I know people make sexual comments to one another, and they are not always inappropriate. I had to go in. Now that is underrated, and the goal of every reporterits what keeps us focused. A lot of why Philly loves Long is his straight shooter attitude, which was on full display in this episode. SAGAL: Did somebody drop some profanity on you? Melissa Ludtke, then a writer for Sports Illustrated, is shown in her New York office in Januar 1978. His voice was growing louder. She would later come to work at The Times as well. TAFOYA: And so if they come up with any other days of the week, I'll be happy to try those, as well. 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. A, while he was gone, the club had viewed the classic Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch and decided Mr. Palin was too vulgar to be readmitted to the premises; B, he got back to London but couldn't be readmitted because he was poorly dressed; or C, he tried to drive himself to the club in central London but got lost? Perfect. SAGAL: So you are and have been for how long now, the sideline on-field reporter for NBC's "Sunday Night Football"? This is all very exciting. One even said, "You know you don't have to do this work," in a tone that sounded like Sting telling Roxanne she didn't have to put on the red light. But that's while they are still trying to maneuver you quickly into bed. Except she and St. Cyr Although Olson settled a civil suit, fans of the football team made threats on Olson's life in the aftermath. I was ready to gnaw my way through the first one I saw that might have had the book in it. TAFOYA: I was too focused on his eyebrows. Locker rooms are overrated. And yes, he gave me a pat on the shoulder afterwards. No one seems to know when the first female Equipment . Its a symbiotic relationship. 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. By then, I had become accustomed to the nudity and byplay of the locker room. I have complained little through the years because the last thing I ever wanted to do was to single myself out from the guys. I ran out of material 10 minutes ago. I checked out Rey Maualugas locker, which resembles something out of that voodoo-worshipping slugger from the movie Major League. He let me do it. Back then, almost 30 years ago, passion for the national pastime was an heirloom fathers passed to their sons. I was amazed. The executive types weren't too hot on the idea. "Is she supposed to be here?" He joked, he smiled, and he was a great first for me. Reporter Beth Ruyak stands holding a mircophone in front the NFC Locker Room before Super Bowl XXV with the New York Giants against the Buffalo Bills. I was surprised to realize that some of the wounds still hurt. The hockey teams locker room isnt as rancid as expected. She was assigned to cover the Boston Bruins, the 1990 Super Bowl, and, beginning in the fall of 1990, the New England Patriots. . 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. Customers Modifications . The issue at hand was equal access to the players in the locker room for all reporters, regardless of their gender. 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. It wasn't Reggie or pro-locker-room banter. And blocked by virtue of being a woman Melissa Ludtke's landmark. My daddy and I saw our first major-league game together on Opening Night here in 1972. For most of the guys who hang around for more than three dates, my job suddenly becomes a problem. The Major League Baseball season counts nearly twice as many, while the shorter NFL campaign sees much more focused media attention. And there, not 1,000 days after I had emerged from the darkness of the womb, hundreds of bright light bulbs made me squint as I watched the first half-inning of my life, the last three outs of a Spurs game. Players tear off equipment at wooden cubbies bearing their names and numbers, laughing about how Mel Gibson got ribbed at the Golden Globes. In fact, after 10 minutes in a locker room, you dont notice anyone naked. SAGAL: Or C, Benjamin Franklin became the first and only member thrown out because of his horrible morals? If reporters are usually allowed into locker rooms, then this reaction makes sense. I never told my friends. It had been less than a decade earlier, in 1990, that Boston Herald reporter Lisa Olson had been sexually harassed by players in the New England Patriots locker room who exposed themselves. I had started wandering longingly over to the sports department, just to talk about baseball. 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. Donna is a good argument for euthanasia. For a gender that keeps complaining about equality and respect, they certainly dont seem to think men should get either of those. They wouldn't let him in the club, so he finished his journey on the steps. ", Because his reaction to my question was to begin raising his voice to say, "There's no time.". The poster was new. Or go back to feature writing. Samsung Pdf. "Are you going to talk to me or not?" We never wanted for anything we really needed, but my parents, raised in the Depression, were cautious about spending. One of my greatest honors. Maybe I should write news or features because I'll never have the fortitude it takes to stay on your toes with one-liners and be tough enough to handle this. "Just do your job, that's it," he told NBCChicago.com. I was so happy I was almost crying, but I was trying to sound very nonchalant while Glenn was giving me the particulars. Fugitive in $18 million COVID fraud scheme extradited to U.S. Hunter who killed, skinned pet dogs says he thought they were coyotes, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege. SALIE: Do you have a minute for me, coach? After the game, he stood at the door of the locker room and told Visser, "There might be a naked boy in there, but I don't give a s___t." Sanchez is a media-savvy guy, so I figured he would be a nice ice-breaker. They knew I could write even the most boring stuff into something of interest. 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. Cripes, maybe I should just wait til they all get dressed before talking to them? In the clubhouse, I was greeted by Rafael Palmeiro. SAGAL: B, according to the club rules, quote, "at the point in their menstrual cycle when they are least likely to attract bears," unquote. However, Briggs thought otherwise. 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. SAGAL: And those pioneers were like, no, we're going, we're doing our job. I wrote about civil rights issues and roamed through abandoned warehouses alone in search of skinheads. I understand that uniformsunless they say, "Eb, your man who wears the star" on the lapelare a great aphrodisiac in contemporary culture. And I gained 40 pounds. One editor in the chain of sports command kept trying to get me to check into the Worthington Hotel with him after work. Like, I understand getting the whole story for your readers. He told me I had to leave unless I was staying at the hotel. I had enough natural talent, I felt certain, that with one high heel in the door, I could work my way into a writer's jobmaybe even someday cover baseball. first female sports columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, where she covered rugby union, Australian rules football, cricket and rugby league. 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. Briggs first said women journalists should be barred from locker rooms during an interview with Peggy Kusinski of NBCChicago.com on Wednesday, the same day the NFL issued a memo that said women . He still didn't answer my question directly. TAFOYA: Let me tell you about my first time. 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 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.". TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz says she was the subject of sexually suggestive remarks by New York Jets players. Now, there are no F-bombs. The potential downside of the setting, meanwhile, is obvious: A poorly framed NFL Network shot this year showed Cincinnati Bengals players, pictured over the interview subjects shoulder, unknowingly giving viewers the full monty. 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 . Sometimes I take a seat in the dugout, where a few of the guys are filtering in, grabbing bats and bubble gum. She was drawn back into the controversy as other sports faced their women-in-the-locker-room moments most famously in the court case brought by Sports Illustrated so the reporter Melissa A new generation of sports writers has responded to this shift by increasingly using advanced metrics and digital tools to change the genre entirely. She was previously a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, and the first female sports columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, where she covered rugby union, Australian rules football, cricket and rugby league. I was one of the guys. he demanded. Two Sundays ago, for example, Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh missed a last-second chip shot that would have likely advanced his team to the next round of the NFL playoffs. I talk to the coaches at halftime as they walk in or out of the locker room, and that's always a load of fun especially the losing coach. The Mavericks pose an entirely different set of problems. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". Covering major league baseball fulltime is my goal. [6] Several of the players subsequently taunted her by walking naked in her presence, making vulgar comments and gestures. The players dont care, I dont care, heynobody cares! NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. I dont think you need to be in there when the athletes are down to their skivvies. Still, most professional athletes also realize that allowing journalists into their sanctuary is a part of the job. But how can you really profile a guy if you haven't seen his coffee table or the junk stuck to his fridge? By that time I had moved east to cover the Phillies. SAGAL: Here's your first question. Gordon Robertson, locker room guard, stops Robin Herman from entering the Chicago Black Hawks locker room (January 1975). And surely the Observer's reader demographics did not include most ballplayers and some stadium employees. 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. I said, "Raffy says you want to see me." It seems in those years I was the only writer who could converse with Julio Franco and Brian Downing. No one seems to know when the first female Equipment Manager was hired. Yeah. from NPR. Whats more, players are increasingly media empires in and of themselves, lessening their incentive to cooperate with journalists. Show More. And I wanted to cover the Rangers someday. In my three years away, I'd shed a husband, a house, a lot of weight, and a collection of unhealthy habits. Then Kevin Brown left the team and that whole bunch became as nice as could be. Accuracy and availability may vary. Several were guys who had been my superiors at one time or another and were just so gushing with their praise. The first time I saw The Best American Sports Writing, I wasn't anywhere near good enough a writer to gain entry into that elite company. She impressed her supervisors, and the paper hired her as a paid sports journalist. Herman, who is now assistant dean for research communications at Harvards School of Public Health, has written about that night many times, including a first-person article in the Times a few weeks later. Copyright 2013 NPR. While all this was going on, I began helping out with Dallas Cowboys sidebar articles and weekend coverage of the Rangers. Affidavit Sample Administrative. SALIE: Like gee, coach, it's not going so well, is it? 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 . But the remarks still hurt. If you get this one right, you will win. "That's possible," he replied. Then it hits me: My job means I get to be around this game and write about it. Players mostly accept that strangers will see them au naturel. But then Donna likes the men she meets at Baja. And he began reading. He remembered my chatting him up at lunch on Media Day, when I sat next to him and Brian Cushing and asked why the punt coverage was so porous with players not staying in their lanes, and how he was going to improve his turn over margin. I told him. The interview format is believed to have been popularized around mid-century by Dick Young, a New York Daily News sportswriter. Because of my vantage point, it appeared I would have to walk through the shower, through the four wet, naked men, to get to the actual locker-room area. The reasoning behind this policy is that players are more likely to be relaxed and open with reporters after they have had a chance to cool down and take a shower. 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. My understanding was the brat later had a good talkin'-to with the manager and the GM, and as far as I know, the closest he would ever get to the bigs was buying a ticket. I've known one veteran NFL player for more than 20 years -- since he was in college -- and he tolerates women in the locker room but honestly believes we, including me, are there to look at naked . On cue, all the players in the Jets locker room got up and they all had the word Gitte written on their asses, he says. So everyone's kind of shuffling around. And there was Reggie, in nothing but sanitary socks. to persuade N.H.L. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". I kept saying, Im not the story; the game is the story,' Herman said, reflecting on the night. Near the field, I can see it is Al Newman and somebody. It was important to be bold. By now I wouldn't really notice if he'd worn a towel or hadn't. 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. I wanted to know these 4 things: 1. They gave me all the weird stories. Jerseys are on the floor, not on the playersno jerseys, no name tags, just toweled dudes walking around. 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'm serious, they really ask this. "I can't believe you are not in love with these men," she says, biting her cuticle. . Oh, Lord. There were nights in the stands, too, where, just so I could enjoy the game more, my daddy patiently tried to teach the basics of scoring to a child not yet versed in addition. You can't do this without asking about their dogs and their mom and what bugs them even worse than dropping the soap in the shower. Michele Tafoya, welcome to WAIT WAITDON'T TELL ME! Oh sure, they may actually think I'm an idiot. Someone has come out early for batting practice. Television. James Donaldson was the very tallest, and I almost always waited until he had some small piece of fabric on before I walked back there. He got an apology from the Hyatt; I got suspected of prostitution while waiting in a hotel lobby for Grant Teaff. Ball on the reporter in female nfl locker room change to. I was creative and funny, but I just couldn't write, they'd concluded. Needless to say, this was a must-listen from the jump. Its no big deal, and if you don't believe me, watch The Full Monty a couple of timesit gets old real fast and you don't even notice it anymore. The rest is all overrated. I began bicycling and training for a marathon. published October 19, 2015. So I didn't write. I was doing that one recent day when a wet, naked body walked into my trance. (She had tried to do the same thing at the Boston Globe, but could not get past security.) Girls in locker rooms are overrated. I retreated back behind the door before anyone could see me. In the arbitrary world of newspaper politics, the arrival of a new sports editor breathed life into my career. She had few female colleagues in sports media to lean on. Like other working people, professional athletes want to leave the office when their shift ends, so they waste no time stripping down to hit the showers. 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. The players didn't know I'd grown up with games or that my best friends had usually been crude guys or that I could open a beer bottle with my incisors or that I liked to fish as much as they did. January 5, 2022 1 Former Eagles defensive lineman and Super Bowl LII champion Chris Long made an appearance on Jeff Pearlman's podcast Two Writers Slinging Yang. I always won the big awards in elementary school, went to football games, and performed in talent shows. If I ever dread talking to players now, it is not because I feel that I don't belong there. I began to cry. Api. "Are you going to talk to me or not?" It was The other was a first-person piece about the last game at Arlington Stadium. It was just one of those moments you want to hold for yourself. I sat at some random desk to look busy for a while, which is what sportswriters do every week or three. I want you guys here when I make the game-winning kicks, and I realize that I got to have you guys here when I miss them. We got to Frank DeFord's comment at the end. I was leaning against a post, waiting for Grant Teaff, holding a notepad. It was supposed to be about the fact that I had some negative things to say about my early work environment. But hey, I was the center of attention on a baseball field; I could sell out for that. I'm sure he's been naked in the room where I was at some time. Long goes on to mention how most reporters would brush his concerns aside, which would honestly drive me nuts. I immediately got a call from Gayle Reaves, a founder of the Association for Women Journalists. Why? It was very business-like. She was 70. I just wanted to cover sports. A female reporter conducts post-game interviews with members of a men's soccer team in the locker room. Horse's Heinie on occasion, was watching a college football game in a chair in the middle of it allnaked. In an interview on the March 11, 2011 edition of Bill Simmons' podcast, "The B.S. We went to a bench just outside the door and began to look through it. 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. A male usher stopped three female journalists from entering the Jaguars locker room after their loss to the Colts because they were women, asking other men if it was OK before finally allowing . Sometimes I will request an interview at someone's house, and my peers act as though it's weird. "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 herby officially declare this behavior: Sign up for Parx Sportsbook and deposit $25 using code WOLVES69, Very real and legitimate journalist | Wednesday Guest Host of The Daily Ticket w/ Sean Brace from 3-6 pm on Fox Sports "The Gambler" | I don't see a loss on the schedule | @ryanconway76. 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. There are postgame press conferences and media availability throughout the week. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought as I went into the office that day. 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. It was when all the guys were inside doing interviews, and I was standing in the rain, makeup peeling, outside the high school locker room at Fort Worth's Farrington Field, waiting beneath the six-foot-long "No Women" sign for the players to come to the doorway. ADAM FELBER: Welcome back to You Disgust Me with Michele Tafoya. And every once in a while I think about slatted billboards and a daddy's arms. The MBL, NBA and NFL followed shortly after, and in 1990 all associations allowed women in the locker rooms. Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. To begin, I want to point out that female reporters have every right to be in the locker room as male reporters do. The Liberty Line is owned and operated by TLL Sports LLC. If you dont understand that, particularly as a woman, you might misinterpret it.. Always Al Newman, and he's always smiling because he's kind of happy to be here too. They picked threeCindy, because she was a perky cheerleader at the University of Texas at Arlington; Jamie, because she had modeling experience; and me, because I was a pest.

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