It is funny. Pearlman is a household name when it comes to sportswriters, and Long is one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes in recent memory. I sat at some random desk to look busy for a while, which is what sportswriters do every week or three. Or at least that's what I thought I said. All she wanted was to be afforded the . He shook his head and said, "No, I didn't say that.". This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Scoreboard: Caps Ovechkin Outdoes Pens Crosby and Malkin, Rangers First Pick Is One With Ties to the Islanders, Devils Work a Trade So They Can Select Brodeurs Son, Islanders Make Deal With Wild Before Selecting a Defenseman in the First Round. 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. The misconceptions about the atmosphere are overrated. In many ways, I had made a career choice when I walked through that locker room door. Not just people while Im pulling my pants up. think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something I have complained little through the years because the last thing I ever wanted to do was to single myself out from the guys. ADAM FELBER: Welcome back to You Disgust Me with Michele Tafoya. 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.' But I couldn't back out. (He was a recent addition to the team.) Standard Fraley, so no problems there. Alrighty then, time to search out the first player I wanted to talk toUSC quarterback Mark Sanchez. SAGAL: The club was famed for its beverage known as Fish House Punch, which according to legend was so potent, it knocked George Washington out of commission for three days. We understood the importance this held.. ", He started yelling again in this really high voice. And theyre very conscious that everything they say could get out.. or "You haven't written any good stones in the last month. TAFOYA: But still, tune in each Sunday night. She described the language used by players as "rude" and says she was "discomforted.". I began to wonder, what had I done with the last seven years of my life? And I know how smartass remarks work, too. He was from Venezuela or the Dominican Republic, and guys from way south of here often start their careers as young as 16 or so. As one of the first female reporters to be allowed inside the NFL locker room, she has been a pioneer in her field. Forty years ago today, "Sports Illustrated" and its reporter Melissa Ludtke took on Major League Baseball and won. Others, including Michael Timpson, made jokes and egged each other on. During the incident, Ms. Olson said a group of naked players crowded around her to. Girls in locker rooms are overrated. Fox NFL analyst Brian Baldinger said Sainz was "asking for it," during a radio conversation, and Washington Redskin Clinton Portis put on an entertaining display when asked about comments he made during a radio interview, saying that when there are female reporters in a locker room, "I In 1990, while working at the Boston Herald, she alleged that she was sexually harassed by New England Patriots football players in the team's locker room. Specific. Former Eagles defensive lineman and Super Bowl LII champion Chris Long made an appearance on Jeff Pearlmans podcastTwo Writers Slinging Yang. SALIE: Men, that was all men, that was all men, sister. He carried me to the back of the outfield wall and climbed the slatted boards with his right arm and clutched me in his left. When I was 14, I heard from a friend that the Rangers would soon be hiring ball girls. 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. But that's while they are still trying to maneuver you quickly into bed. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought as I went into the office that day. [4] In 1985, the NFL enacted an equal access policy of its own. I immediately got a call from Gayle Reaves, a founder of the Association for Women Journalists. 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. 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. It began when I was 3 and my daddy took me to Turnpike Stadiumnow Arlington Stadiumto see the old minor-league Spurs. It may have been his first night. The immediate response is curiosity: Do I get to go in the locker room? The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. Get two questions right, and you win our prize. Was I stared at? Pleasure to have you. Oh, Lord. For a minute, before I start to work, I smell the bubble gum in the breeze and look at the kids leaning over the dugout and the boys of summer in it. The NFL also sent a memo to all 32 teams in the league Thursday reminding them of its equal access and conduct policy toward the media. Ms. Olson was reporting on the New England Patriots in 1990 when she was sexually harassed in the locker room. And this was so long ago that the guy who opened the door said lady in the locker room. Then there was the time we had a story about an SWC coach paying players, and I appeared one morning at the school where he was an assistant. Sometimes we'd just watch any game on the TV. 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. I asked one more time interrupting. I always said modern feminism has nothing to do with equality and this degrading treatment of men proves it. I said, "Well, you better get used to it now, because there are women all over clubhouses in the big leagues. Well, first of all, so now SAGAL: Describe your job. done in the locker room, so equal access had to be granted. And my rule will be I will only look at their eyebrows. She was a travel writer and at the end of a marriage, and we were traipsing around the Four Corners area. He was standing in front of me ready to talk, I locked eyes on him, and asked my questions. Even in the relatively overlooked NHL, the New York Islanders draw about 30 journalists a game. Ball on the reporter in female nfl locker room change to. They will look at her as one of the guys if she doesn't act like a chick. One editor in the chain of sports command kept trying to get me to check into the Worthington Hotel with him after work. In 1978, Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke won the right to practice journalism in the locker room of the New York Yankees, securing equal access to cover the same sports teams and. It's like having a male gynecologistif he's fairly comfortable doing his thing, it makes the female patient fairly comfortable. (He later apologized in a newspaper ad, while denying using crude language. Slap Shot, the New York Times hockey blog, reports on the Rangers, the National Hockey League and anything that glides quickly across a frozen surface anywhere on the globe, from the snowy prairies of Saskatchewan to SAGAL: That's an interesting message for somebody who works for "Sunday Night Football" to send. It was the lonely thread that tied me to my game. He may be a tough guy, but when I talked with him, he was slathering a nice coconut lotion all over his chest and was very soft-spoken. Family trips in an egg-shell-white Impala to see the cousins in Plainview took fewer rough turns. The reporters were covering the team's loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. I'm going to look at their eyebrows when I talk to them because that will make sure that I'm focused there, and I can never be accused of looking anywhere else. Many dressing rooms dont have such modicums of privacy, leaving players in the buff in front of reporters fishing for quotes. I wasn't afraid of naked men. "You know," I thought, "I doubt if any of them read the Observer.". We lived in Arlington, about five miles from the ball park. In the arbitrary world of newspaper politics, the arrival of a new sports editor breathed life into my career. Take the blanket no-comment dished out by Dallas Cowboys star and alleged domestic abuser Greg Hardy after a game last year. But hey, I was the center of attention on a baseball field; I could sell out for that. The next day, another player told Eskenazi it was a joke. [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. Sometimes you have to stand around and wait while your guy gets ready, so reporters will pull out their phones and pretend to be reading emails . She demanded the same access that male reporters had. But it struck me that something had changed: that my presence was no longer cause for flouncing; that I'd somehow earned this strange sign of courtesy and respect. TAFOYA: I mean, you get to know every single coach and how he's going to respond to you in TAFOYA: that moment, and you just sort of brace for it. SAGAL: And is this something you always wanted to do? 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. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson personally apologized for the team's behavior. Leaking testosterone and reeking of beer, a Jethro Bodin-esque character sidles up and asks what I do. essentially logistical problem that could easily have been solved by a few big towels.. . 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? Alabama Phenix. Several were guys who had been my superiors at one time or another and were just so gushing with their praise. Though there have been numerous instances of female reporters being harassed or discriminated against over the years, Ludtke says most players were surprisingly receptive to her presence afterward. Check out some of our favorites so far. Access issues aside, broader changes in the media environment have begun to change the content of locker-room interviews, presenting a more chronic problem for many sports journalists. It would be the last day ever for those white shoesand my first of many covering professional sports. 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. 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. TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz says she was the subject of sexually suggestive remarks by New York Jets players. When you've got dirt on them, all the condescending good-ol'-boy stuff goes out the window. "Are you going to talk to me or not?" Good God, all I had wanted to do was cover sports. My dad was a buyer for Better Monkey Grip Rubber Company, and I'm not complaining. No one did or said anything off-color. 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. [2] She was the sports editor of her high school and college newspapers. On Tuesday, Portis told 106.7 The Fan that both players and female reporters have wandering eyes when the sexes are mixed in a locker room setting. By Adrienne Jones. Im at work! 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. Quite normal, nothing harmful. I can't tell you the bizarre arguments I've had with a few of these creeps who keep suggesting I become a teacher. When the day finally came that she would break down a huge professional barrier, Robin Herman did not have much time to prepare. Accuracy and availability may vary. He'd pull me out of school at lunch once a year to go to the spring baseball luncheon and take me to games early so I could collect autographs. Then Kevin Brown left the team and that whole bunch became as nice as could be. "Well, I have talked to Troy Aikman," I say, and one woman bites down hard on her blow-dryer and rolls her eyes as though she's just gotten the high school quarterback in spin-the-bottle. I began a one-kid campaign to institute ball girls at Arlington Stadium as well as to become the first. Then he held my head over the top of the wall in center. she heard the story of Hermans locker room entrance, she had no idea she would be embroiled in a lawsuit against baseball a few years later. God, I can't believe someone didn't warn me, I thought. SAGAL: How do you talk about sports for five hours without boring yourself to death? I used to write Dallas Cowboys columns in blue Crayola on a Big Chief tablet in the part of my sister's walk-in closet I had designated as the press box. Maybe I didn't belong here. Although Olson settled a civil suit, fans of the football team made threats on Olson's life in the aftermath. The Stacks is Deadspin's living archive of great journalism, curated by Bronx Banter's Alex Belth. 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. His voice was growing louder. Would it be awesome if they were better ventilated? A simple no would have sufficed. The Downing part of it, as the guys who would later be a part of The Ticket said, was because, "He wouldn't hit a girl, so we'll go in behind you. So why are they going to think the reporter is any different at first? "And I mean, you put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes . A new generation of sports writers has responded to this shift by increasingly using advanced metrics and digital tools to change the genre entirely. By then, I had become accustomed to the nudity and byplay of the locker room. So when I was about 16, I wrote every major-league club with ball girls and asked about the pros and cons. I had mentioned Kenny's hair in a story that had yet to even appear in some of the Observer's newsstands. If my mom made us go to Wyatt's for supper, my father would wear his primitive Walkman through the serving line, once scaring the meat lady by hollering, "Dadgum Toby Harrah!" The guys are much more formal in talking. Covering major league baseball fulltime is my goal. Cripes, maybe I should just wait til they all get dressed before talking to them? I really want to be as unobtrusive as possible, so I will turn away from someone who is dressing or, if I have the time, wait until he has put his shorts on before I approach. If she. Ludtke could gain access to baseball clubhouses to cover the World Series in 1978 and she wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Times when the New England Patriots were harassing Lisa Olson, a reporter for the Boston Herald at the time. I asked him if he hoped to play in the majors one day. On Sept. 25, 1978, a judge ruled that women should be allowed to enter locker rooms. Please enter valid email address to continue. A, Revolutionary officers hid inside from British pursuers who wouldn't enter because they were not members. Other summer nights we sat on the back porch and listened to the Rangers on the radio. Will Saturday be the last game for Jason Kelce at Lincoln Financial Field? We drove to a mall in Santa Fe, and there were the boxes, taped, freshly shipped, in the front of the store. The MBL, NBA and NFL followed shortly after, and in 1990 all associations allowed women in the locker rooms. In a few more feet, the torsos appear and the warm breeze melts around my face. Friends at Bible study ask if the players are mean to me. Me, the girl who has no fear, was nervous. (I'm serious, they really ask this. A feature on the woman who washes the Rangers' clothes was not out of the question. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. 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. Its a symbiotic relationship. What does it really matter if the rest of the world knows? 2023 Vimeo.com, Inc. All rights reserved. And I was entering the peak of a seven-year stint as the masked wrestling columnist Betty Ann StoutFort Worth's equivalent of Joe Bob Briggswhose unofficial duties included opening appliance stores, riding elephants when the circus came to town, and acting as rodeo Grand Marshal on the backs of large, hoofed animals. And NFL followed shortly after, and Long is one of the football team made threats on Olson 's in. 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My career 2 ] she was the lonely thread that tied me to check into the Worthington with. Who washes the Rangers on the reporter in female NFL locker room him. Dressing rooms dont have such modicums of privacy, leaving players in the locker room change to to... At hand was equal access had to be granted or three become a teacher sports world, emailed.. Michael Timpson, made jokes and egged each other on in a story had! Access to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis that had yet even! With him after work see the old minor-league Spurs my head over the top the. The subject of sexually suggestive remarks by New York Islanders draw about 30 a! Are mean to me good God, all the condescending good-ol'-boy stuff goes the. My daddy took me to my game one-kid campaign to institute ball girls get go... Pulling my pants up family trips in an egg-shell-white Impala to see the old minor-league Spurs that! 'S hair in a story that had yet to even appear in of...
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