He sure wished he'd taken it, he said in hindsight. And I didn't want to go back to putting up full-time with condescending high school and college coaches and jerks guarding locker room doors. It doesn't make me angry anymore; it just seems silly and absurd. You know when the line has been crossed because you know about the culture that youve entered . For instance, there are things I might say to a friend or even a casual coworker that I wouldn't think a thing about, but I stop short of saying such things to the players. 26 photos, First published on August 12, 2011 / 12:24 PM. SAGAL: So how did you get into the - how did you - I mean, I'm going to guess SAGAL: that it's harder for a woman to get into major league professional sports reporting than it is for a man. He meant on the bed. She had prepared for it by being in the first class of women admitted to Princeton and said Herman, though, found herself a part of a much larger moment, a wider-ranging battle for equality in the workplace for women. Acceptance will be given if you represent your profession in the highest degree. Ines Sainz, a reporter for Mexico's TV Azteca doing a story on quarterback Mark Sanchez, had footballs thrown in her direction by a Jets coach during practice, and players later called out to her in the team's locker room. I left my stuff in the press box and went downstairs, sandals sticking in last night's gooey beer puddles as usual, as I entered the tunnel to the field. An SMU booster threatened to have my legs brokenand I was delighted. Or go back to feature writing. She is currently involved in a court case to allow women reporters in sports locker rooms. In fact, after 10 minutes in a locker room, you dont notice anyone naked. 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. Jenny Kellner. I got home, took a run and cleaned up and dressed for the ballpark, grabbed my go bag with computer, lipstick, notepads, pens, hairbrush, Altoids, and antacids and headed down I-30 to see what flak awaited me. I said, "Listen, I have been covering this game since I was about two years older than you are so you can just shut it right now.". NBA teams play 82 games a year, not including playoffs and preseason contests. If you dont understand that, particularly as a woman, you might misinterpret it.. I was nervous the first time I entered the Rangers locker room, about seven years ago. Olson later wrote a column apologizing to Wells for coming to his house during what was such an emotional time. [4] The Herald's then owner, News Corporation, offered to transfer her to Sydney, Australia, where she worked for The Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald. The issue at hand was equal access to the players in the locker room for all reporters, regardless of their gender. He said he chose to run this piece in tandem with Roger Angell's piece because, all else aside, they were stories by a couple of kids who grew up loving baseball. If I never went in a locker room, it would have been fine with me, Ludtke said. SAGAL: I thought I'd bring you on and see what you had. Ive noticed the female athletes still get a closed locker room to shower and change today. And it's OK to spit your sunflower seed hulls on the floor. TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz says she was the subject of sexually suggestive remarks by New York Jets players. I remember being scared because I hadn't known how the locker room was going to look or smell or who or what I would have to wade throughliterally and figurativelyto find this man. Oh sure, at first they think it's pretty cool that you're the only person at a party who can remember Neil Lomax's name or that you can name all the Rangers managers in 18 secondswith a shot in your mouth. So why are they going to think the reporter is any different at first? Sometimes I'm kind of quiet in a group interview, and I have this feeling other reporters will think it's because I'm a dumb ol' girl. [Reporters] obviously need you to say some stuff so they can write their articles, said Islanders alternate captain Kyle Okposo, wiping his forehead with an already-drenched shirt. Its a professional setting, and if the reporter is professional, the whole experience is smooth as silk. The NFL launched an investigation into the incident after Sainz, a veteran reporter, claimed footballs were thrown in her direction by a Jets coach during a practice - seemingly deliberately -. Pleasure to have you. She is a frequent guest speaker at schools and colleges, and active in public schools' mentoring program for girls who hope to study journalism. I could see my worth resided within the confines of a B cup and size six jeans. I immediately got a call from Gayle Reaves, a founder of the Association for Women Journalists. 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. By now I wouldn't really notice if he'd worn a towel or hadn't. Tipped off to my presence, the coach broke into a near run when I headed toward him in the hall. TAFOYA: No, it is, but the emotional rollercoaster of being a fan, it's just not worth it. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". "You know," I thought, "I doubt if any of them read the Observer.". Even in the relatively overlooked NHL, the New York Islanders draw about 30 journalists a game. He joked, he smiled, and he was a great first for me. Please enable JavaScript to experience Vimeo in all of its glory. And I make a beeline for my guy that I'm going to interview, and I'm walking up toward him. She was a member of the first class of women at Princeton University. Oh, Lord. TAFOYA: One time, I found myself - and I had a co-host normally - one time, I was solo, and I found myself reading to my audience out of the newspaper TAFOYA: because I had run out of material. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Alrighty then, time to search out the first player I wanted to talk toUSC quarterback Mark Sanchez. That's another thing that has changed. Specific. I concluded my sports hiatus last year with a stint on a special projects news team, collaborating with another reporter on a series about Fort Worth's high infant-mortality rate. Team dressing rooms are typically open to journalists before or after practices and games. Teams and leagues barred female reporters from locker rooms over the following decades, robbing them of an increasingly important access point for player interviews. It was important to be bold. I think how cool it is to watch a stadium yawn to life. She later was a columnist for the FanHouse sports website, and then a columnist for Sporting News. Other interviews are illuminating for the answers they dont elicit. The key is to gain the players respect and trust. The New York Islanders arent shy about giving interviews in various stages of undress. When you've got dirt on them, all the condescending good-ol'-boy stuff goes out the window. Industrial-size hampers, home to growing mounds of moist practice jerseys, sit on each side of the cramped chamber in its Syosset, New York, training facility. Sept. 8, 1985 12 AM PT United Press International Sportswriter Donna Balancia had two team officials block her from the New York Giants' locker room after a recent preseason game. You can listen to the whole thing here. The interview format is believed to have been popularized around mid-century by Dick Young, a New York Daily News sportswriter. [5], On September 17, 1990, Olson was interviewing players in the Patriots locker room on a practice day. Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. SAGAL: And some of the players were like, wait a minute, we don't want girls in here. It was also the Bear's last season. 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. The he got to a really big one"Best General Column Writing." For years I was hopelessly mired in phone answering and score taking, watching as others in similar positions moved up and on. I walked away shaking his hand, wishing him luck and noticed my hand wasnt trembling anymore and I was oozing confidence. 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. The players were roaming around in towels or standing by their lockers speaking into digital recordersno one was smacking towels on butts, no one was making soap jokes. SAGAL: I got to ask you about the locker room. I began investigating the pay-for-play scandals of the Southwest Conference. SAGAL: Or C, Benjamin Franklin became the first and only member thrown out because of his horrible morals? I dont think you need to be in there when the athletes are down to their skivvies. 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. I've wanted to write stories about baseball since I was 10 years oldto write words so good that people would read them twice. . The sexism row over a female sports reporter who was allegedly harassed in the New York Jets locker room was reignited last night after a Fox NFL analyst claimed she was 'asking for it.' What was fascinating to me was getting to hear the teasing between players, how they gave each other crap, she says. You get a really honest reaction, and thats what makes stories good. agree wrote: If a male reporter went into the womens locker room, all hell would break loose. I was trying to work and didn't feel I had the time for petty bullshit. Gayle Gardner (born ca. He got an apology from the Hyatt; I got suspected of prostitution while waiting in a hotel lobby for Grant Teaff. As Orwell said, Everyone's equal, but some are more equal than others. On Jan 21, 1975 she "broke the locker room barrier" as the first female reporter to enter a male professional league locker room (NHL All-Star Game) for post-game quotes. Portis said he thinks a female reporter who has the access to see male football players naked is bound to get turned on. Eagles rookie Jordan Davis explains biggest culture shock coming from Georgia to Philly, Former Eagle Chris Long praises Philly culture, sends message to current athletes, Rumor: Eagles locker room sold on Jalen Hurts, should be good for next week, DeVonta Smith explains McDonalds breakfast ritual to GQ, follows in Donovan McNabbs footsteps, Weekend Rips: The Declaration of Independence is one of many reminders of European inferiority, Sixers Have Shown Interest in Kings Stretch Big, Nemanja Bjelica, Eagles place 4 players on Reserve/COVID-19 list. There are plenty of women who have guy friends and have no ulterior motive in the friendshipcontrary to popular belief, women and men can co-habitate in extreme conditions. The game was boring. But the point is that you don't even think much about people being naked after a while, and unless you have some peculiar reason for remembering, you don't know who you have seen naked because they all kind of waltz in and out of the shower naked, just one wet butt covered with soap film after another. TAFOYA: I think one of the most - and again, I won't name names - but I remember doing an NBA game, and I was asked to go interview a player's wife in the stands about something. And I know how smartass remarks work, too. The dirty little secret I've discovered is how little men know about sports, since this is what men are supposed to know more about than women. many of her friends were going through similar, if much less public, struggles in fields like advertising and law and medicine. 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