Minority sports reporters

Yes, it's up to women to get proactive and take an interest in their own.
Their lack of support for each other in sports, based on the true bonding that I've seen so many women engage in during everyday life situations, is perplexing.
They just don't care about athletes who are women.
If you put a bunch of females together and see a bond form, it's usually the ones who are talking about make-up and boys issues and clothes and raising kids and fine wines and vacationing and job issues and their kids' school issues, etc, etc, etc.
Lots of worthwhile topics mixed in there with some off-beat general stuff.
But rest assured, it won't be sports that they are spending hours and hours discussing.
Especially not women's sports.
Having said all that, let me ask any of you a question.
Have you ever gotten a good tip, then rushed out to write a cool story?
one out and given some exposure where it's due?
Say you heard through the grapevine that they were packing 'em in at the fieldhouse for women's games.
Putting 10,000 a night, or maybe much more, into the seats to watch the local women's team.
That's when you will get coverage of that entity.
Not when there are barely 100 people or barely 500 people at the joint.
Tell all the women you know to create a story. Tell 'em to get out and create a buzz.
Tell 'em athletes really do feed off the emotion of a big crowd.
And see what sort of response you get.
I want to see women support women's athletics. From the beginning of time up to now, they haven't done it.

 

And this is a big part of what I have a problem with. I too, would like to see more women support women's sports, but from what I gather by these posts, is that men aren't going to. I like women's basketball, but I also like men's hoops. Is it completely up to women to create a buzz? Can women cross over and watch the opposite gender play basketball, but is it uncool for guys to watch women play basketball? I hope that women's sports will one day create a buzz and not just with women. But I guess I may have a long wait.

 

Peyton,

Here is how I feel. I like all kinds of sports. I don't discriminate. Even if I hate a sport personally, I don't hate it as an editor.

But newspaper space is limited.

You got a great story from duck-duck-goose? I'm interested.

You want me to cover your duck-duck-goose tournament? Sorry, unless you are drawing a big crowd.

You want me to cover your sparsely attended duck-duck-goose tournament to boost attendance? Buy an ad.

 

I've read this thread and laughed. Look, can't we all just get along. If you don't feel a bond, make a bond. It's that simple. Ask yourself this question: When was the last time you had someone of a different color inside your home for fun? Most would say never. That's why Amerikkka is as fucked up as it is.

 

I could make a Duke lacrosse joke here, but I won't.

 

Ace, I know you like to joke, but seriously, this is one reason why this country is screwed up.

 

It had nothing to do with Glass being white. I mean, I'm sorry, but it didn't. It had to do with him being a charmer, a wunderkind and provocative writer. It also had to do, quite simply, with the fact the New Republic didn't use photos.

Read Blair's book and read the NYT recap of his short stint there. He was passed along, ignored and poorly developed because editors knew he lacked any reason for being there. I'm suggesting that, to some extent, he was frozen out - and he felt that way. He certainly tied it to his race. Read Glass's The Fabulist, and you don't get that impression at all.

 

You are absolutely right.

Hey, you don't know anybody who is gay. Gays are evil.

Don't know anyone who is black. Blacks are dangerous.

Don't know any Mexicans, Jews, etc. etc.

Get to know them and you find that people are pretty much the same.

 

Well, I can tell you that the one woman in our sports department -- matter of fact, the only woman sports staffer in the entire chain -- was laid off today. So my former paper's sports staff is now all white men. Diversify!

 

That's totally fucked up!

 

And the size of that staff is?

 

Minus one equals nine.