A follow up to an earlier post: The Sports Frog blog argues that the women players at Wimbeldon should make even more than the men because they a play a better game.
I was led to this post from the Sports Law Blog - they have some great stuff on there if you don't already read it - particulary on racial issues.
Today it was announced that Wimbeldon will finally pay women and men equal prize money.
A nice wrap-up of Serena Williams triumph at the Australian Open in the New York Times. I love the pic they're running with this, showing the crush of photographers.
Serena keeps on going - here is Mary Carillo's take on how Serena can come into a tournament out of shape and as the tournament progresses she gets stronger and better - almost using the tournament to train!
I'm enjoying watching her slog her way back into the limelight at the Australian Open. Here's the latest on Williams #2 from the San Diego Union Tribune.
A piece in the International Herald Tribune about how "change is still a long time coming at Wimbledon" in everything from tupdating old building to the tournament's unequal prize winnings.
Associated Press sports columnists Tim Dahlberg writes about the unequal men's/women's prize winnings at Wimbledon. The discrepancy is now down to about $50K but the fact that a discrepancy still exists is what is ridiculous in this day and age. Venus Williams is getting vocal about the difference and even John McEnroe throws in his support.
"Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer" - a documentary on the tennis great premieres tomorrow night on HBO. Here is a NYTimes piece that gives a background on the documentary, and a New York Magazine review.
New York Times sports columnists Selena Roberts and William C. Rhoden discuss gender inequality in tennis in this mulitmedia video available on the New York Times Website. I haven't watched it yet, because I'm having some kind of problem with my Internet connnection - very slow.
I noticed this column by Selena Roberts the other day -"A Rivalry of the Fierce and Fashionable" - about a fashion/popularity contest between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. I like Roberts' stuff but I wasn't sure about this piece and what it meant. It's unclear whether there is solid substance to this or if this is just a perceived rivalry that the media hypes up because there also needs to be some kind of catty duel in women sports, doesn't there?
Then I was perusing womenshoops this morning and I noticed their posting about a new blog on Sports Illustrated by tennis player Justin Gimelstop - in his first posting he took on the women players on the WTA tour - "Nobody's safe "Sharing tennis facilities with women is full of drama". Gimelstop is also competing in the U.S. Open. His major complaint is the fighting that goes on about practice courts ...
"As dysfunctional as the men's tour is, the women's tour blows it away. For example, it's impossible for there to be enough practice courts for men and women to share without some kind of bickering. This is probably because of the fact that women have a bizarre refusal to practice with their fellow competitors. It's insane -- they literally would prefer to hit four on a court with their coach than two on a court with another player. They live in Bizarro World."
This sounds like a legitimate complaint and he's calling it like he sees it here. But then he goes off into this territory ...
"However, one of the benefits of having the women around is the ever-increasing desire for each and every young sassy player trying to outdo -- or in this case, under-dress -- the next.
My prediction? Pretty soon the WTA practice courts, and maybe even the match courts, will resemble a women's volleyball court, with g-strings and bikinis being the only logical next step. Not that I'm complaining, or even think that wouldn't be a valuable marketing tool. But I'd like to recommend to players both female and male, and even coaches out on the practice courts: If you resemble a beached whale, keep your gear on!"
Granted, he is not a sports journalist, but I think he gives insight to the atmosphere women athletes deal with - although there is an argument here that some women athletes create this environment by marketing/branding their sexuality. Hmm, it's complicated and I don't want to get bogged down in that right now.
The thing with blogs is that you are not writing in a bubble. Lindsay Davenport reacted to Gimelstob's posting - here's ESPN's story - "Davenport fires back at Gimelstob for blog comments" . She said ...
"I'm always curious what the fascination is about men having to judge women constantly. What they look like. What they wear. Who they hang out with. ... And men have this endless fascination with, and Justin especially, about just depicting and picking on everything about the body. And so his column was, I thought, a waste of time." (ESPN News Services)
Womenshoops also links to this blog OffWingOpinion, (another blog to add to my list!) which comments on the above.
