tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.comments2021-12-15T04:34:52.789-08:00Women in Sports: The Game, The Business, The DirtAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12888671863103809726noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-90301675039480940242009-09-29T02:36:56.418-07:002009-09-29T02:36:56.418-07:00Lack of honesty from the Stanford coach because sh...Lack of honesty from the Stanford coach because she doesn't want to lose the recruiting battle even though the student section and everbody else knows she is gay. WNBA doesn't want to put half-time shows for lesbians to acknowledge the Jane Schmo.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12243599943897207887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-46089456112872803252009-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:002009-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:00Dear Megan,The things about what you are writting ...Dear Megan,<BR/><BR/>The things about what you are writting in your blog are great! You know in 2006 Fiba Europe started to work on this direction in order to make women basketball more feminine. Our company "Tuta" together with Fiba Europe are working on the project to create the new style of women basketball uniforms. <BR/>I have started to write my own blog www.basketballfashion.com , where I'm writting mainly about basketball sportswear and fashion. At the moment with my colleague I'm writting e-book „How to raise the popularity of womens basketball to next level“. Your minds are very veluable for our e-book and we would like to ask you to use your opinion in this e-book. <BR/>Please contact me directly on my e-mail info@basketballfashion.com<BR/>ValentinasAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11137884679885511651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-54654924740060071492009-01-06T14:59:00.000-08:002009-01-06T14:59:00.000-08:00Hey Megan, just found your blog."[Men's basketball...Hey Megan, just found your blog.<BR/><BR/>"[Men's basketball] is a fast-paced, exciting display of power and athleticism. Dunks are thrown down, blocked shots go into the 6th row, bodies fly into the photographers under the basket."<BR/><BR/>For me this is the answer. I watch the NBA, more so than other sports, to see freakish displays of athletic prowess. After a play, I want to say, "I didn't know a human being could do that." And while I understand that the players in the WNBA are very good and would literally kill me or any other guy I know if we stepped on the court with them, in terms of sheer athletic insanity, it's just not the same as the NBA.<BR/><BR/>-SolonNatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13994885626723945768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-56655769410732468822008-12-11T09:27:00.000-08:002008-12-11T09:27:00.000-08:00Well, while a little surprising on the outside, th...Well, while a little surprising on the outside, this is likely one of the best outcomes for this team...the management has been lacking since Koch took over the team and has done them more harm than good...as with a beloved pet, sometimes the time comes to just put them out of their misery...without a suitable new owner, this team wasn't destined to continue its path of glory. <BR/><BR/>It would be incorrect to look at this situation and say, oh well, the WNBA isn't going to make it...untrue. They can and will make it - and the league as a whole is coming off of their most successful season to date and have a new tv contract that inclues a rights fee (for the first time in league history). <BR/><BR/>The miserable ecomony has everything to do with this as well...just look at the other carnage in sports and entertainment that is starting to happen in the wake of spiraling economic indicators...can anyone say Arena Football...<BR/><BR/>Onward and upward...where is Coop these days anyway?Indigohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09380846671700146626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-66525396133483472582008-12-10T14:06:00.000-08:002008-12-10T14:06:00.000-08:00Megan, thanks for this link. This is really inter...Megan, thanks for this link. This is really interesting to me since my sports background is in baseball and I pitched through high school JV before moving to 2nd base on varsity so I could play every day. I've heard of a couple of female pitchers making it "big". I think it's a little crazy because I found that starting in high school, the difference in strength between me and all the guys on my team was HUGE. Now granted I'm not the most built person ever, but still... It had a big impact on the way I had to approach the game and meant I had to practice a million times harder than everyone else just to keep up.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10329794060123868374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-35817091726042108162008-11-04T20:25:00.000-08:002008-11-04T20:25:00.000-08:00You might enjoy this Mr. Media podcast interview w...You might enjoy <A>this Mr. Media podcast interview with US Olympic gold medal winners Brandi Chastain and Kerri Strug</A>.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11597509758682459743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-71042547218170261802008-10-30T22:56:00.000-07:002008-10-30T22:56:00.000-07:00Here's a thought. Do folks in the States these day...Here's a thought. Do folks in the States these days want to see women compete? Implicit in the discussion of sports is the discussion of competition, I would say, and I think women are generally not raised/incentivized to compete in the same way that men are in State-side society, for better or for worse...<BR/><BR/>That is, a patriarchy:<BR/><BR/>(for example http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/are-men-really-more-competitive-than-women/ )<BR/><BR/>Thoughts?L. Wuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14584552319751012641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-86067024119008007882008-10-09T17:18:00.000-07:002008-10-09T17:18:00.000-07:00Congrats to the WNBA for coming so far and also on...Congrats to the WNBA for coming so far and also on having the staying power...even if it is totally propped up financially by the NBA...which is not a bad thing...it is key to its success and a great way to move women's sports forward. Despite all of our passion and support for female athletes (and Mad props to katie Smith with her incredible performances), the fact remains that it is tv/media and sponsorship deals that drive the business. In the case of the WNBA, congrats to them for getting their best tv deal to date - and the first to include a rights fee...but I totally agree that the finals need to be better positioned and better promoted. If I didn't work for one of the W's biggest sponsors, I would never have known they were on...and if you're one of those lucky ladies to be cruising the mexican riviera with the titanic, I mean olivia, this week, you missed it entirely...sorry girls, but Katie looked amazing...hope you tivo'd it...<BR/><BR/>Anyway, congrats to the league(s)...the only thing they need to realize is that it is OK to market to lesbian fans...they have money, they will support you, and to calm your biggest fear, yes, they are enough to keep the league going even if 'people think it's so gay'...wake up, they do already and they always will...but what the league needs to realize is that people don't care gay or straight if the quality of play is high enough and the games are accessible enough (menaning more teams in cities, more games on tv and additional media on the internet and mobile phones)...<BR/><BR/>They are moving in the right direction...and next season is only 5 months away...<BR/><BR/>Great posting Megan...Indigohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09380846671700146626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-34636100653018267502008-10-01T22:38:00.000-07:002008-10-01T22:38:00.000-07:00Thanks for making me aware of this ridiculous arti...Thanks for making me aware of this ridiculous article. By the time I finished reading it, I was ready to throw down with Melissa Rohlin, too. <BR/><BR/>Sadly, watching the first game of the WNBA final series today, I noticed that the WNBA (the organization itself) isn't doing much to help itself... there were three totally empty rows right behind the Detroit bench, right where the camera spent a good portion of the night focusing. Mistakes like not ensuring those prime seats are full cost the WNBA serious PR opportunities. Fill those rows and you make the game look sold out, fill every other seat and leave those empty and people assume there's no one there. <BR/><BR/>In other news, the SA Spurs surprised everyone by showing up to support their female counterparts, the Silver Stars. Nice show of solidarity. Stew on that, Melissa Rohlin!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06789822518899465218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-65785483353409165182008-09-18T13:16:00.000-07:002008-09-18T13:16:00.000-07:00I'm definitely rooting for the Seattle Storm too!I'm definitely rooting for the Seattle Storm too!Gamblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18277792064283758274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-14199767677696612872008-08-25T14:58:00.000-07:002008-08-25T14:58:00.000-07:00Thanks for the post on Christine Brennan. I appla...Thanks for the post on Christine Brennan. I applaud you for your blog and love having another place to read about sports from someone who doesn't just care about the men!Gamblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18277792064283758274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-92120350102447798892008-08-14T12:27:00.000-07:002008-08-14T12:27:00.000-07:00I've been noticing that the way NBC presents the g...I've been noticing that the way NBC presents the games is very much USA v. China, and I wonder how much of this Chinese-as-machine characterization can be attributed to the framing by NBC. You write, "NBC commentators noted that many of these Chinese athletes were literally plucked up from their daycare centers at 3 years of age and entered into rigorous gymnastics training programs"...especially for the US gymanists who are the kids of past medal-winners, I would posit that that "plucking" also holds true for the US kids, it's just that the US commentators would rather highlight potential kidsploitation in China.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-58364566743822104182008-08-06T10:54:00.000-07:002008-08-06T10:54:00.000-07:00So much of the economics of athlete earnings also ...So much of the economics of athlete earnings also rests on personality. Male athletes - the most successful anyway - have historically been outgoing, fun/funny and welcoming to their fans around games and on the street. For whatever reason, female athletes are often more reserved in their public personalities...take women's golf vs. women's tennis for example...both sports saw an increase in talent, fans and events during the past 15 years, however, women's tennis has done a far better job hitting a broad audience due to the "faces" of the game they have had to promote. True to the point, those faces are very attractive - Maria Sharapvoa, Anna K, the williams', etc - but so are the golfers. "Face" includes personality as much as it includes physicality when you are marketing in sports. Even though I adore her, Annika Sorenstam was the most dominate woman in golf for many years, but had absolutely no personality publicly that anyone could hold onto. Meanwhile, the Williams sisters were at Fashion Week in NY, making their own brand extensions, having fun on the court and, arguably even to a fault, getting themselves involved in the pop culture.<BR/><BR/>The point about Michelle Wie is interesting for several reasons. While she has made that bank, it has been exclusively through endorsements based, not on her looks (which are average at best) but on her youth. The promise of a young woman competing in a world dominated by older, stronger men (PGAT) and women (LPGA) is something that a sponsor will place a bet down on...today. But what we have seen is that she has a limited window to either 1. produce results in her sport (something she has failed miserably on) or 2. evolve a public personality that will make her larger than her sport (think Anna K when she didn't win for years). Personally, I think Michelle Wie will go down in history as the 'face' of overgrown expectations and a family's greed, but if she can bring herself to actually finish an LPGA tournment or two, she may find that there is a fan base there for her that cares about her for her talent, not just for the hype of what could be....but still, I think you get more talking to a wall than to her currently. Even though they are known enemies, I would advise Michelle to take the road Annika didn't and start developing a personality that will make her interesting to the press when she is 30...<BR/><BR/>To end this comment on a positive note, I would also argue that the increasing popularity of women's sports is part of a rising tide of targeted content consumption. We don't have 3 channels for part time sports content anymore, we have 30; which means that there is more need for compelling sports content, more opportunities for women's sports to have tv deals (a vital part of the money game) and therefore, more channces that those fat, beer drinking Maxim readers will actually start watching for something more than the bodies...;)Indigohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09380846671700146626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-72563032584256485162008-07-28T11:22:00.000-07:002008-07-28T11:22:00.000-07:00Cheers to the WPS and may it truly have learned fr...Cheers to the WPS and may it truly have learned from the WUSA mistakes of the past...women's sports do not garner the dollars of mean's (yet) but they can be very successful on their own...the key is building it correctly from the beginning - good luck Tonya, you certainly have your hands full girl!Indigohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09380846671700146626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1104733795116278717.post-61317075913762571052008-07-23T16:26:00.000-07:002008-07-23T16:26:00.000-07:00Awesome blog, Megan! I love these first two postin...Awesome blog, Megan! I love these first two postings - can't wait to read more! I'm glad you put a "shameless" plug for it in your gmail away message. :)Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16121512292802944196noreply@blogger.com