Diaries of a 'She-Fan'

Some may find this hard to believe, but women love sports too! Yes, I can name every player on the New York Yankees and I do understand that Sunday was created for the sole purpose of fantasy football. I might be a girl, but I can promise you that I know just as much about sports as you do.

[dfwpackfan]

[shefan12]

My boy Clay Matthews is back 💛🏈💚

[shefan12]

Wrapping Up the Blogging Season

Well, the semester is coming to an end, and so is my blogging project at well. I can honestly say that through my blogging experience, I have become a better sports fan. I enjoyed watching sports news and coming up with fun ideas to share my blogs with my readers. Believe it or not, I might actually continue this blog if I ever feel the motivation, but now I'm just going to vent about current issues in sports that are driving me insane. Because although this was a project, this was also a place I was able to release some excitement and anger that sometimes gets the best of sports fans.

Unfortunately for me, my favorite three players are currently injured. It's a good thing this project is ending, because I have become a very bitter sports fan over the last few day. Alex Rodriguez who plays for the New York Yankees is getting surgery in January, and will not beging his 2013 season in April. Also, both Clay Matthews and Jordy Nelson are injured and might not being playing in the Packers game against the Lions this weekend. This is causing me tons of anxiety because the Packers are in a tight race to make the playoffs at the moment. I'M GOING INSANE! Please take a moment and pray for my favorite players to get better soon. Thanks for following, and hopefully I'll be back soon!

Here's a picture of Clay Matthews, just because he's awesome!

[shefan12]

Reverse Sexism?

Upon researching my current research paper on gender and sports in the media, I came across this book, which approaches sexism from a different point of view. David Benatar discusses the less commonly argued discrimination of men and boys in his book The Second Sexism. 

He argues that this second sexism against males is often neglected and not taken seriously because people often only discuss the discrimination of females. He provides an extensive amount of examples in which men are at a disadvantage compared to women; these include: an absence of immunity to being drafted for the military, more at risk for physical violence, more often victims of corporal punishment, and sexual assault to men taken less seriously.

Personally, I have argued several times in papers and speeches that women are often discriminated against, but never have I argued about the unfair treatment of men. This book has opened my eyes to the very real challenges that men face. Recently I have researched Title IX and its benefits for women, but then I realized that Title IX may actually be hurting men's athletics. Even though women sports receive less attention and bring in less profit than men's sports, they still require the same amount of funding. This takes away opportunities from men, who are more likely to professionally benefit from the sports they play. Perhaps this is an example of the second sexism.

I really appreciate this book, because the author concludes by saying he promotes men being treated as superiors to women. Instead, he is only asking his readers to acknowledge that discrimination against men is a real thing, and should be taken very seriously. From now on, when I'm ranting about feminism and sports, I will consider both discrimination on both genders instead of just females.

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[shefan12]

Girls Who BIRG and CORF

Any die-hard sports fan knows what it means to BIRG and CORF. We've all been through it before. For those of you who don't know, BORG stands for Basking in Reflected Glory. This occurs when your team has reached some level of success and you feel as if you have found heaven. Similarly, CORF stands for Cutting Off Reflected Failure. When your team fails in some way, fans attempt to justify the loss by pushing it aside. These terms are popular in social studies beginning in 1976. However, recent studies by Gregory Kowalski and Angela Ware have began to focus on the sexual differences in fans BIRGing and CORFing.

 They published an academic article explaining their recent gender studies that can be accessed through the database Academic OneFile. Their article, titled “Sex identification and the love of sports: BIRGing and CORFing among sports fans,” explains the study they conducted to understand sex differences between BIRGING and CORFing. The experiment consisted of 273 college students, 133 of which were women. Through the study they discovered that the level of fandom is the strongest determinant of whether or not an individual BIRGed or CORFed. Die-hard fans are more likely to pursue this behavior. They connected the idea that this is mainly an act of men because there are just more die-hard male fans than female fans.

 I know that when my favorite sports team loses, I freak out for days. For example, when the Packers lost in the playoffs to the Giants last year, my brothers and I sulked for weeks. However, when the Yankees won in 2009, I bragged about the victory as if I have won the World Series myself. Gender has nothing to do with how you react to your favorite teams triumphs and errors. It all has to do with how much you are dedicated to the sport.

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[shefan12]

The League: Sexist and Undeniably Funny

The League is easily one of my favorite television shows. The show follows the members of a fantasy football league, many of which dedicate an extensive amount of time to their fantasy teams. The show is absolutely hilarious, and I am easily obsessed to the crude humor and inappropriate behavior or the characters. However, after watching the show for some time now, I started to question how they get away with some of their sexist and racist jokes.

The main characters are all white, middle to high class men, who named their leagues trophy to an indian girl who was the valedictorian of their high school that they used to bully. The other women in the show are often the sexual partners of the main characters, dumb blondes and scary ex-girlfriends. The only women on the show that isn't made fun of too horribly is the only woman in the league is Jenny, the wife of one of the other members. However, none of the men see her as a girl because she likes football, sex, beer and weed. She is emasculated so that men can justify her being involved in the male pastime.

I'm not saying you shouldn't watch the show or that is should be cancelled. It is absolutely funny and definitely worth watching. I am just shocked that in a time when television is becoming more and more censored, that a show on FX is able to get away with the amount of sexism and derogatory treatment of women in this show. Check it out, and in the first ten minutes of the first show you will see what I am talking about.

[shefan12]

Mike Messner's View of Women's Sports Coverage

Mike Messner has studied gender issues in televised sports for 20 years, and has recently published his report explaining the dramatic drop in women's sports coverage. He is the leading expert in studies regarding sports, sex and the media, and in 2010 Dave Zirin, an author for The Nation, sat down and interviewed Messner.

The first thing Messner uncovered in his 20 year study was that coverage of women's sports on television has shockingly decreased significantly. In 1989 women received 5% of all sports coverage, but most recently, in 2009, women only received 1.6%. He does not know what the reason for this decrease is, since women involvement in sports has drastically increased. He notes that it's not just athletes that get ignored by ESPN newscasts. Almost 75% of sports coverage is dedicated to men's basketball, baseball, and football. SportsCenter argues that they dedicate the amount of coverage of a sport to the demand of the audience.

He did realize that when women were receiving coverage early on, it was often about the sexualization of the athletes. Now, there is rarely any insulting stories about female athletes, and he wonders if that is the reason for the decrease in current coverage. Messner discusses research done by Professor Mary Jo Kane, who I've discussed in an earlier blog about sex not selling sports. He supports her argument claiming that although taking off their clothes may boost publicity for the individual athlete, it does not promote women athletics.

I have studied Messner's report to it's entirety, and I believe it is truly the best research conducted about women's sports and it's relationship with the media. The extensive time allotted to this study has made Messner an expert and he is currently working on finding solutions to the lack of women's sports coverage. After reading his report, I agree that the sports media needs to reform its coverage of female athletics. A minimum time on ESPN should be put aside for women's coverage and there should be more women reporters who are less likely to focus on the sexualization of women in sports. Thanks to Messner, more people are advocated equality in men's and women's sports coverage.

Messner's research report can be downloaded on this website.

[shefan12]

Vince Lombardi

I've grown up hearing about the great Vince Lombardi. There are several biographies written about him (I have three in my house), and the superbowl trophy was named after him. In fact, everyone has probably heard a Lombardi quote at some point in their life. Even though I have heard so much about this man, I really didn't know what made him so special, so I took some time to research his legacy. 

Vince Lombardi is the definition of an amazing leader. He is best known for his title as head coach of the Green Bay Packers through the 1960s. He led the team to three straight league championships and won the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and 1967 NFL seasons. When people think of leaders in sports, Lombardi should always be the first person to come to mind. Although he came across as what some people call a tyrant; most of his players admit to having hated him at some point in their careers. When the players approached Lombardi's wife Marie to ask her to reason with his bullying methods of coaching, she told them he only yelled at players he liked and they should be more worried if he wasn't yelling. 

He understood his players and made them better. He didn't follow any rules, he created his own because his only concern was winning and he would do whatever he had to for success. He didn't care if people hated him, and that's why people loved him. Clearly his methods worked, and ultimately created the greatest legacy in all of football. I just wanted to share with you some of his inspiring quotes. Whether or not you're a Packers fan, there is no denying Lombardi was amazing at what he did.

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."

"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."

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[shefan12]

Sex Doesn't Sell Women's Sports

In an article written by Mary Jo Kane for the magazine The Nation, she argued against sexuality's role in women sports. I completely agree that sex doesn't attract attention towards women's sports; people are more interesting when women's sports team bring success and a competitive show. However, women degrade themselves by overshadowing their accomplishments by showcasing their sexuality. 

For example, between 2008 and 2010 professional skier Lindsey Vonn won three consecutive world championships and was honored to pose for the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine after being announced Sportswoman of the Year. This was a big deal for a magazine that constantly ignores women's sports, but they turned Vonn into a sex object.

Kane notes that, "Media images that emphasize femininity/sexuality actually suppress interest in, not to mention respect for, women’s sports." There is no evidence that sex sells, and it is in fact hurting the reputation of women's athletics rather than helping it. Women sports are often neglected by the media, and  athletes try to gain attention and notoriety by showing off their bodies. For instance, women's tennis recently has a new campaign which they call "Strong is Beautiful." In the campaign women dress in feminine dresses and use sexual humor, in hopes that their advertisements will aired. However, experts note that although although the advertisements are provocative and interesting, they will not make someone turn in Wimbledon. Women need to focus on greatness. In the last year, the women sports event that gained the highest television was when Gabby Douglas won gold in the 2012 Olympics. 35.8 million views tuned in to watch her win. She didn't need to show off her body, she just demonstrated her amazing skills. Sex doesn't sell women's sports, talent does.

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[shefan12]

This is one of the embarrassing sports videos. Don't be this fan.

[shefan12]

Sports fan videos circulate the web like wildfire. Whether someone is freaking out over a team's loss, or just making a tribute to their favorite player, youtube videos are popping up all over the place. The one posted above is actually very well done, created by young Packers fans who who go by Sleeping Berries Three. This youtube video has been posted on major sports websites like Sports Illustrated and ESPN.

I personally adore this fan video. It's 100% original and was a group effort done by the community in Green Bay, Wisconsin. While the performers in this video are very dorky, and some of the lyrics are very silly, this is a great tribute to Aaron Rodgers and several Packer players. The title of the song, I Could Be You Jordy, was inspired by the on field relationship between quarterback, Rodgers, and his number one receiver, Jordy Nelson. Throughout the performance there are several references to the amazing year the Packers had when they went 15-1, and moving on from the past legacy of Brett Favre. 

A couple of my favorite parts are when they spell out MVP saying: "M is for my gosh he's good/ V very very very very good/ P he'll pass a pass to me/ That stands for MVP/ My people can't you see"

The most witty part of the song signifies the Packers moving on from legendary Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre to the young Aaron Rodgers. Aaron's quick success made it easy for fans to move on, and even diss Favre for leaving the Packers: "When God made earth/ He made the Packers first/ And on the 7th day when he rested/ Aaron played football, while Brett just watched."

Not all fan videos are this well done. Some are actually quite embarrassing for the sports teams they represent. Thankfully this viral video has gained positive attention rather than negative. Good job Packers fans

[shefan12]

Which do you love more, the Packers or Yankees?

Although I know much more about baseball and the New York Yankees since I have followed baseball longer than football, I absolutely love everything about the Green Bay Packers. They are a classier organization and they also have a rather impressive history, just the Yankees. I became a Yankees fan because I was raised in the New York area and just supported my hometown team. Being a Packers fan in northern Jersey is normal. I grew up surrounded by all things Green Bay since my dad is a huge Packers fan. He is really good friends with former center Frank Winters and even named my little brother after Brett Favre. Although I absolutely love the Yankees, Green Bay is where my heart is and I am learning more and more about the team every day.

[shefan12]

Confessions of a She-Fan by Jane Heller

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Jane Heller is my inspiration in life, and I follow her online blog as a personal bible. In 2007 Heller, a journalist wrote an article saying she was divorcing the New York Yankees after their terrible performance throughout the season. She received a whirlwind of negative responses accusing her of not being a true fan, partially blaming her lack of dedication to being a woman. Heller didn’t take this accusation lightly however. Instead, she responded by proving her fandom by following the Yankees throughout the entire 2008 season to every game, home or away. She then wrote a book about her experience that she entitled, Confessions of a She-Fan.

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 Admittedly, I have read her book three times. She is the first woman to explore the world of Major League Baseball as a true fan. She explains how hard it is to be a fan, and encourages everyone to be patient and determined even when being criticized by half the population of New York. She continues to report about the Yankees through her blog she has also entitled “Confessions of a She-Fan.”

 Her blog is perfect; her posts are witty, accurate, and very well written. She reports as the games are being played and relates to her audience in a way newspaper writers often don’t know how. As a woman dreaming of being a sports broadcaster, Jane Heller is easily the most inspirational woman in this field. One of the highlights of my young life is being able to communicate with her over twitter. She has given me advice and continues to inspire me everyday. Any woman who appreciates sports should check out her blog. It’s a safe haven for all of us girls who just want to talk sports.

[shefan12]

Favorite Player Profile

Alex Rodriguez #13

New York Yankees – 3rd Baseman

Female sports fans appreciate players for different reasons than men do. Stereotypically women may like a player’s name, they may like a player’s number, or they may just think the player is attractive. I love Alex Rodriguez for all these reasons, but that is not why he became my favorite player. Back in 2006 I became a die-hard Yankees fan. I attended my first MLB game at Camden Yards on August 6th and watched the Yankees beat the Orioles. Immediately I idolized former New York Yankee catcher, Jorge Posada since he had a big game that day. I went home all excited to tell my big brother about my new favorite player, but I did not expect the response I received. My brother told me Posada couldn’t be my favorite player simply because that was his favorite player. He couldn’t have the same favorite player as a girl! So I had to pick a new Yankees hero. I didn’t know much about the team so I just picked the player my older brother hated the most: A-Rod. Most men hate Alex Rodriguez because he makes too much money, he strikes out a lot, and because all the girls love him. I felt bad for him; he didn’t deserve all this hate for being one of the best players in the league. I wanted to give him a chance, not because he is attractive (which he most certainly is), but because I truly believed he didn’t deserve the ridicule he constantly received. Sure he’s had his fair share of embarrassing moments: the stripper incident, his fling with Madonna, and the revelation of his steroid use, but he managed to make it through all of this. He became the youngest player to hit 600 homeruns, won his first World Series title, and matured into a better teammate and an overall better person. Sure he’s not perfect, but I will never regret picking him to replace Jorge Posada as my favorite player on August 6th, 2006.

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[shefan12]

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Barry Bonds holds the record for the most career home runs with 762. Alex Rodriguez was on the road to beating this record and is the highest paid player in baseball. Roger Clemens is arguably the best pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball. What do all these players all have in common instead of being amazingly talented athletes? They have all been accused of abusing anabolic steroids.

Steroids have plagued the integrity of sports for years now. Some of the biggest names in baseball have been caught using human growth hormones, and the record books have been tarnished. The media became very aware of steroid use in baseball in 2005 when former player Jose Canseco became the first player to admit to HGH use. He also accused a majority of MLB players of illegally using the substance as well. It was a shock when big names like Bonds, Rodriguez, and Clemens were connected to this illicit drug.

 Many players have been caught using steroids, but these players headed to the hall of fame created extra controversy. The records they broke were amazing accomplishments, but people argue that an asterisk should be placed next to their statistics. All three players took the substance before league-wide testing was implemented, so there weren’t any immediate consequences, but their reputations have been destroyed. In addition, the trustworthiness of all pro sports has been put to question. People do not idolize players the same way they did before steroids. Nobody questioned the accomplishments of Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig. That honesty will never be connected to sports again due to the steroid era. Players are still getting caught even with the additional attention surrounding steroids. Melky Cabrera and MVP Ryan Braun were just caught in the past year. Maybe the only solution is putting an asterisk next to all of MLB.

[shefan12]

#THINGSBETTERTHANREPLACEMENTREFS

As a Packers fan I am infuriated with the NFL’s replacement referees’ blown Hail Mary call at the end of last night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. For those of you who don’t know, the actual NFL referees are on strike, so their position has been filled by less skilled officials. As seen in the video above, it is very evident that M.D. Jennings intercepted the ball in the end zone that should have resulted in a Packer’s win. Instead, one of the replacement refs believes Golden Tate scored for the Seahawks and Seattle ultimately won the game. Either way, the touchdown shouldn’t have even counted because Tate pushed one of the Packers defenders, which should have resulted in a pass interference penalty. Basically, I am trying to say that these replacement refs are horrible, but then I questioned my bias. Not only am I a Packers fan, but on top of the loss, this final play also cost me to lose fantasy football by three points.

Then I realized that not one person was actually talking about the football over the weekend; instead everyone was complaining that the replacement refs were ruining the integrity of the NFL. The National Football League has become a joke, and this is what the commissioner Roger Goodell of the league was trying to prevent when he ultimately decided to promote these new refs instead of postponing the season. However, these replacements have slowed down games, and affected the ultimate outcomes. The poor management of the game is causing die-hard fans to lose interest because the games are becoming comical and infuriating.

Twitter has taken to the new popular trending topic: #thingsbetterthanreplacementrefs. This list of things better than the replacement refs includes a colonoscopy, Michael Vick’s dog sitting skills, and inappropriately Jerry Sandusky’s babysitting skills. Even president Barack Obama tweeted, “NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. –bo.” Fans aren’t discussing the Packers’ inability to catch the football, or how many turnovers they had. Instead they are making the NFL a joke. Roger Goodell needs to sit down with the NFL Referees Association and end this lockout, because the league won’t last the way things are now.

[shefan12]

"Year of the Woman": Gender Equality Through Sports

In Richard Attias’ article, “Sport: Bridging the Gender Gap” (2012), the Doha GOALS founder claims that gender equality is indeed possible based on attitude changes regarding women’s sports. Attias provided a plethora of recent female sports achievements, for example all participating teams in the 2012 Olympics had female athletes. The author’s purpose is to make his readers aware of the benefits sports provide in order to inspire people of all ages and genders to experience sports in their lives. Because of how often he addresses the benefits of women participating in sports, it appears he is trying to convince young women to find their place in the world of sports.

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2012 has definitely brought major gender changes to sports due to shocking statistics in the Olympics that show the United States had more women participating in London, and those women also brought home more medals than the men. Also the renowned Augusta National Gold Club accepted women as member for the first time in 80 years. Not only have there been new achievements, but also new female role models have now inspired girls to join sports teams, such as the champion U.S. Women’s Soccer Team (pictured above) and gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas.      

Young girls finally have female athletes to look up to, which hasn’t been the case since the famous Mia Hamm led the Women’s Soccer Team in the 90s. When I was a kid, my father taught me to admire Hamm and even strive to be as talented as she was. She once said, “Somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her.” However, it almost seemed impossible to ever reach the amount of success Mia Hamm had because she was one of the only female athletes who had gained notoriety.

Now times are clearly different. Women and girls now can enjoy the successes of hundreds of talented female athletes. More girls are trying sports to since observations show, “girls who play sports stay in school longer, have lower rates of teenage pregnancy, and better social development.” Gabby Douglas dedicated her life to gymnastics and now at the age of 16 she has two gold medals under her belt. She’s definitely playing for that little girl that fell in love. Now because of her, millions of other girls can too.

[shefan12]

FAVORITE PLAYER PROFILE

B.J. Raji #90

Green Bay Packers - Defensive Tackle

Sometimes your favorite player isn't the most popular player on the team. Everyone acknowledges the talent of the superstars on the Packers like Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, and Clay Matthews. I love all these players till death, but sometimes there's that one player with a personality so likeable you cannot help but appreciate them. B.J. Raji is one of those players. Now Raji is an amazingly talented defensive tackle: he attended the 2011 Pro-Bowl and led the NFL nose tackles in sacks during the 2010 season, but that isn't why I love Raji. Every time I think of great Green Bay moments I can't help but remember Raji's 2010 interception return for a touchdown in the NFC championship game and still laugh at his ridiculously charming celebration dance. For a 340-pound man, he can shake it.