Keeping Score

Post-Imus debacle

A few different articles to link to - that focus on what I thought was one of the main issues of the Imus incident - how his comments reflect how some people perceive women athletes. Here's on in the New York Daily News "Imus' bile places spotlight on state of women's sports"

A piece in the Capital Times in Madison, WI "Imus a part of relentess devaluing of women"

An Orlando Senitinel columnist tries to get golf pro Anika Sorenstam to comment on the Imus incident and writes about the awkward result.

Kuronya vs. USA Boxing and more

Something must be in the water over at the Boston Globe - because today they had a variety of  coverage of women's sports. The first was a cover story on Lisa Kuronya, who lives in Maine and won the 2006 USA Boxing Women's National Championship and the 2006 National Golden Gloves Championship. She is suing the US Amateur Boxing for gender discrimination and civil rights violations.

There is also a profile on Kristine Lilly, U.S. Women's Soccer veteran - the story also touches on the future of women's professional soccer.

And most of the pre-marathon coverage section was devoted to women runners - from the past to today's contenders. The print edition ran that great 1967 photo of Kathrine Switzer being tackled by two race officials (women weren't allowed to run then, and she entered with just her intials, they discovered her around mile 4).

And speaking of marathon - I sent all my best wishes to you folks running - it's going to be  a doozy with that wind!

One down, one to go

NBC has dropped the Imus show  - now it's down to CBS and what they will do next.

Icky Imus Part Deux

So I was listening to Tom Ashbrook's "On Point" NPR program this morning - the topic was Imus, etc. It wasn't what I expected - the focus became rap music and is rap music to blame for the use of words such as "ho."  I guess I wanted to hear more about how women athletes, particulary black women athletes, are perceived because to me that is the real issue here.  I know this whole incident has opened up all kinds of conversations on race, gender - which is a good thing, but I also want to see more acknowledgment that this also has something to do with women competing as athletes and how that is still not fully accepted as a serious endeavor - they're treated as a sideshow in some circles, even by some members of the sports media.  But these incidents have a way of steamrolling away from the point (or what I think is the point) and they become a platform for everyone who has an opinion (I'm just as guilty here) and agenda.  I'm glad the Rugters coach and players spoke yesterday because their voices were the clearest and most meaningful I've heard.

If you want to listen to the On Point episode, they post podcasts the day after the show airs.

And from the man who has championed women's basketball longer than anyone, Mel Greenberg of the Philly Inquirer weighs in with a nice piece on his blog

Icky Imus

I've always been a Gwen Ifil fan and today she has an op-ed piece in the NYTimes and I love the lede:

"Let's say a word about the girls. The young women with the musical names. Kia and Epiphanny and Matee and Essence. Katie and Dee Dee and Rashidat and Myia and Brittany and Heather."

Further down in the piece she talks about how Imus once refered to her as the "cleaning lady" as in “Isn’t The Times wonderful, it lets the cleaning lady cover the White House.” (Ifil, who is black, was a journalist for the New York Times at the time).

And I don't think I can even discuss what Thomas Oliphant, former Boston Globe columnist, said when he appeared on Imus' show yesterday - it just makes my blood boil. I'm just glad that aging media types like him are on the way out.

Speaking of race

The Denver Post had an article on how there are still not many African-Americans golfers playing on the LPGA or PGA tours

Title IX conference

I saw on the Sports Law Blog that there is an afternoon conference this Friday at Harvard Law School on Title IX - it's free and open to the public. I think I'm going to go.

Weighing in on Imus

Finally had some time to digest the news on radio host Don Imus' racist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. The latest is his recent attempt at an apology/explanation.  All these apologies always sound the same with the "I'm friends with African-Americans, we hang out, etc." - didn't "comedian" Michael Richards say the same thing?

I think what bothers me more is all the regular Imus guests - many who are journalists, who are grasping at straws as they defend him and their decision to still appear on his show. Here is a quote in David Carr's NYTimes piece from a former Boston Globe op-ed columnist who was to be a guest on today's show.

“Whatever problem there was, I think that he took care of with his statement of Friday,” said Mr. Oliphant, one of the guests scheduled for this morning. “It was classic Imus. He said he screwed up and he was sorry. Bang. Bang. It was very much to the point, and did not offer any excuses.”

And this from at Evan Thomas of Newsweek.

“ He should not have said what he said, obviously,” said Mr. Thomas of Newsweek. I am going on the show, though. I think if I didn’t, it would be posturing. I have been going on the show for quite some time and he occasionally goes over the line.”

Maybe he should view it as protesting, not posturing. Have some balls people.

Also, in the NYTimes, but buried behind the Times Select wall (they are now letting university students and faculty have free access) is a great article titled "The Unpleasant Realities for Women in Sports" by William Rhoden.

"Imus’s comments highlighted age-old, deep-rooted stereotypes that seem to surface whenever African-American women excel in sport." (NYTimes, 4/9/07)

And he ends the piece with:

"Whether a foul-mouth radio host stays or goes, the larger issue is that sexism and racism are very much alive."

Over at Women's Hoops Blog there is also a nice wrap-up of all the Imus chatter.

Update

Well, I've been AWOL for a while. This semester has been a doozy. I'm actually presenting that paper I wrote about women's basketball blogs, message boards, etc. today at a conference here in Boston. It's the Popular Culture Association and they have a Sports division.  I've also finally finished a study on women's sports coverage in newspapers and submitted that for another conference. And after putting the book about the WNBA and the media to the side for a bit while I finished up those papers, I'm back to it. And once the semester ends in a few weeks, it will be all writing the book all the time!