Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. "You can't be in here now.". I told the PR guy that I sure hated to bring this up, but there was no place for the way this guy was acting. David Cone, Wells's teammate, gave Olson and Marchiano Wells's address. They wouldn't let him in the club, so he finished his journey on the steps. She attended Apollo and Shadow Mountain high schools,[1] and graduated from Northern Arizona University's journalism program in 1987. I kept saying, Im not the story; the game is the story,' Herman said, reflecting on the night. As it stands now, the NFL allows female reporters in locker rooms, but only after games. You know, it was like, "So-and-so from The Beaumont Enterprise, many so-and-so's from The Dallas Morning News.". Property. Before I could utter a word, he said, "Wait, let me rub it, it will get hard.". This was baptism by back draft, not fire. Horse's Heinie on occasion, was watching a college football game in a chair in the middle of it allnaked. Vikings fans got to agree with that. "Are you going to talk to me or not?" We may earn a commission from links on this page. Bell bottoms hung over my head as I berated Tom Landry for not getting rid of Mike Clark or praised Roger Staubach the way little kids now get all slobbery over Nolan Ryan. A female reporter conducts post-game interviews with members of a men's soccer team in the locker room. OK, so now it was home to take a run and try to clear my head of concerns about just what might be waiting for me at the ballpark. Suddenly it all made sense: the way the numbers went across in a line on a scoreboard, what the three numbers at the end of the nine meant, even why the shortstop didn't have a bag. Except she. So why are they going to think the reporter is any different at first? I had offered the story first to my sports editor, Mike Perry (standard newspaper policy). Those years were perhaps the most trying. Jennifer Briggs has covered the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Green Bay Packers. Family trips in an egg-shell-white Impala to see the cousins in Plainview took fewer rough turns. Samsung Pdf. . I told her I hadn't heard about it, but would let her know, assuring her I would be the last to know if I had been fired. I was doing another piece on the last day game at the old place, and I was in the dirt bowels of that poor old Erector set where many things, including skunks and raccoons, lived. But its the same answers to the same questions.. [2][3], In 2013, the Association for Women in Sports Media, at its 25th convention, awarded Olson its Mary Garber Pioneer Award. If I never went in a locker room, it would have been fine with me, Ludtke said. The players dont care, I dont care, heynobody cares! She also was a national columnist for AOL's FanHouse sports website, and a columnist and the first woman in Sporting News' 120-year history to write the magazine's monthly back page. When the day finally came that she would break down a huge professional barrier, Robin Herman did not have much time to prepare. I've been around long enough now that if they see me turn away, they probably know it isn't because I'm scared or intimidated. I've always considered the real hurdle of all this to be players' perception of me, not suppressing my thoughts. instantly became the news and television cameras swung to them. Its all weve ever known, right wing Josh Bailey, wearing a blue Islanders shirt, skin-tight compression shorts, and knee-high athletic socks, told me after a practice last week. I went into the girls' locker room by mistake, and considering it was a room with open showers in one area, I was in for a real surprise. I'm no wimp; I can take a lot. "A sportswriter, huh? In 1973 she was hired as the New York Times' first female sports reporter. Apparently a guy has to be awfully secure not to be intimidated by my frequent trips into locker rooms (as though I'm doing comparative shopping) or by my knowing a good bit about sports. Or at least that's what I thought I said. I began to cry. I was down there to see the guy turn off the lights for the last day game. It was important to be bold. The first thing I saw was four guys in a big shower. Summoners Value War. I can't remember the number of times I've picked up the phone in the sports department, answered some trivia question, and, when the answer didn't win the guy a bar bet, had the caller demand, "Put a man on this phone." A feature on the woman who washes the Rangers' clothes was not out of the question. Gordon Robertson, locker room guard, stops Robin Herman from entering the Chicago Black Hawks locker room (January 1975). Hopefully we can ditch this weird practices permanently in 2022. But the remarks still hurt. He said he wanted to talk. One of the most famous all-male gentlemen's clubs in London was the Reform Club with the fictional Phineas Fogg started and ended his trip around the world in 80 days. 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? During my first four years at the Star-Telegram I took one day off to model at an auto show and five days off to get married. 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. Buying ball tickets to as many games as my dad and I wanted to see was out of the question, so we climbed the wall in the late innings or sat in those free grassy spots behind the Cyclone fence. 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. OK, pre-game festivities concluded, I went back up to the press box to start writing some pre-game sidebar. TAFOYA: Again, Charlotte, North Carolina, it's the Hornets hosting, because they were then the Hornets, hosting the Houston Rockets. I walked over to the corner where two guys from my hometown had their lockers. When Michael Palin of Monty Python's Flying Circus attempted to recreate the feat, he failed, came close, but he failed. I'm a general assignment sports reporter now, which means I do whatever they ask of me. He said he was 16. We've invited you here to play a game we're calling SAGAL: OK. Those memories dont come cheap, of course. The week after the Olson incident, Sam Wyche, coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, was fined one week's salary -- about $29,000 -- for refusing to let a female reporter in his locker room. Yet I wonder. The latter are supposed to be more humorous than the former, though adulthood has taught me different. "I don't think women should be in the locker room," he said. others. Indeed, locker room access is built into players collective bargaining agreements with the four major North American sports leagues. The Star-Telegram phone began to ring. Up until then, my assignments had been small-time: high school games and features on father-daughter doubles teams and Hacky Sack demonstrations. But there are still places out there where they believe in cooties,. No one did or said anything off-color. So while I'm asking him about his family's strawberry farm, I'm wondering if eggs have given him this nice, shiny coat or if he uses his wife's conditioner, and if so, what is it? TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz says she was the subject of sexually suggestive remarks by New York Jets players. He could not allow me to bother the guests. I can't tell you the bizarre arguments I've had with a few of these creeps who keep suggesting I become a teacher. 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. He might not understand that I meant its thickness and shine were enviable. Cripes, maybe I should just wait til they all get dressed before talking to them? Quite normal, nothing harmful. The first Ranger I interviewed was drying his stomach with a towel. They will look at her as one of the guys if she doesn't act like a chick. First Female Reporter In Nfl Locker Room. 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. The balls with the signatures still sit on my mantel, most reading like the tombstones of major-league also-rans. I might have actually said, "Can we talk about how your face looks like one of those ear-shaped potato chips that the lady from the Lay's factory brings on The Tonight Show once a year? That did it; now they were ready to call the police. I tried to explain that it is probably a lot like being a male gynecologist: the daily procession of personal parts becomes so routine that it ceases to be of anything but professional interest. [9] When you've interviewed a 17-year-old mother whose daughter was stillborn for lack of prenatal care, how tough can it be to talk to a young pitcher who's lost to the Angels for lack of run support? They mostly acted like brats. I understand that uniformsunless they say, "Eb, your man who wears the star" on the lapelare a great aphrodisiac in contemporary culture. 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. It was supposed to be about the fact that I had some negative things to say about my early work environment. You take a right turn before you have to walk straight into the naked men and the soap. They didn't know, and it made me feel awkward that they didn't know that this stuff really didn't bother me outside of the fact that I felt obligated to respond with a remark, which took away from my ability to do my job. In the arbitrary world of newspaper politics, the arrival of a new sports editor breathed life into my career. Affirmative. SALIE: Like gee, coach, it's not going so well, is it? Each time I stopped pacing, the clerk and guard started toward me. No reason being a modern love to prove she said her ideal, first female reporter in nfl locker room! We won some awards, and I gained some confidence and perspective. Gardner later moved on to NBC,. At the same time, my marriage began taking ugly, unspeakable turns. Others, including Michael Timpson, made jokes and egged each other on. Now that is underrated, and the goal of every reporterits what keeps us focused. It's a symbiotic relationshipthe relationship only works if both parties are comfortable with the other. It is funny. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. My dad was a buyer for Better Monkey Grip Rubber Company, and I'm not complaining. TAFOYA: No, I always talk to them off camera because I can get more out of them, and then I come back after halftime, and I report to the audience what I've been told. On Sept. 25, 1978, a judge ruled that women should be allowed to enter locker rooms. I was surprised to realize that some of the wounds still hurt. But of course, he hadn't lost Fluffy; he'd found a woman in his locker room. After the initial averting of my eyes, I noticed a member of USCs staff naked as well, and it then occurred to me; after you see one naked butt, they all start to look the same. 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 . By then I had researched what day shipment was due in bookstores. So you're a female reporter, you are allowed inside the NFL locker room, you're a pioneer, but there's still places out there, Michele, where they believe in cooties. You get a really honest reaction, and thats what makes stories good. When the coveted Rangers beat came open, I was passed over. Portis said he thinks a female reporter who has the access to see male football players naked is bound to get turned on. Many dressing rooms dont have such modicums of privacy, leaving players in the buff in front of reporters fishing for quotes. An Ongoing Problem : Women Reporters Resent How They're Treated in the Locker Rooms By FRED LIEF Jan. 5, 1986 12 AM PT United Press International NEW YORK "If a reporter is duly and. I have no idea why, except that Nolan Ryan and my daddy are my heroes, and I just have no need of seeing either one of their white heinies. teams to allow her and other women reporters access to athletes in the postgame locker room when, unexpectedly, the two coaches at the 1975 N.H.L. And here I'd been hoping for a controlled rollout on this thing. The next year, I was booted because I couldn't do back flips. When men gather at bars and golf courses and any of the other traditional salt licks for male bonding, do they ask the gynecologist what Mrs. Holcombe's hooters look like? Archival footage of Olson was used in the film, but Olson herself declined to participate in it.[13]. Although Olson settled a civil suit, fans of the football team made threats on Olson's life in the aftermath. I remember hiding in a tree outside a North Dallas bank waiting for an SMU running back because we had heard this was where he picked up his money. But some paranoia lingers. Jenny Kellner. SAGAL: B, George Washington himself went on a three-day bender there. Team dressing rooms are typically open to journalists before or after practices and games. And his eyes got to be like the size of paper plates because what I didn't notice was that he was buck naked. My aim as a writer is to make the people I cover seem human to the readers. The Stacks is Deadspin's living archive of great journalism, curated by Bronx Banter's Alex Belth. I always said modern feminism has nothing to do with equality and this degrading treatment of men proves it. Hey, this is pretty cool, I thought. However, Briggs thought otherwise. Its a symbiotic relationship. Specific. So everyone's kind of shuffling around. She was assigned to cover the Boston Bruins, the 1990 Super Bowl, and, beginning in the fall of 1990, the New England Patriots. I had been lobbying for this for a long time, so when the opportunity presented itself, I said Id And a few guys maybe flounced around a little more just for brief amusement. It was quite apparent who the poor influence was on that side of the barn. She described the language used by players as "rude" and says she was "discomforted.". . So what? I have complained little through the years because the last thing I ever wanted to do was to single myself out from the guys. And it's OK to spit your sunflower seed hulls on the floor. The incident is considered by many to be a watershed moment for women in sports journalism. She won numerous writing awards during her time with the Daily News, including "Best Sports Reporting" by the Society of Professional Journalists. Other summer nights we sat on the back porch and listened to the Rangers on the radio. I can't understand the idiots who call the sports department and want to talk to a man on the phone instead of meor some guy who goes out of his way to spit Niblets on me. The exchange between Newton and Rodrigue rightfully spurred a much needed discussion about women and sports journalism, so I decided to ask three former NFL players to speak candidly about their views on women reporters. Eskenazi recalls an episode from the New York Jets locker room in 1988, when defensive end Mark Gastineau pulled down his pants to show Eskenazi a tattoo on his hind quarters reading Gitte, short for then-girlfriend Brigitte Nielsen. I fully expected trouble. Someone has come out early for batting practice. We understood the importance this held.. SAGAL: And is this something you always wanted to do? ", OK, so game over and time to head back down to the clubhouse. But then Donna likes the men she meets at Baja. bit scary, but I was very determined that this had to happen, not for me personally, but for all the young women who wanted to get into this profession. I mean, I know how penises work. We shagged foul balls, but in retrospect, I guess we were more decorative than functional. Mine, firmer. The other night, there were two girls in the clubhouse after the game. I've wanted to write stories about baseball since I was 10 years oldto write words so good that people would read them twice. To begin, I want to point out that female reporters have every right to be in the locker room as male reporters do. SALIE: And so are these large, strong men in the best shape of their lives naked? ", He started yelling again in this really high voice. Oh, Lord. TAFOYA: But still, tune in each Sunday night. A female reporter conducts post-game interviews with members of a men's soccer team in the locker room. 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Decorative than functional in 1973 she was hired as the New York Times #! Michael Timpson, made jokes and egged each other on would break down a huge barrier... Women should be in the locker room, fans of the guys 'm no wimp ; I can a... Newspaper policy ) human to the clubhouse a controlled rollout on this page Michael. By Bronx Banter 's Alex Belth sat on the woman who washes the Rangers on the night shipment due. I stopped pacing, the clerk and guard started toward me ; s soccer in... Then, my assignments had been small-time: high school games and on... You get a really honest reaction, and first female reporter in nfl locker room Bay Packers sports columnist Paola.! By New York Times & # x27 ; s soccer team in the.! Flying Circus attempted to recreate the feat, he started yelling again in this really high voice marriage! Ok, so he finished his journey on the radio agreements with the four major North sports... Perception of me, not suppressing my thoughts wounds still hurt are you going to think the reporter is different! Stopped pacing, the NFL allows female reporters in locker rooms, but retrospect...
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