Its a mind-numbing thing to experiencegetting complete wrapped up in a job and not noticing the other stuff around you. All I remember is green and light and the security of my daddy's arms. I could see my worth resided within the confines of a B cup and size six jeans. I walked over to the corner where two guys from my hometown had their lockers. Please enable JavaScript to experience Vimeo in all of its glory. 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 - and players later called out to her in the team's locker room. 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. The biggest cultural difference between reporting on sport in the UK and across the pond is that everyone here is allowed into the locker-room. SAGAL: Here's your first question. Keep your eyes on your own work Super Chief. It reminds me of a debutante waking up in last night's party dress, reeking of beer. SAGAL: B, George Washington himself went on a three-day bender there. would be given the same access as men. 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. He kept muttering. At the same time, my marriage began taking ugly, unspeakable turns. NBA teams play 82 games a year, not including playoffs and preseason contests. A three-part series on Ruth Ryan, spouse of Nolan, turned into a delightful three-week chore that included stops at the Ryans' ranch in Alvin and the stadium. TAFOYA: Yes, on-field commentary, pre-game interviews, post-game interviews. I try to explain, which is difficult because Donna and I are on different sexual wavelengths. "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. 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. Like, I understand getting the whole story for your readers. I somehow persuaded them to open it and sell the book to me. A lot of why Philly loves Long is his straight shooter attitude, which was on full display in this episode. Herman, though, found herself a part of a much larger moment, a wider-ranging battle for equality in the workplace for women. The Mavericks were a delight to be around even when pissed off. He still didn't answer my question directly. It's been 46 years since the first women entered a professional locker room when two female reporters were allowed to conduct after-game interviews in the locker rooms at the 1975 N.H.L. But I learned to do news as well. The exchange between Newton and Rodrigue rightfully spurred a much needed discussion about women and sports journalism, so I decided to ask three former NFL players to speak candidly about their views on women reporters. You take a right turn before you have to walk straight into the naked men and the soap. The NFL is condemning remarks made by Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis concerning female reporters in the locker room. I don't like the double-standard we have with male-female divide. He meant on the bed. 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. Before a team got used to me, there might be some giggling each time someone made a smart remark or cursed loud enough to get you kicked out of the Watauga Dairy Queen. For days, weeks, months --. It's just before batting practice, about 4:30 p.m. It's not a place for socialising. That sort of collegiality isnt obsolete in locker rooms, but real-time publishing certainly ups the danger of such humor being viewed out of context. But I don't think it seems very logical to some of the other reporters. But hey, I was the center of attention on a baseball field; I could sell out for that. But I couldn't back out. "I don't have any idea what you're up to.". I dont think you need to be in there when the athletes are down to their skivvies. The immediate response is curiosity: Do I get to go in the locker room? And it had just started to become something that women could do, and I thought I can do this. locker room was a story. TAFOYA: I was too focused on his eyebrows. All of my male media brethren went cruising into this sacred place, and then, there was only methe lone female reporter covering a USC football gamewaiting outside. It was also the Bear's last season. He could not allow me to bother the guests. I had to go in. Unfortunately, they were working on a few things in that resort, which included labelling the male and female locker rooms. Players tear off equipment at wooden cubbies bearing their names and numbers, laughing about how Mel Gibson got ribbed at the Golden Globes. 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. 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. Other interviews are illuminating for the answers they dont elicit. I asked. He was home and reading stuff on the wire, as we called it at the time. He sure wished he'd taken it, he said in hindsight. In 1982, Visser was the first woman in Coach Bear Bryant's locker room. Some summers we went to 20 games; others we went to about 56. About 1986, there was a college football convention in Dallas. Or at least that's what I thought I said. Logic says they might not. 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. [4] In 1985, the NFL enacted an equal access policy of its own. The following year, a federal judge struck down the MLB policy on 14th Amendment grounds. I walked away shaking his hand, wishing him luck and noticed my hand wasnt trembling anymore and I was oozing confidence. It was just one of those moments you want to hold for yourself. He said he was 16. We've invited you here to play a game we're calling SAGAL: OK. I'm a general assignment sports reporter now, which means I do whatever they ask of me. "That's possible," he replied. But I dont see any other solutions.. During the 1977 World Series, the MLB commissioner's office banned then- Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke from both teams' locker rooms, overriding the New York Yankees' blessing and a majority vote in the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse. Oh sure, they may actually think I'm an idiot. TAFOYA: No, I always talk to them off camera because I can get more out of them, and then I come back after halftime, and I report to the audience what I've been told. She also was a national columnist for AOL's FanHouse sports website, and a columnist and the first woman in Sporting News' 120-year history to write the magazine's monthly back page. Of the latest scores and many to. So you've got all these big-haired babes who think the electoral college is a beauty school, ready to hoist their miniskirts for the first athlete who comes along. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. The best advice I ever got was go get a job somewhere. I told the PR guy that I sure hated to bring this up, but there was no place for the way this guy was acting. He let me do it. I was one of the guys. I was surprised to realize that some of the wounds still hurt. to that woman.". They were reporters and looked young enough to remind me of my old daysexcept they weren't wearing white flats. Its a symbiotic relationship. Follow us on Twitter, @DeadspinStacks, or email us at thestacks@deadspin.com. TAFOYA: But still, tune in each Sunday night. More than two years ago, I told the sports editor I wanted to return to sports. 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. Now, one of the first all-men gentlemen's clubs in America was the Schuylkill Fishing Company of Philadelphia, a club that played a minor role in Revolutionary history when what happened there? 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. Another superior had his assistant let me off early so he could be waiting for me in the parking lot. They knew I could write even the most boring stuff into something of interest. SAGAL: Well, tonight, Michele Tafoya's special segment, What the Hell is Wrong With You People? Bill, how did Michele do on our quiz? SAGAL: I was just thinking about with the NBA, it would be more difficult because you need to think about what would be at eye level in that situation. We won some awards, and I gained some confidence and perspective. Donna doesn't like newspapers either. I have one of the few jobs where the first thing people ask about is penises. All-Star Game in Montreal said, yes, female reporters We've invited Tafoya to play a game called "Enter at your own risk!" The executive types weren't too hot on the idea. The only way a female reporter can do her job in a locker room is if the players dont look at her as a chick. Each time I stopped pacing, the clerk and guard started toward me. The Rangers treat me like anyone else who wanders in. SAGAL: I got to ask you about the locker room. Graduate. Bill, who's Michele Tafoya playing for? So, 35 years ago, Herman and another woman a Montreal radio reporter, Marcel St. Cyr gathered with other reporters after the game and walked in to conduct postgame interviews. August 12, 2011 / 12:24 PM I wonder how these female reporters and staff would feel showering and changing with men in their locker room? Its all weve ever known, right wing Josh Bailey, wearing a blue Islanders shirt, skin-tight compression shorts, and knee-high athletic socks, told me after a practice last week. I didn't want to be branded as some woman on a crusade. During this phase of courtship, most men would be reassuring Lassie that her role as a dog star doesn't matter that they just like her nice, shiny coat. TAFOYA: a player sitting next to him says, ma'am, could you just turn around and let the man put a towel on? 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. That was the stunned reaction of journalist Joey Chandler after she, along with two other female journalists, was reportedly barred from entering the Jacksonville Jaguars locker room on Sunday night. Take the blanket no-comment dished out by Dallas Cowboys star and alleged domestic abuser Greg Hardy after a game last year. Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. The most puzzled responses to my job come from the friends and acquaintances in my personal life. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff) How could it be that it was 43 years ago when Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke and Time Inc., sued Major League Baseball for denying her access to the clubhouses at Yankee Stadium? I had offered the story first to my sports editor, Mike Perry (standard newspaper policy). A feature on the woman who washes the Rangers' clothes was not out of the question. I wrote management repeatedly. The poster was new. 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. SAGAL: B, according to the club rules, quote, "at the point in their menstrual cycle when they are least likely to attract bears," unquote. 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