Anything you can do I can do better? Vincent Equitable Media Questions..

Part 2 of my assignment for class.
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After having taking classes such as "Women, Sport, and Culture" and "Inequality in Sport" and even writing as a sports reporter for The Daily Iowan, I have probably seen and (discussed) the difference in equitable media coverage of male and female athletics way more than I would like to. I've even experienced it with the DI on some occasions.

In John Vincent's study he found that the coverage of female athletics were far less than that of male sports. Surprising? Not really. This is because of socially constructed sex stereotypes that many people have in their minds. Stereotypes of how men and women should be. Men should be athletes. They should show aggressiveness and competitiveness while women should sit at home and be graceful and look nice (not something I believe in). For many years, that's what people believed (maybe still do) and that's what been reinforced by society.

In his piece, one fact that stood out to me was that he cited that only 10 percentage of print coverage is dedicated to female athletics while male sport seem to get all the glory. As he states:

"Research has indicated that female athletes competing in the traditionally 'gender-appropriate' individual sports such as swimming, diving, gymnastics, and tennis, which represent a narrow, culturally stereotyped view of female athleticism, receive more electronic and print media coverage."

Ironically, I have covered all three of those sports in my time as a reporter for the DI. Sometimes it's frustrated when the front page is dominated by Iowa football, men's basketball, or wrestling. However, ever now and then a female sports story will take the front page.

He uses examples of how Anna Kournikova and Danica Patrick, good athletes but not necessarily the best, and often they get media coverage. It's generally because they can balance their athleticism with sexuality. Vincent makes a point to discuss how weak media coverage is of women's athletics despite the increasing trend of more female getting into sports. Because of social construction, women are taught to be graceful and fill a heterosexual familiar role which is often challenge by the notion of sport.

As much as I'd love to believe that one day, things can become equal, I am still skeptical. Even with my time at the DI (almost two years), I've only covered women's sports. I really hope that's more of a coincidence rather than intentional. Vincent did make a brief mention of lack of women in sports journalism and I know with the DI, out of almost 16 people, only 3 are female (or even take a look at the breakdown of students in Sports Reporting and Writing). It sometimes confuses me to see how men react to knowing a girl can know a lot about sports.

I think media outlets are often under pressure to have to do what their audience wants (or what they think they want) and there's just such a big difference in demand for women's sport as opposed to men's. Who wouldn't want to big up a newspaper with a big front page story of how the Boston Celtics won the NBA champion as opposed to a front page with the WNBA champion, Detroit Shock. Basically, I think if people want more equitable coverage, they have to do a lot of work in destroying pre-conceived socially constructed notions about how sex and gender work. Is it accepted for women? Absolutely not. But will in change? Only time will tell.

West High girls' basketball attempt to bounce back

An assignment for my Sports Reporting and Writing class. A season preview for the IC West High School girls' varsity basketball team.
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Most basketball head coaches couldn't even imagine the thought of losing their best player — especially one that leads the team in points, rebounds, and steals.

But for B.J. Mayer that's exactly what happened. However instead of uncertainty, he sensed opportunity.

Mayer, the head coach of the West High School girls' varsity basketball team, believes that despite graduating five seniors — including all-state selection Emma Krieger Kittle — his squad can still compete with other top teams in the Mississippi Valley league.

His roster this season has decreased not only in size but experience as well. However, Mayer believes that speed and quickness can still be used an advantage on the court.

"We want to just be able to try to wear teams down," he said. "We feel with our ten kids we're going to be able to run kids in and out and not lose a lot of depth and intensity."

Last year, the Women of Troy made a run at the state championship but were eliminated by Ankeny to finish the season 16-6.

Krieger Kittle and Madison Sadecky were the team's two top scorers, averaging 15.3 ppg and 10.4 ppg to lead the way for West High. With their departure, Mayer hopes to implement a different game plan. He wants to rely more on the three-point shot.

Senior Kristin Fomon looks to pave the way as she shot 26.8 percent from behind the arc last season, second on the team behind Sadecky who shot 38.9 percent.

Defensively, sophomore Tatum Klein looks to see some action. Mayer named her as the team's "best defender." Klein was the only underclassmen listed on the varsity roster last year.

Mayer hopes that as the season progresses and players become more comfortable, they'll be right where they need to be in order to make another playoff run.

"Obviously we want to continue to get better," he said. "I think that's going to be the biggest challenge for us, by playing as many young kids as we're going to be playing who did not get a lot of experience in the past couple of years.

"It's just going to have to keep taking steps forward and hopefully by the end of the year, be plying as good as we can in the end."

West High kicks off their season by traveling to Fairfield for a non-conference season opener on Nov. 24.

A picture's worth a 1,000 words..

After taking a peak at my classmate Derek's blog, I thought I'd also post my project from my "Publication Design" class.

Our assignment was to design a poster that show our passion. I think it's fair to say that Boston sports are my passion so I figured I'd try to do something with that. Originally, my idea was crap. Four bland photos with a gray transparent background of the city of Boston. But that's what happens when you're quite inexperienced with Abobe PhotoShop and InDesign and not really very creative. However, thankfully for my friend Ryan (whose blog can be found here) and his experience with those programs ... well, he sort of saved me.

As you can see below, there is an image of the Boston Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins. With the exception of the B's, each photo is showing a championship moment. Also, yes I know the quote is incredibly cheesy but I figured if Kevin Garnett can scream out "anything is possible" before breaking down and crying after a post-game interview, I can throw it onto my poster.

Three Cheers for Five Years...

October 27, 2004 might as well be a National holiday in Red Sox Nation.

Five years ago, I experienced the single greatest moment as a sports fan -- I watched the Boston Red Sox FINALLY win the World Series.

As a 16-year-old, I knew that I was going to remember that postseason for the rest of my life. For those few weeks, the Red Sox were the only thing anyone thought about at school or around town. Coming back after being down 0-3 to the New York Yankees was so incredible but then to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in four games? Un-friggin-believable.

Watching them end an 86-year "curse" was one of the most remarkable things I've ever experienced. Their joy was my joy. It connected so many people -- young and old, near and far, etc. Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time and re-live those few weeks in October because to be completely honest, I'm not sure anything could ever top that sports moment in my life.

With that said, the Boston Globe has actually put up a wonderful photo slideshow entitled: "Remembering the 2004 World Series."

I'm pretty sure proud members of Red Sox Nation are loving it as much as I am.

*Photo from The Boston Globe

Bitch Please: The Tweet Life...

When I go on Twitter, it's mostly for shameless self-promotion.

Sometimes, it's even to spy on my younger sisters. Occasionally, I'm curious to see what sports columnist Bill Simmons has to say. Or even my current UI professor Dave Schwartz. Rarely do I find myself following celebrities or athletes.

On the other end, when professional athletes go on Twitter -- well, it's also for shameless self-promotion.

But here's the difference. When they tweet, it only seems to bring bad things. It leads to idiotic posts causing to suspensions or humiliation. Tweets that can be taken down, but not entirely removed from the minds of many followers who have likely taken a screen shot of such foolish rants.

Don't get me wrong, as a journalist, I appreciate freedom of speech. But with some athletes nowadays, they need to learn to either smarter up or just stay away from twitter in general.

In 140 words or less, athletes find themselves being able to express their opinion before, during, or after a game, just as long as they have their blackberry in hand. It could be at halftime or between innings. If a player really wanted, all they would need to do is being able to find their phone and bam, put up a new tweet in seconds for all their followers to see.

But is that really the best thing for sports?

Back in April, San Francisco giants closer Brian Wilson found himself embroiled in a little controversy after tweeting while on a road trip in Arizona. After implying he was out at a club, he tweeted:

"Scottsdale is fun. The over aggressive males are not. Does every dude think they can fight? They sure have some confident mouths out here!"

Awesome, right? Except well, the very next night, Wilson blew the save with a 4-1 lead and took the loss as the Giants lost 5-4.

Let me make clear, there isn’t any wrong with having a twitter but if you're going to be staying out late partying and dealing with some "over aggressive males" perhaps its best not to tweet at that very moment? If that were Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, I'd be pretty livid. I can't speak for all Giants fans, but I bet their reaction was on a similar level.

Interestingly enough, Wilson had a simple solution. He first claimed his tweets were "made up stories to reflect his humor" before proceeding to actually delete his twitter account. Perhaps more athletes should follow suit?

More recently, Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson has come under fire for criticizing his own head coach through none other than (surprise!) twitter. According to ESPN:

"The tweets were posted to the "Toonicon" account, an online alias the Star reported Johnson has said is his. The account includes a link to Johnson's personal Web site. Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore said the team could not verify that is Johnson's account.

The Twitter remarks were posted after San Diego routed the Chiefs (1-6).

One tweet read: "My father got more creditentials than most of these pro coaches." That was followed by: "My father played for the coach from "rememeber the titans". Our coach played golf. My father played for redskins briefley. Our coach. Nuthn."

Johnson's lack of thought doesn't surprise me. In fact, it really shouldn't surprise anyone. But then again, does anyone really care what he has to say? Going 1-6 to start a season in undoubtedly frustrating, but to rip on first-year head coach Todd Haley seems not only inappropriate but also unfair.

While Twitter is a social networking medium, athletes should be careful of what they tweet. Much like Facebook and every possible warning to my generation about putting up photos, I heed the same advice to athletes and their choice of 140 words or less.

Can Twitter be used for self-promotion? Absolutely. The problem is for athletes to learn how not to make fools of themselves such as Wilson and Johnson. It's great for fan interaction but to post personal details or vent your own frustration with a team that's paying you millions upon million of dollars to play a game? That's not right on any level. If you're going to suddenly join in on the Twitter-craze than do so. But be responsible about what you post and responsible enough to handle the criticism you'll get if you're not.

*Photo from www.walkoffwalk.com

This One's For the Girls...

This bit of news was passed along to me by a friend back in Massachusetts.

All I can say is, who says hockey players don't have style? The Improper Bostonian, a bi-weekly publication chose five Boston Bruins hockey players to turn into models for a day. Boy, these guys did NOT disappoint. Here are the photos from the shoot:

Left Winger Marco Strum

Defenseman Dennis Wideman

Center Patrice Bergeron

Center Marc Savard

Defenseman Matt Hunwick

*Photos from The Improper Bostonian

Compulsive gambling + Boston Bruins = Win?

With the trend of Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics scratch tickets popping up around Massachusetts and other New England regions the last few years, it was only a matter of time before the Bruins got their own. Well, ta-da Massachusettes state lottery announced its newest addition today with the B's and their own scratch and win.

To be honest, I don't particularly like gambling. But only because I've seen how it can ruin people first hand. I also think more or less, it's a great waste of money. However, with all that said ... this is awfully tempting. As a borderline broke college student who will have accumulated quite the debt in my last three years going to an out-of-state school such as Iowa, this can't necessarily be the best thing.

But hey, one of the prizes includes season tickets for a decade. Well jeez, how can I pass an opportunity like that?

*Photo from www.hubhockey.com

The most talked about goal in hockey ... this year?

Nine-year-old Oliver Wahlstrom has become an internet sensation.

The Cumberland, Maine native scored an impressive goal in one-on-one competition. The contest was taped and to be played during the New Jersey Devils/Boston Bruins intermission. The video has already amassed 116,000 views on youtube with news of his impressive goal spreading all the way to Vancouver, Canada. In fact, Oliver and his father (a former hockey player) were even invited to be interviewed on SportsCenter today.

Watching him score this goal, it's hard to imagine this young kid growing up to be anything other than a future NHLer.

What could have been with Phil Kessel?

This was my commentary written for my sports writing class earlier today. Since it's not being handed in for a graded assignment, I think it's fair game to post this on my blog:

I can’t get over it. At least not yet.

Much like the fallout in any type of relationship that I have invested myself in, I just cannot get over it. Maybe I sound like the psychotic ex-girlfriend who can’t seem to let go of something that’s no longer in my control, but regardless ... Phil Kessel, you broke my heart.

A month ago, Kessel from traded from my beloved Boston Bruins to division rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Quite simply, it sucked. I hated to see him go. He was young (No. 5 overall pick in 2006), he was good (36 goals, 24 assists last season), and he was a part of a Bruins squad that had shown more promise and heart than I’ve ever seen.

For the first time in a decade, Boston had won a playoff series (sweeping hated rivals Montreal in four) but more importantly, people in Beantown were starting to care again.

The potential for something great was there.

But as soon as the Bruins were shown an exit from the postseason with a heartbreakingly devastating Game 7 overtime loss at home, I knew at that moment, something had to give. After all, doesn’t something always have to give when a season ends?

I don’t blame Boston GM Peter Chiarelli. He had a job to do. To be honest, I find myself blaming the only person I can: Kessel.

Perhaps my bitter feelings are the getting the best of me, but I guess I’ll never fully understand why he chose to leave Boston. He had everything going for him. He could have returned to a team that was on the rise. He could have returned to help win a championship. He could have shown loyalty. But instead, he chose money. Isn’t that always the way of the business?

Chiarelli had a lot to deal with during the off-season including dealing with other young budding stars in 23-year-old center David Krejci and 24-year-old defenseman Matt Hunwick while also attempting to re-sign Vezina (Best Goalie) winning goaltender Tim Thomas.

Thomas was re-signed to a four-year, $20 million deal while Hunwick got a two-year, $2.9 million extension. Securing Krejci with a 3-year, $11.25 million dollar contract the Czech native scored 22 goals and dished 51 assists to finish second in points on the team, Kessel seemed the lone man out.

In hindsight, I wonder if re-signing Krejci first had any effect to how Kessel viewed his contract negotiations. Perhaps the Wisconsin native believed by holding out, he could get a better offer for more money. Instead, he got traded.

Could the Bruins use those two first-round draft picks and a second rounder to their advantage? Absolutely. Could letting Kessel go possibly come back to bite the B's in the ass? Absolutely. Letting him sign a 5-year, $27 million contract is a risky move by Toronto but they heavily believe he is the future. The same way Boston once believed it too.

Maybe in my fairytale world, athletes who get drafted by an organization actually show some devotion for the team that helped get them started. Maybe athletes wouldn’t be driven by money? Maybe athletes wouldn’t ever leave until they wanted to retire? Hell, maybe the Bruins would find a way to finally win the damn Stanley Cup?

Ah, if only fairytales existed.

Two weeks into the NHL season and neither the Bruins or Maple Leafs are having very much success. Boston went 2-3-0 in their five-game homestand while Toronto is an even more unimpressive 0-5-1 to start the season. In fairness to the Bruins, their big problem seems to be defense rather than offense. After having one of the stingiest defenses last season, the B's have done a complete turn around. The team's GAA (goals against average) ranks them 27th in the league while Thomas is 1-2-0 with a 4.01 GAA and .868 save percentage. Very un-Vezina like numbers.

But maybe I need to give it a rest. I'm going to try to give the B's the benefit of the doubt and assume they'll get better as the season goes on. Do they need Kessel? It doesn't appear so. Would it have been nice to have him around? Probably. Will this stop me from wondering what could have been if he had stayed? Not likely.

That won't happen until I learn to just get over it.

*Photo from www.boston.com and www.hockeyheadblog.com

Red Sox can't stop Angels rally; Get swept 3-0 in series

I don't know whether to be mad or laugh it off.

It had to be poetic justice for an Anaheim Angels organization to finally sweep past the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs. After falling for short so many times, giving up so many late-inning homeruns, Anaheim finally got the last laugh. Rightfully so. There was no way Boston deserved to win that series with the way they had played the entire last two weeks of the season as well as postseason. Unless something drastic happened, unless a spark was ignited ... it wasn't happening. A comeback seemed nearly impossible, much less winning three straight against the better team. While next year might yield better results, I can't deny the fact that I feel a bit disappointed. I love the Red Sox and I love seeing them succeed but they were not the better team. They were outhit, outpitched, and outplayed in every facet. I guess the only question I really have is: where was the heart?

*Photo from www.bostondirtdogs.com

Halos fly high as they rock Red Sox in ALDS Game 1

Watching David Ortiz strike out to end Game 1 of the ALCS against the Anaheim Angels tonight was somewhat ... fitting.

In a mistake filled, lackluster 5-0 losing effort the Boston Red Sox looked lost. It's how I can best describe what I saw. I hate to admit this, but even I have some reservation about this year's squad and how deep of a playoff run they will actually make. When Boston's No. 1 pitcher, Jon Lester can't even stop the offense of the Angels, I begin to wonder. With the untimely tragic death of Nick Adenhart early in the season, the Halos carry a heavy heart into the postseason. To be honest, if they were to go on to defeated my beloved BoSox, I wouldn't mind see them go all the way and win the World Series (anyone is better than New York).

On the bright side, having Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz as the No. 2 and 3 starting pitchers in the series is a great sign. I don't think Boston could have asked to have two better guys to step up then them. While Beckett's had a shaky season, at the end of the day ... he's still Josh freakin' Beckett. Mr. Postseason. He can pull out great performances in October like no body's business. And Buchholz has proven he's the real deal. Granted, the guy did throw a no-hitter in second career MLB start, but he's been solid enough to get picked over Daisuke Matsuzaka as the third starter.

Can Boston pull out ANOTHER postseason series victory against Anaheim? That remains to be seen. I'd love to see this series go the full five games and allow Jon Lester to get some redemption for tonight's disappointing loss. But in order for that to happen, Beckett and Buchholz will have to do their part first.

"The Rabbit Hunter" critique

Oh Coach Knight, how you've provided us with so many memories.

Back in 1981, Knight gave sports writer Frank Deford a rare glimpse into his world by allowing him to conduct an intimate interview that would result in an article entitled The Rabbit Hunter (appearing in Sports Illustrated that winter).

While the piece made it onto The Best American Sports Writing of the Century, my fellow Sports Reporting and Writing classmates and I came to a similar conclusion while discussing the reading: it really wasn't THAT good. I mean, it wasn't written horribly or anything but something was missing. Then again, we're just young, dumb, naive twenty-somethings, what do we know?

With that said, if I could re-write or re-edit Mr. Deford's story, here are a few things I'd change:

1. Take out creepy quote at the beginning. At the start of the article, separate from the actual lede and opening paragraph and hidden on top of the page alone is this quote:

Success is feminine and like a woman; if you cringe before her, she will override you. So the way to treat her is to show her the back of your hand. Then maybe she will do the crawling. -- William Faulkner

After the initial "what the f***" reaction, the normal thing would be to assume it'd all get tied in at the end. Well, I'm going spoil it for you: it doesn't. This quote doesn't have anything to do with the reading and if anything seemingly takes away from where the reader might believe the story is headed.

It's almost as though the quote is a type of false advertisement and really, there's nothing people dislike more than that. Case in point: Tonight my friend Michele bought a case of beer thinking she'd get a free t-shirt because that is what the sign said. But she didn't because apparently the deal was supposed to mention that she had to buy four cases or something ridiculous for her shirt (which was not clearly stated on the sign). Luckily, through enough complaining she was a happy camper when they just gave her a free "We Have Stones" XL (only size left) shirt.

Moral of the story: Don't put something in your writing that doesn't have anything to do what we're you're trying to say. It'll only confuse your reader and might even leave them angry enough demanding to know why you wasted their time.

2. Where is the creativity? I'm probably the last person that should ever call out someone else creativity because I have my own difficulty in expressing that sometimes. But one thing that irked me a little bit about Deford's piece was how he broke up sections. It's not the fact he broke it up because for how long his article was, breaking it up was definitely the way to go.

He broke up his sections by titling them "Rabbits," "Coaches," "Older People," and "Women." Sounds more like the answer to some Apples to Apples trivia question. Those subheads don't offer anything to a reader. Perhaps by giving those titles a little deeper thought, he could have come up with something such as "Women are just an obstacle that must be overcome..." which is a quote from one of Knight's players used in the section title "women." I think it would have allowed his readers to have more interest in what was to come.

Bottom line: Variety is the spice of life. REALLY!

3. Wait, what happened? The order of segments in the story is a little screwy to me. Going from "Rabbits" to "Coaches" to "Older People" to "Women." Once again, women at the end ... quote about domestic abuse at the beginning ... uhh, is he trying to tell us something? If up to me, I would have went the order of "Rabbits," "Older People," "Women," "Coaches," blah blah blah. I'd rather see the people who shape Bob Knight the person before learning about Bob Knight the controversial coach. After all, wasn't the point of this piece to get a greater understanding of who he is?

Point: Domestic abuse isn't cool. EVER. Oh and if you're going to write a longer piece, think carefully about how you decide to order your sections. It matters.

However, all of this is merely my own opinion for my class. If for whatever reason, Mr. Deford were to ever come across this blog, I'd want him to know I didn't entirely trash his piece. In fact, I very much appreciated the input about Knight's one dimple. As a one-dimpler myself (on my right cheek, folks), it's good to see dimples get some recognition. It's about damn time.

Thanks Mr. Deford!

*Photo from Sports Illustrated and www.NPR.org

Back in Black

OH HOCKEY, how I have missed you.

Tonight I finally caught my first Boston Bruins game of the season. Sadly, I was unable to watch the season-opener on Versus against the (very talented) Washington Capitals on Thursday night. However, from what friends have told me, it's better I didn't see it.

Coming out to their alternate third jerseys (the black ones debuted last season), Boston played every bit like the team that stood atop the Eastern Conference last season. They were scrappy and hard-working, which showed on the scoreboard. Seven different players scored for the B's in the 7-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the TD Banknorth Garden. Maybe something boiled inside them as they realized they were facing the same team that eliminated them last season in Game 7 of overtime or maybe they just realized falling into a 0-2 hole to start the season is never fun. Either way, whatever it was, I hope they keep it up for the future.

Here is some postgame reaction from Inside Hockey: