She lives with three dogs in her happy bungalow in Texas. He meant on the bed. The other was a first-person piece about the last game at Arlington Stadium. All most know how to do is bitch about the Cowboys and Mavericks and Rangersabout their (a) record, (b) salaries, (c) coach or managerand praise the "kick-butt" barbecue they make before watching 18 hours of football on Sundays. The latter are supposed to be more humorous than the former, though adulthood has taught me different. Women did not get equal access to post-game locker room interviews until a federal court decision in 1978. She was 70. Cindy, who is dabbing brown goop on my roots, figures this is like when the seniors get all reactionary and vote in the ugliest girl for homecoming queen, and it just might happen on a bigger scale. It was an area high school coach who routinely tried to get me to drop by his house when his wife was out of town; when I refused for the third time, he refused to provide any more than perfunctory answers to my story questions. Man, did I ever realize how my attitude and courage level had changed. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". Getting the killer quote? [6] Several of the players subsequently taunted her by walking naked in her presence, making vulgar comments and gestures. And I have shared that with very few people. It is the sports leagues and teams that decided interviews were to be TAFOYA: Again, Charlotte, North Carolina, it's the Hornets hosting, because they were then the Hornets, hosting the Houston Rockets. It would be the last day ever for those white shoesand my first of many covering professional sports. Point guards became my instant favorites for those early post-shower interviews. But the road has been anything but smooth. Like a lot of kids starting out, I'd do office work all week and help cover games on the weekendsanything for a chance to prove my worth as a sportswriter. I wanted to cry each time he said that. So why are they going to think the reporter is any different at first? He said this about three times. SAGAL: And is this something you always wanted to do? But now it was late September, and my editor wanted me to interview Mr. October about what it was like not to make the playoffs. Thank you for visiting Slap Shot. There was no fallout at the paper. 1. percykins 7 yr. ago. Writing this the other night, tears filled my eyes, and I got that precry phlegm in my throat. Back then, almost 30 years ago, passion for the national pastime was an heirloom fathers passed to their sons. Complete Coverage of Ines Sainz on Crimesider. And that gives coaches and players less control over the story., Still, for most mainstream sports journalists, venturing into locker rooms remains a basic necessity to stay competitive. Or at least that's what I thought I said. Well, first of all, so now SAGAL: Describe your job. Her family were fervent sports fans. We went to a bench just outside the door and began to look through it. [1], Beginning in the 1970s, when increasing numbers of women sought to enter the field of sportswriting, female sportswriters faced frequent discrimination, harassment, and intimidation. He said he wanted to talk. Phyllis George Brown, a former Miss America winner and the first female sportscaster to work at a major network, died on Thursday after complications from a blood disorder she had developed. And I know how smartass remarks work, too. [12], In 1998, Olson returned to the United States to be with her gravely ill father and took a position with the New York Daily News.[1][9]. Ludtke and Time Inc. filed a civil rights lawsuit months later. It is funny. The telephone poll conducted this week among 1,026 randomly selected adults nationwide found 59 percent of 556 women and 47 percent of 470 men said female reporters should be banned from NFL . That seemed like such a dumb thing to say. In fact, after 10 minutes in a locker room, you dont notice anyone naked. Her tires were slashed, she received hate mail and death threats, and her apartment was burglarized. It was after the Iron Bowl, the big game against Auburn. One even said, "You know you don't have to do this work," in a tone that sounded like Sting telling Roxanne she didn't have to put on the red light. All I remember is green and light and the security of my daddy's arms. from NPR. I just wanted to cover sports. We drove to a mall in Santa Fe, and there were the boxes, taped, freshly shipped, in the front of the store. SAGAL: I thought, you know, when you turned around, he'd have the towel around his head to cover up his big eyes. She would later come to work at The Times as well. My face broke out. The Boys Only sign wasnt on the door, but still, I could see it. I was covering the minor league team in Wilmington, Del., one night. I ended up covering minor events full time, even doing the dreaded office score-taking work again. Each time I stopped pacing, the clerk and guard started toward me. Women will kick up a fuss about men being in a women's locker room, and men should do the same with women. It was the lonely thread that tied me to my game. TAFOYA: So there I am, and I'm getting ready to go in, and this is the first time I've ever done this, and I'm just going to do some radio interviews for tape to take them back and turn them around, and I said to myself I had a rule I established before I went in. There are postgame press conferences and media availability throughout the week. It's the way we measure all people, the Homo sapiens equivalent of sniffing butts by the fire hydrant. She was previously a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, and the first female sports columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, where she covered rugby union, Australian rules football, cricket and rugby league. So do you know about sports?" Before The Best American Sports Writing for that year was in bookstores, I went on a Thelma and Louise-type journey with a girlfriend. Actually, I tell them, one of the most peculiar side effects of my job is that it seems to run off men in personal relationships. Needless to say, this was a must-listen from the jump. NBA teams play 82 games a year, not including playoffs and preseason contests. The biggest cultural difference between reporting on sport in the UK and across the pond is that everyone here is allowed into the locker-room. You get a really honest reaction, and thats what makes stories good., Some of the best locker room reporting comes when the unthinkable happens, reminding us that these gods between the lines are just men and women outside of them. Donna is a good argument for euthanasia. from She was previously a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, and the We've invited Tafoya to play a game called "Enter at your own risk!" Whoops! think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something The he got to a really big one"Best General Column Writing." Chris Long on dynamic of naked players, reporters in locker rooms, New York Rangers fans took over the Wells Fargo Center and Im glad it happened, WATCH: Every pitch of Andrew Painters 1st inning vs. the Minnesota Twins, Eagles Buzz: CJ Gardner-Johnson rips Jonathan Gannon on Twitter for Super Bowl performance, Spring Training: Umpires end Orioles vs Pirates game early, but both teams wanted to finish, calling the game themselves, WATCH: Operation Flagship How D.C. Police Lured Wanted Criminals in for Arrest by Offering Super Bowl Tickets. The Mavericks were a delight to be around even when pissed off. It may have been his first night. And theres going to be cameras. [4] Robert Perryman did the same while her back was turned. "Can I stand here with y'all for a while?" If you, as a grown man or woman, want to peep another adults private square, it doesnt need to be under the guise of a free and independent press. Why the fuck can yall walk in, and we are half-naked? Then, just as I walked in the door, it struck me that I was five feet, three inches tallabout the height of an NBA crotch. They picked threeCindy, because she was a perky cheerleader at the University of Texas at Arlington; Jamie, because she had modeling experience; and me, because I was a pest. You know, it was like, "So-and-so from The Beaumont Enterprise, many so-and-so's from The Dallas Morning News.". Later he admitted to calling her a "classy bitch. [10], After the incident became public, Olson was subjected to harassment by fans of the Patriots. Do they want to know if it's hard for him to keep his professionalism with his hand inserted in some babe's bodily cavityand whether it's scary? Definite double standard here . Not about naked bodies or about crude remarks but about how they would think I feltand how I intended to respond with confidence, no matter what happened. Herman was a hockey reporter covering the New York Islanders when she and another female reporter were allowed to interview players in the locker room as their male counterparts were commonly permitted to do . teams to grant her access and not all agreed quickly. I never went near a bedroom with any of them, but I told him "a woman" because I didn't know how answering "18" to this loaded question would affect my precarious career. They were reporters and looked young enough to remind me of my old daysexcept they weren't wearing white flats. For eight months, the editors refused to assign me any stories. When the day finally came that she would break down a huge professional barrier, Robin Herman did not have much time to prepare. [9] others. In 1975, the NHL allowed New York Times reporter Robin Herman into the men's locker room, making her the first woman to enter a hockey team clubhouse. For a gender that keeps complaining about equality and respect, they certainly dont seem to think men should get either of those. Forty years ago today, "Sports Illustrated" and its reporter Melissa Ludtke took on Major League Baseball and won. All the culprits are either long gone or have actually apologized, saying they just didn't know better at the time. As I steamed over this, I took a shot of courage (a cold Starbucks Caf Latte) and pondered my circumstances. The next year, I was booted because I couldn't do back flips. Then I did something I had never done. TAFOYA: But still, tune in each Sunday night. But I don't think it seems very logical to some of the other reporters. They see how (or if) players interact; get some idea as to who's happy, who's not, and maybe find out why or why not. Referring to the United States military's use of Patriot missiles during the then-ongoing Gulf War, Kiam said to the audience: "What do the Iraqis have in common with Lisa Olson? 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