problems, including “a lack of consistency, a lack of urgency” and the need to say “the same thing four times.”

“They have battled hard,” said Inglese. “This team has learned to compete. They have lost — how many games in a row? — and every game they come out and they are here to compete.”

The year has ended with a 9-20 record, which is at the high end of what Inglese expected. “I thought we could win 0-10 games this year,” she said.

Winning DI teams aren’t built overnight, but assistant coaches Megan Lanham and Ashley Earley are already talking about next year and the four new recruits: Kerry Wallach (CT); Kiley Hackbarth (IL); Shikkirrie (RiRi for short) Turpin (FLA); and Emilie Cloutier (Quebec).

Lanham and Earley tick through each player’s qualities. Wallach is a 3-4 player who is a “workhorse,” a “competitor” who “will get the top of the rim.” Hackbarth is a point guard, a “spark plug” with great ball-handling skills and, says, Lanham, “one of the best work ethics I have ever been around.” Turpin, says Earley, “is going to rebound for us,” she is also “explosive offensively.” And Cloutier, both predict, “will be the most athletic on the team” with great vertical ability.

Why did they like so much about these four? “All of these kids are used to winning,” says Earley. “That was our deal with these kids,” says Lanham, “hard-working competitive kids that are used to winning.”

Junior captain Megan Shoniker slaps hands during pre-game introductions

Posted in Basketball, The Coaches | Post a Comment »

Post mort for IOC: Why are the Olympics so sexist?!?

By Laura Pappano

The closing ceremonies in Vancouver are finished, so let’s reflect: Why does a tremendous sport festival whose aim is to foster political goodwill remain so darned sexist?

Events for women are typically lesser or shorter (or in the case of ski jumping, non-existent) compared with the men’s. Many of these differences make no sense:

–  Women’s singles freestyle figure skating rules requires skaters to perform 12 compulsory moves and complete the program in 4 minutes, plus or minus 10 seconds. The same event for men requires 13 (one more!) compulsory moves and is 30 seconds longer. Hmm…?

– Cross country ski races are a study in gender differentiation, with men’s races longer – even though women are terrific marathon runners and as a group are physiologically suited to endurance events. Shorter because….?

–  Short-track skating has many of the same events for men and women, but oddly when it comes to the relay(!), has a 5,000m event for men and trims the women’s to 3,000m.

– And then there are the pragmatic decisions, like shortening the luge track because of worries about racers reaching excessive speeds. If men are generally heavier than women as a group, thus more at risk for reaching those speeds, why shorten the women’s to the junior track just because you have shortened the men’s? Is this to ensure safety or intact male egos? Not surprisingly, several female athletes complained about being forced to race from the “children’s” start.

The overt sexism in the Olympics extends to the way female athletes are viewed and treated. And it’s not just me who sees this. Male sportswriters are screaming, too:

– In the March 1, issue of Sports Illustrated (yes, SI),  Phil Taylor’s column, Point After, not only takes up the outrageous refusal of the International Olympic Committee to allow women’s ski jumping, but notes a chief problem contributing to the lack of competition in women’s ice hockey is the lopsided spending by many European countries on men’s sports. The Russian women’s team didn’t practice until three weeks before the games.

“Sexism isn’t confined to any sport or country,” Taylor writes. “It’s a universal language, spoken not so much with words as with action, or the lack of it.”

– And in yesterday’s Boston Globe, hockey writer Kevin Paul DuPont appears to stun even himself (“Call me a flaming feminist – please, just once, to make me fell [sic] all PC-like…”) when he defends the Canadian women’s ice hockey gold medal winners post-victory – and post medal ceremony – celebration and finds absurd the IOC plan for an investigation.

“Investigate? Please spare us the ‘Casablanca’-like roundup of ‘the usual suspects.’ We know what happened. They won a gold medal, in front of a screaming full house at Canada Hockey Place, and they broke out the booze and had a ball. Then they had to apologize.”

“Because…why?” His point: a blatant double standard.

We have four years before the next Winter Games, and two-and-a-half before the Summer Games in London.  When the IOC gathers to reflect, someone should have the courage ask the question on a lot of minds: Why do the Olympics, which allows nations – even those struggling to be part of the civil discourse of the international community – enforce such a stereotyped bias against women?

Isn’t it time to lead instead of looking so utterly out of step?

Posted in Money, Power & Politics | 5 Comments »

Ladies: Grab those clickers!!! (And don’t let go)

By Laura Pappano

I may never (hopefully) hurl down an icy track on a sled at 90-plus mph, but the Olympic spirit does stir a passion for competition. Yesterday, a 63-year-old woman offered to me that she has been absolutely glued to Olympic TV coverage and found snowboard cross riveting. “I don’t snowboard, but it is so exciting to watch,” she said. (For the record, she has windsurfed).

This woman (and yes, she’s a grandmom) is certainly not the sports demographic that pops to mind. Nor is she the gaga-for-ice-danging type. We’ve heard plenty recently (if you listen to guys on sports radio, that is) talking down the Olympics as women’s sport coverage, all softened up with lots of human-interest features. Guys like their sports straight up, right? (Oh, except for the pre-game, half-time, and post-game wrap-ups, that is…)

The Olympics has made it clear — in perhaps the most dramatic fashion yet — that women are perfectly passionate watchers of sports on TV.

NBC has hit the jackpot in ratings, with the most startling news, of course, being that last week Olympic coverage (including the delayed broadcast of Lindsey Vonn’s gold medal run) beat American Idol in the ratings race, marking the first time the show had lost in its time slot since 2004.

As one writer, Daniel Fienberg pointed out, the Olympics didn’t just win, they “utterly crushed” American Idol — 30.07 million viewers to 18.42 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

There are two key messages here:

One for women: Grab the clicker! See the power you wield when you tune in en masse and watch sports. Being a fan is about exercising economic, political, and social influence. (While we’re at it, the women’s Olympic ice hockey gold medal game—US v. Canada – is tonight, 7:30. Tune in.).

The second for TV execs: Women LIKE TO WATCH sports!!! Don’t wait four more years for the Olympics, do what makes snowboard cross compelling for a 63-year-old woman and pull her in for, say, the NCAA March Madness tourney. Scheduling women’s basketball on weekdays at noon on cable does nothing except allow you to say you are broadcasting women’s college games. Honestly, the NCAA playoffs start soon, and American Idol is looking vulnerable…

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Thank you, Sylvia Pressler

By Laura Pappano

News of Judge Sylvia Pressler’s death last week – at 75 at a family home in Sparta, NJ – drew a few paragraphs in the newspaper, but hardly attracted huge attention.

And yet, as spring training gets underway and kids prepare for Little League tryouts (now a winter affair), we should remember Pressler’s contribution — and not just her 1973 finding allowing Maria Pepe of the Hoboken Democrats to play Little League — but the way she framed the issue.

Pressler made clear the connection between sports – in this case, Little League Baseball – and political equality. “The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie,” she wrote in her findings. “There’s no reason that part of Americana should be withheld from girls.”

When the National Organization for Women filed a grievance on behalf of Pepe with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, the debate focused chiefly on concerns that girls would get hurt if they played baseball with boys – a notion that if you look at the size of many 9 and 10-year-old girls compared with boys, appears downright silly (note the size of the girl vs. the boys in the Times story photo below, published after Pressler’s findings and amid widespread debate).

In researching Playing with the Boys, N.O.W granted me access to their papers, including details of the 1973 proceedings and Pressler’s findings. During six days of testimony in the case, Little League officials tried every argument they could muster to bar girls from the game. One of the most amusing points came from Dr. Creighton J. Hale, physiologist and Little League VP, who argued that “the possibility of cosmetic injury is more ‘socially damaging’ for a girl than it is for a boy.” Another LL representative, Dr. Thomas Johnson, a San Diego psychiatrist, argued that forced integration of the sexes was bad for children’s mental development. “Boys like to be with boys and girls like to be with girls,” he said.

Give Pressler credit at a time when it was not easy to stand up to male tradition for insisting that integration of the sexes (and, yes, even in the male sport of baseball) mattered. “I have no doubt that there are many reputable psychologists who would agree with the ‘birds of a feather’ theory,” Pressler wrote. “But the extension of that is that whites like to be with whites, blacks like to be with blacks and Jews likes to be with Jews; and that whole theory is a contradiction to the laws of this state and this country.”

Further, she said, “the sooner little boys begin to realize that little girls are equal and that there will be many opportunities for a boy to be bested by a girl, the closer they will be to better mental health.”

Her ruling created an uproar. But it stood.

Imagine if someone who lacked her clarity of vision had decided the case? When I learned of her passing, I had one thought: Thank you, Sylvia Pressler.

The New York Times, April 2, 1974

Posted in Baseball, Money, Power & Politics | Post a Comment »

How to watch women’s Olympic ice hockey with your three-year-old daughter (and why it matters)

Team USA faces off this afternoon against Finland in the final day of preliminary round play. Medals rounds ahead!

By Emilie Liebhoff

I recently took my three-year-old daughter ice-skating for the first time.  I skated a few laps, did some quick crossovers, and pivoted back and forth.  She was amazed.  (I’m sure she thought, “What did you do with my mom?”)  Then, with knees bent and arms out, she tried. “Look Mommy, I’m doing it.  I’m doing it!”  It was heartwarming: She wanted to be like me.

This is an exciting Olympic year for me.  It’s the first time my daughter is old enough to really watch Olympic women’s ice hockey with me.  She’s seen men’s football.  She’s seen men’s golf.  And, she’s seen men’s baseball.  Now I get to show her my sport, and the strong, skilled, athletic women who play it.

Here are three reasons why I’m watching with my daughter:

1)    Encourage her to be a sports fan.  Not only do I want to show her that women play ice hockey, but I also want to encourage her to watch sports and to excited about the women playing them.  Men and boys follow sports — but not enough girls and women do. Watching the Olympics is Step One to develop the fan in our daughters.

2)    Show her female sports role models.  Growing up it was tough for me to be a sports fan: Sure, Wayne Gretzy was an amazing hockey player, but he was a guy.  That’s not the case now for our girls. There are incredible female athletes who our daughters can aspire to be like, and who can be positive influences in their lives. (This US team has 15-first-timers plus veteran Jenny Potter — mom! — and superstar Angela Ruggiero, the first female non-goalie to play men’s pro hockey).

3)    Teach her the game. When you are an educated observer, your daughter will notice!  She’ll appreciate and admire your ability to watch the game, root for your team, and know what’s going on. This also is a chance for you to help your daughter build her own sports knowledge.

I did play hockey in college, but that experience isn’t required to watch — and enjoy! — the games with your daughters. Here’s help:

– First, when watching don’t say, “Wow isn’t she pretty?”  Instead, use this opportunity to emphasize the skill and strength of the players.  “Look, Jane, isn’t it impressive the way she stickhandles the hockey puck?” Or, “See how fast she can skate!” Remind them of the finesse and skill required to keep possession of the puck, particularly because checking isn’t allowed, but body contact is.  Point out, that women can use their bodies to protect the puck.

– Show your daughter that you understand the sport. Mention some of the rules. One key rule is offsides: The easiest way to explain it is to always let the puck win a race between the player and the puck.  If the puck crosses the blue line into the offensive end, the puck must cross the line before the offensive player.  If the puck gets sent out of that end and crosses back over the blue line, then all offensive players must follow the puck out of the offensive end.  The puck always needs to win the race.   For more rules and information, click here.

– Make it a point to interact while watching the game.  Have your daughters notice, for example, that when there are only four players on one side of the ice it means that team must have a penalty.  Conversely, the other team must have a “power play.”  This is a good chance for the power play team to score because they have an extra player.  Sometimes, you will notice an exciting moment when a team will “pull the goalie” to put an extra offensive player on the ice.  This usually happens if a team is trying to tie up the game and there is a minute remaining.

– And, importantly, show your daughters that when women score, they celebrate.  (Girls sometimes feel they are being conceited if they celebrate).  Expressing happiness after a goal is OK and encouraged!

– Also point out that ice hockey is not about the individual, but is a team sport. Highlight the fact that there are five players on the ice and that they all pass the puck to each other to work toward scoring a goal.  They also work together to defend and protect their own goalie.

The Olympic games occur over an exciting two weeks.  Use the games as a chance to not only bond with your daughter, but to ignite her interest in becoming a sports fan.   You may be developing the next generation of female athletes. See  Olympic women’s ice hockey schedule here.

Emilie Liebhoff teaching her eldest daughter to skate

Emilie Liebhoff is former co-captain of the Dartmouth College women’s ice hockey team, mother of two daughters, founder of Moms as Mentors™ and the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools.

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls | 7 Comments »

Cross country ski racing for dummies: What to know about a thrilling Olympic event

By Sarah Odell

Let’s take a breather. Time out from Lindsey Vonn and women in bathing suits. For me, one of the most frustrating aspects about Olympic coverage is that we usually can only watch sports that the United States dominates (or sports that are surrounded in controversy). As a result, many sports I know little about. So this week, I talked to Rosie Brennan, a member of the Women’s Cross Country Team at Dartmouth College. Rosie explained how the sport works, and that it’s much more than the image I had — of my father climbing the hill in my yard and skiing down it.

FGN: I need a crash course in competitive Cross Country Skiing…
RB: Cross Country skiing is made up of two disciplines, freestyle and classical. Like alpine, in order to win the World Cup, you have to be good at both. Although racers tend to be better in one or the other, they are forced to compete in both. There are six different events at the Olympics and the technique used, freestyle or classic, switches every Olympic year.

FGN: What are the events this year?
RB: This year the events are:

– The 10/15 km individual start freestyle. This race is a time trial event where racers are started every 30 seconds.  (The women ski 10 km and the men ski 15 km)

– Classic Sprint. In the Classic Sprint, men and women must pass qualifying rounds to make it into the finals. Only the top 30 men and women will move past the initial round. The course in Whistler is 1.7 km for men and 1.4 km for women. Classic Sprint races are very exciting because athletes crash as they dash for the line. The Whistler course has a big 180 degree downhill corner and a long finishing stretch. The United States has been very successful in this event.

– The 15/30 km pursuits. The 15/30 km pursuits feature both the freestyle and classic technique, with a mass start. Racers begin by skiing classic and finish skating

– Team Sprint Freestyle. The team Sprint freestyle uses the same course as the individual sprint, but the teams are made up of two skiers who trade skiing laps of the course until three laps have been competed. There is only a semi and a final because of the overall length of this event. Both distance skiers and sprinters come together in the Team Sprint.

– 4X5/10 km relay. The 4×5/ 10 km relay is a mass start as well, with each skier going 5/10 km before tagging their teammate. This event features a rivalry between the Italian and Norwegen men.

– The 30/50 mass start classic. The 30/50 km mass start classic is considered one of the best events. It takes place at the end of the games, and is a long and grueling event, but is often very exciting because a lot can happen through the length of the race.

FGN: How are events judged?
RB: All events are solely based on time. Obviously, there are rules as to what technique you can use and such, but it is purely who is the fastest skier.

FGN: Who are the American women to watch?
RB: Kikkan Randall.  She is the star sprinter of the women’s team. She was the first American women to win a world cup and to win a medal at world championships — both in the sprint event.

FGN What is the least known fact about Cross Country skiers?
RB: Cross country skiing athletes are truly remarkable. They are without a doubt the most fit athletes in the world. The top level skiers train 750-1000 hours a year. These are hours spent constantly in motion. Unlike soccer practice where time is spent learning plays, moves, and drills, every single one of these hours is spent creating a higher oxygen capacity and getting stronger. All courses are made off big climbs and fast downhills. Skiers can reach speeds of 30 mph which is remarkable because cross country skis do not have edges. Balance and coordination play a key role in being successful.

Rosie Brennan of Dartmouth in a cross country ski race

Posted in The Athletes, The Q&A | 1 Comment »

Sarcasm over, SI: time for real pics of female athletes

By Laura Pappano

OK, I’ve learned something valuable: My effort at a tongue-in-cheek fan letter to SI for their “un-coverage” of female athletes was not clearly tongue-in-cheek to many readers on this site or the Women Talk Sports network site.

Firstly, what a terrific (and impassioned!) discussion. Secondly, to set the record straight: I employed a tone of sarcasm in the post because I do find it absolutely absurd to promote the idea that sex appeal does anything but undercut the image, goals, and status of seriously talented female athletes.

We appear stuck in a sort of moment — much like the feminist we-can-do-it-all quagmire — where we feel compelled to be both serious athletes and hot bodies. The problem is not that women athletes don’t have great bodies; the issue is that in putting so much energy into showing them off as such distracts from being seen as a seriously intense (skier, snowboarder,…fill in the blank). If I want people to pay attention to me when I am, say, giving a talk, I’ll wear a suit — and not one for swimming.

I understand that sex appeal is part of sport. But where, say Tom Brady may be pretty, as a male athlete he is given plenty of latitude to also be tough. There are many ads of him of the chiseled chin and tight abs but even that exposure is far outweighed by the serious network air time, news coverage, talk radio, pre-game, half-time, and post-game analysis of his athletic performance.

Certainly, female athletes can be attractive AND competitive. I don’t see this in the larger sense — or longer term — as an either/or debate. But right at this moment, we have a serious attention bias in the way women’s sports events — and female athletes — are viewed. When all that warrants mainstream coverage is undress, it tilts the image and shapes the conversation.

This very point was confirmed this morning as I listened to two male hosts on sports talk radio station WEEI in Boston giggling about the SI coverage and how they were going to be paying more attention to Vonn (and not her skiing) at this Olympics. (Really guys???)

SI is known for it’s incredible action photography. Given that, how about a few more female athletes caught, freeze-framed, mid-action? If we want some “balance” in the sexy vs. serious debate, that might be a good place to start.

Posted in Money, Power & Politics | 5 Comments »

Thank you, Sports Illustrated!!!!!!!!!!! (From a women’s sports fan)

By Laura Pappano

As a Sports Illustrated subscriber, I just want to offer a big “Thank You” for all the recent coverage of Lindsey Vonn – or should I say “un”-coverage?

If crazy feminists got all in a wad about last week’s cover photo of Vonn, I can only imagine what they think now that she’s on the slopes in ski boots – and a bikini!

Fortunately, I’m one of those fans grateful to see female athletes get any sort of attention, so seeing four Olympians – snowboarders Hannah Teter, and Clair Bidez and skiers Vonn and Lacy Schnoor – all oiled up for the SI Swimsuit issue looked like a gold medal move to me.

The way I see it, if we get enough guys paying attention (er stalking) their favorite sexy female athletes, we should see the Nielsen ratings for women’s sporting events take off. Wasn’t it Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, who pointed out that women should wear “more feminine” uniforms and tighter shorts to boost fan interest?

The logic is obvious: While people are busy checking out the players’ physical attributes they will OH BY THE WAY notice that, geez, there is some good athletic play going on. Build the fan base one string bikini at a time.

The matter, of course, is that if women are going play sports, they should be providing entertainment – and serious athletic performance is, apparently, not entertainment enough.

I say, apply the Powell Doctrine to sex appeal in women’s sports. Don’t just appear sexy on occasion, but – heck – be all about sexy. Swimsuit calendars – the Women’s Professional Squash Association just made one – should be mandatory for professional leagues.

College teams should dive in, too (pardon the pun). Why should men’s football and basketball monopolize media attention when young females are playing with balls? When I tune into ESPN2, I’d like to see a women’s college basketball game (at a time other than noon). So do up the hair, get that make-up straight and, for gosh sake, pare down the fabric on those uniforms!

It could even be a smart move to do what they did in the 1950s: Hold half-time beauty pageant among players, crowning one “Queen of the Court.” (way better than MVP’s) And maybe instead of having an NCAA playoff bracket, we could hold a giant beauty pageant with – yes! – a swimsuit competition. (Then we would really know which teams were worth watching.)

So, thanks, SI, for exposing readers to some skilled female athletes ahead of the Winter Olympics. I can hardly wait for your March Madness preview issue!

Posted in Money, Power & Politics, The Athletes | 5 Comments »