Waldman Becomes The First Woman To Announce A World Series Game

Last week we had the first woman head coach of a men's NBA D- League. This week we have the first woman to broadcast a world series game on the radio. On October 28th, Suzyn Waldman became that first woman. For more than two decades, Waldman has covered the Yankees and has been the "play- by- play woman, an analyst, a host and a reporter", but had never been given the opportunity to broadcast a world series game until now.

Waldman was the second woman to become a full-time commentator for a major league Baseball team, as well as the second woman in history to announce play-by-play coverage for MLB. The last five years, Waldman has worked alongside John Sterling who is the play-by-play man for WCBS radio.

Female sports broadcasters are becoming increasingly more prevalent, yet most remain relegated to the sidelines conducting post-game wrap-ups or interviews. The last few weeks will have a profound effect on the sports world for women. Women are once again showing that they can succeed very well in what was once a very male dominated arena. Kudos to the owners and managers of the teams who took a chance and allowed these two women to shine.

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/News-And-Events/Womens-Sports-News.aspx

The NBA D-League Gets Their First Female Head Coach

Nancy Lieberman was the first woman to play pro basketball with men. She will now be the first female head coach of an NBA D-League, which is a development league team. The Dallas Mavericks' will begin play during the 2010-2011 season in a small suburb called Frisco which is located north of downtown Dallas, Texas. The team is partially owned by Donnie Nelson who is the one who actually came up with the idea to hire Lieberman. According to Mr. Nelson he is optimistic that these men will not have an issue being coached by a woman - at least, not this particular woman. Nelson stated, "She's got the skins, the experience — she knows what she's doing — so I certainly hope that we're well beyond those issues. Besides, if you can't respect authority, no matter what form or color it comes in, I don't want you on my team."

At the age of 17, Lieberman made the U.S. Olympic Team in 1976 for the first women's tournament in Montreal. She was a star player at Old Dominion and in many pro leagues. In 1986 she played for the Springfiled Fame under the United States Basketball League. Lieberman returned to basketball as a player when the WNBA started and later, as a coach and general manager. At the aage of 50, Lieberman once agin took to the court in July of 2008.

After all the years Lieberman has spent breaking boundaries for women in professional sports, she is now taking on her biggest challenge yet, coaching a men's professional basketball team. lieberman stated in her press conference on November 5, 2009 that "in 2010, I don't want to be a woman who is coaching men, I want to be a coach who is coaching.'' Lieberman has broken alot of gender barriers, let's hope she can break this one too.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=9009195

Lingerie Football League Giving Women's Sports A Bad Name

I thought I would have a hard time finding another topic to discuss until a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, for sake of embarassment, sent me a link for lingerie football. I actually cannot believe that these women actually get paid to play. Really, women running around playing full contact football in lingerie? This is pathetic and quite sad. Women have a hard enough time trying to prove themselves in the sports arena compared to their male counterparts and in athleticism, without throwing in a curve that depicts them as sexual objects while playing a game.

The Lingerie Football League (LFL) is an indoor football league that was founded in 2003, but the inaugural season did not begin until this year. It is not a surprise to find out that the the administrative offices for the league are located in none other than, West Hollywood, California. The idea for this league originated from the Superbowl halftime special the "Lingerie Bowl" which is aired annually on pay-per-view, opposite the Superbowl halftime show. To add another flame to the fire, most of the teams are coached by former NFL players and coaches. Maybe Michael Vick can take this up as an extra-curricular activity instead of his former dog-fighting arena. Yes, I am putting both into the category of being morally wrong. The only difference in my opinion is that one is illegal, the other is not. The whole thing is nothing but an exploitation of women that further makes women's sports fall a little further to the wayside.

There are 10 teams in the league and some of team names speak for themselves:

Philadelphia Passion

Chicago Bliss

Miami Caliente

New York Majesty

Tampa Breeze

Dallas Desire

Denver Dream

Los Angeles Temptation

San Diego Seduction

Seattle Mist

As you can see, some teams chose very appropriate names for themselves when you think of women palying football in lingerie. Unfortunatley, I do have to provide you with a link to this topic, although I in know way support it, I will spare you the many u-tube videos available and send you to the official site http://www.lflus.com/.

Match-fix, Gambling Plot or Playing It Smart?

Caroline Wozniacki who is ranked 6th in the world quit during her first-round match at the Luxembourg Tennis Open with a hamstring injury. She was winning 7-5, 5-0. Prior to her second set, her father advised her to stop because he was afraid that her injury would prevent her from playing in the next round. According to numerous reports, Mr. Wozniacki's comments to his daughter were picked up by the microphones and also heard by viewers who were watching the game on the internet.

At this point your asking yourself, what is the big deal? Apparently, when her father was overheard by microphones and throughout cyberspace advising his daughter to quit, this lead to a surge in online bets for the opponent to win. Because of the betting online the Women's Tennis Association felt there was sufficient reason to bring in the tennis integrity unit to investigate.

Caroline Wozniacki, will more than likely be cleared by the investigation, but how sad is it that a 6th ranked player can't quit a match because she is injured and does not want to risk being out of the entire tournament due to her injury. According to one source, she may still be fined for "lack of effort". Since when is it improper to quit a match because of an injury? For more information about this match go to http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=4584676&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Persoanlly, I find the whole thing ridiculous. What do you think?

Who Says Women Can't Play Football

In 1999, two businessmen decided to start the Women's Professional Football League. They started the league becuase they thought the sport would be perfect for today's market. The league started out with only two teams, but has expanded quite a bit since the first years.Unfortunately, due to most of the teams moving to other leagues, such as the National Women's Football Association and the Independent Women's Football League, the original league is in jeopardy. Unless the league is able to get more teams they are going to have difficulty keeping it going especially since there are other football leagues that teams can choose from. The WPFL now only has two teams left and more than likely, those teams will move to another league for the 2009 season.

Another reason why the league has trouble surviving is that women are only paid a small amount of money to play and most have jobs away from the football field. Trying to maintain a full time job, as well as trying to find time to compete makes it very difficult for the league to survive. This is a problem that pertains to all of women's professional sports.

The IWFL offers players incentives and a chance to earn performance bonuses in an effort to offset the fact that professional women athletes just don't make alot of money. The league offers 16 cash prizes totaling $13,500 in the following categories:

Pre Season (Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place)

Bench Press (max reps of 150 lbs) – All Registered Players

40 Yard Dash – All Registered Players

Regular Season (Prizes will be awarded to all players that meet the set goal in each category)

Offense

Total Touchdowns – Prize: $1000

Total Rushing - Prize: $1000

Total Receptions - Prize: $1000

Quarterback Accuracy - Prize: $1000

Sacks allowed (this is a group bonus for the O Line) - Prize: $1000

Defense

Total Interceptions - Prize: $1000

Total Sacks - Prize: $1000

Total Tackles - Prize: $1000

Special Teams

Extra Point Accuracy - Prize: $1000

Field Goal Accuracy - Prize: $1000

The WPFL has opened many doors for women's sports in general and has proven that women can play any sports that men can. It has lasted almost a decade and although it hasn't officially shut down, things are not looking good for the women's football league that started it all. If you think about it, most sports were very sexist (some still are) and 40 years ago there were very few women athletes because of the sexism. All of the

leagues are  full contact and the women play the sport just like men do. If you love watching the hard hitting action of the NFL, you should check out the action of women's football. They can hit just as hard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UzVGW5-0u4.

Equal Prize Money for Women and Men At The Winter X Games 13

ESPN, a leader in promoting women's sports, annouced that the Winter X Games 13 will include equal prize money for men and women. It is about time that someone recognizes that women who play the same sports as men deserve an equal purse. According to Katie Moses Swope, director of public relations for the Winter X Games, the decision to recognize an equal purse came from years of input from both, athletes and judges. Despite negative feedback from some, ESPN went with the best decision. Katie Moses Swope said, "this is a positive thing and we felt we wanted to recognize the talent and the caliber of these athletes. You’re going to have differences in talent in the X Games, but how athletes have progressed in certain disciplines, that’s how we based our decision.”


The debate for equal pay for prize money "transcends action sports" and is also one that ESPN has brought attention to when reporting on other sporting events, such as professional tennis and golf. Most organizers of sporting events are in favor of unequal pay because they feel there is a "talent gap" between men and women and that the pay reflects the gap.

The Women's Sports Foundation also believes that men and women athletes should get equal purses when they are partaking in the same competition, such as Wimbledon or X Games, that has both men and women athletes participating in the same events. When leagues are separate events in the "commercial marketplace" and are conducted solely on the money they earn, the amount a player makes will differ among leagues, regardless of whether they are male or female athletes. The issue of equal purses should be questioned when men and women are competing in the same sporting event in which a single ticket is offered. there is no justification of paying one sex higher than the other. The following statement from an article on the Women's Sports Foundation website says it all, "how would the public react if there were higher purses for white athletes than athletes of color? Sex discrimination is no different than race discrimination."

The bottome line here is that unequal purses goes way beyond money issues and beyond the playing field. When our kids watch a telecast and see female athletes valued less than their male counterparts, they are learning that women are less respected and rewarded in todays society. We are announcing values for future generations; we need to be sure that the "accepted values are acceptable ones."

For more information on pay inequity, check out http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Equity-Issues/P/Pay-Inequity-in-Athletics.aspx

The Fast Pitch Draft

The NPF has a player draft every year, much like the drafts you see in the MLB. Each year the draft consists of the NPF looking at college seniors. The players will not be signed to the league until their college eligibility is completed.

Individual teams also have tryouts that are regional during the late winter months and early spring so they can fill available spots on their respective teams. If a player is not under contract, has not yet been drafted and has completed her college eligibility, she may seek out individual teams in an effort to  secure a spot on that team. Players who fall into this category are considered to be free agents. As with all sports, free agents are encouraged to provide career accomplishments and statistics to the prospective team.

The NPF holds regional tryouts each year for those who have not been drafted by the NPF or individual teams. Those interested in being drafted should reference the NCAA rules in regards to involvement with professional teams http://www.ncaa.org/. Being aware of the collegiate rules and regulations is extremely important when trying out for professional teams when you are still obligated to college play.

We all know that professional men's teams pay more than women's professional sports, but the following is quite pathetic if you ask me. If you are drafted to the NPF, the average salary is $2,500-$5,000 for the season. The season of course is only 3 months long in softball. The NPF is hoping that they will be able to pay their players year-round salaries once the league is established. I would think after five years the league would be able to pay their players more than what they are now, but do to poor marketing strategies and the lack of promotional projects, the pay for women's softball will not increase anytime soon.  It is not very advantageous, monetarily,  for women who want to pursue their dreams of playing professional  softball, but their passion for playing surpasses the monetary value by far.

The WNBA Cares

The WNBA Cares is part of NBA Cares. This program consists of the leagues,players and teams that will try to raise and donate $100 million for charity, donate 1 million hours of volunteer services to communities and build over 100 places where children can learn and play over the course of the next five years. According to the WNBA Cares fact sheet, "the WNBA is deeply committed to creating programs that improve the quality of life for all people, with a special emphasis on promoting a healthy lifestyle and positive body image, breast health awareness, youth and family development, and education."

As part of the WNBA Cares program, this past July, the WNBA and the Natural Resources Defense Council teamed up to create public awareness and funding for the protection of our environment. This is the first time  there has been a partnership between a women's professional sports team and the NRDC. Two of the sponsors for the WNBA, Adidas and Spaulding, also jumped on the band wagon for this event. Adidas provided shooting shirts for the team that were 100% organic cotton that also featured the WNBA Green logo. Spaulding sponsored an auction on WNBA.com for the entire week which featured  spaulding basketballs that were made from 40% recycled material and were autographed by the WNBA players.

During the week long event the league encouraged their fans to take part in several community activities that included planting trees, recycling drives, clean up the outdoors day and "go green awareness" nights that were held at team arenas. The evening festivities that were held at team arenas featured auctions that supported environmental protection and promotional events to encourage people to "go green". For more information on the WNBA and WNBA Cares go to http://www.wnba.com/playoffs2009/index.html.

Serena's Meltdown

Serena Williams has been fined $10,000.00 for her outburst on the court towards a line judge that allegedly made a bad call. Williams, upset about the call, told the line judge that she was lucky she was not shoving the ball down her throat. Explicit language was used during her temper tantrum. She also received an additional fine of $500.00 for racket abuse which occurred prior to her meltdown.

http://msn.foxsports.com/tennis/pgStory?contentId=10063000#sport=TENNIS&photo=10062904

According to numerous articles, suspension from next years tournament may be possible. If the administrator of the Grand Slam Committee finds that she committed a major offense, she will not only be suspended from the tournament next year, she will also be fined all of the money that she earned at the tournament. Quite Frankly, I think that is going to far. Granted, what she did was uncalled for, but we have all said things we have regretted. I realize she may be held to a higher standard because of her status, but she is human and it is not like she has had these outbursts before. This is a very minimal infraction compared to other professional athletes who have done far worse. She has paid for her actions, let it go.

Williams did apologize and amended her original apology on Sunday, to add, " I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it's not the way to act -- win or lose, good call or bad call in any sport, in any manner." Williams has admitted her unprofessional behavior and appeared to be very sincere in her statements. If this type of behavior continues to be an issue for her then more severe consequences should be sought, but this is only one incident. The fines she received were more than adequate, lets not make a mountain out of a mole hill.