So I remain cautious, probably overly cautious, about appearances. However, Briggs thought otherwise. She is a frequent guest speaker at schools and colleges, and active in public schools' mentoring program for girls who hope to study journalism. TAFOYA: So there I am, and I'm getting ready to go in, and this is the first time I've ever done this, and I'm just going to do some radio interviews for tape to take them back and turn them around, and I said to myself I had a rule I established before I went in. Couldn't you tell? I admit, some days even the UPS guy looks awful good. 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. 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. Late one night in spring training, one of my co-workers, also one of my best friends, called to read me something. 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 was mostly worn, ectoplasm-green indoor-outdoor carpetingand stares. Not about naked bodies or about crude remarks but about how they would think I feltand how I intended to respond with confidence, no matter what happened. SAGAL: Or C, in December, only to buy Christmas gifts for their husbands in the pro shop? I don't like the double-standard we have with male-female divide. 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 -. I was amazed. 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Going to do my best. You're the person they throw down to as SAGAL: And you've got the reports in the sideline, well, this guy's injured, well, this guy feels this way. 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? In 1973 she was hired as the New York Times' first female sports reporter. I had become a sweating mass of raw nerve endings. I always said modern feminism has nothing to do with equality and this degrading treatment of men proves it. At first glance, it wasnt bad. My daddy and I saw our first major-league game together on Opening Night here in 1972. August 12, 2011 / 12:24 PM Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. I ran out of material 10 minutes ago. I was creative and funny, but I just couldn't write, they'd concluded. He. TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz says she was the subject of sexually suggestive remarks by New York Jets players. Or like Brandon Grahams locker is next to mine, and he has 40 reporters around him, and someone is bumping into my naked ass. Later he admitted to calling her a "classy bitch. She is an American humorist and sportswriter who now does reviews for Publishers Weekly and writes for a variety of publications, including the Dallas Observer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, USA Today, and Sports Illustrated. He ran into a dark office where I found him hiding under the desk. Phyllis George Brown, a former Miss America winner and the first female sportscaster to work at a major network, died on Thursday after complications from a blood disorder she had developed. Jerseys are on the floor, not on the playersno jerseys, no name tags, just toweled dudes walking around. others. You take a right turn before you have to walk straight into the naked men and the soap. But I couldn't back out. You know, it was like, "So-and-so from The Beaumont Enterprise, many so-and-so's from The Dallas Morning News.". 1. percykins 7 yr. ago. Some simply called me a "stupid bitch" and hung up. Like many people, Donna, who should have been named Brittany, just can't accept this. Needless to say, this was a must-listen from the jump. So I stepped down the tunnel from the dugout to the clubhouse and peered around the open door. TAFOYA: I think one of the most - and again, I won't name names - but I remember doing an NBA game, and I was asked to go interview a player's wife in the stands about something. "All right, heck with it then," I said. "Jenn," my friend told me, "I guess you rate a towel now.". Copyright 2013 NPR. The male athletes dont. I try to explain, which is difficult because Donna and I are on different sexual wavelengths. But then Donna likes the men she meets at Baja. Gardner later moved on to NBC,. It's a symbiotic relationshipthe relationship only works if both parties are comfortable with the other. My name and Roger Angell's had been mentioned in the same sentence. I understand that uniformsunless they say, "Eb, your man who wears the star" on the lapelare a great aphrodisiac in contemporary culture. And this was so long ago that the guy who opened the door said lady in the locker room. Hell, why do these guys need to come into the locker room to ask questions anyway? He told me I had to leave unless I was staying at the hotel. But there are still places out there where they believe in cooties, so Tafoya will answer three questions about men's-only clubs. As of 2013, she was working as a freelance writer.[1]. 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. When you've interviewed a 17-year-old mother whose daughter was stillborn for lack of prenatal care, how tough can it be to talk to a young pitcher who's lost to the Angels for lack of run support? I noted being in the middle of the room when a player came out of the shower, spotted me, and turned around and went back in. His voice was growing louder. He was really mouthing off at me. When a guy is naked, hes probably more honest than not.. The one thing that keeps you focused in a locker room is simplethese guys are not wearing clothes, and the only way you can identify who they are is by face recognition. I tried to explain that it is probably a lot like being a male gynecologist: the daily procession of personal parts becomes so routine that it ceases to be of anything but professional interest. I was so happy I was almost crying, but I was trying to sound very nonchalant while Glenn was giving me the particulars. Its a symbiotic relationship. The MBL, NBA and NFL followed shortly after, and in 1990 all associations allowed women in the locker rooms. You're the sideline reporter. This blogs regular features, including live game analysis, reader discussion, news and notes from Jeff Z. Klein and others, can now be found on the Hockey section front. ' Herman said. 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 I must tell you, I find that being a reporter is so much easier than being a fan. Sometimes I'm kind of quiet in a group interview, and I have this feeling other reporters will think it's because I'm a dumb ol' girl. I can't tell you the bizarre arguments I've had with a few of these creeps who keep suggesting I become a teacher. These arent your high school gym locker roomsmany are increasingly part of multi-room complexes including lounges and training rooms that media cant accessbut journalists would be hard pressed to find so many sources anywhere else. In 1975, the NHL allowed New York Times reporter Robin Herman into the men's locker room, making her the first woman to enter a hockey team clubhouse. 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. Youve got limited time to talk to the players before they leave, so make hay or fail is my mantra. My dream of covering professional baseball seemed further away than ever. We went to a bench just outside the door and began to look through it. Originally published June 4, 1992, in the Dallas Observer. Girls in locker rooms are overrated. SAGAL: Or C, Benjamin Franklin became the first and only member thrown out because of his horrible morals? He got an apology from the Hyatt; I got suspected of prostitution while waiting in a hotel lobby for Grant Teaff. When a guy is naked, hes probably more honest than not. One editor in the chain of sports command kept trying to get me to check into the Worthington Hotel with him after work. Affirmative. July 27, 1997 Seven years ago, Zeke Mowatt flashed himself at Lisa Olson, who was then a reporter for the Boston Herald, and the great locker room debate erupted. I mean, because if you sell out the coach, you never get to talk to them again, so I don't want to sell out the coach. After criticism, Kiam apologized for the joke two days after he had told it. SALIE: Like gee, coach, it's not going so well, is it? 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. But instead, the man who is an idol to thousands of children launched into a verbal tirade loudly insulting my intelligence and shouting for someone to remove me from the clubhouse. Several of the writers said, "I wonder what's up with that.". And now the game where we ask people who've achieved great things questions that diminish all their achievements. It was Acceptance will be given if you represent your profession in the highest degree. It was very business-like. They were believed to be the first women ever admitted to a professional locker room. I'm a general assignment sports reporter now, which means I do whatever they ask of me. This was baptism by back draft, not fire. Bill, how did Michele do on our quiz? Cindy, who is dabbing brown goop on my roots, figures this is like when the seniors get all reactionary and vote in the ugliest girl for homecoming queen, and it just might happen on a bigger scale. I had to think as much about how to handle the next unwanted advance or suggestive quip as I did trying to figure the Mavericks' averages. Host virtual town halls, onboard and train employees, collaborate efficiently. "Can I stand here with y'all for a while?" Then there was the occasion Rangers manager Doug Rader spat corn on me after I asked a dumb question. 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. Immediately, reporters started asking me, Are you going to do it? TAFOYA: I was too focused on his eyebrows. Those years were perhaps the most trying. Quite normal, nothing harmful. The Liberty Line is owned and operated by TLL Sports LLC. SAGAL: He left the Reform Club, traveled around the world in 80 days, came back, ran up the steps, but he was not wearing a jacket and tie. Olson is a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and is a Hall of Fame voter. I sat at some random desk to look busy for a while, which is what sportswriters do every week or three. I was ready once again to be the greatest sportswriter who ever lived. Although Olson settled a civil suit, fans of the football team made threats on Olson's life in the aftermath. "Are you going to talk to me or not?" Alrighty then, time to search out the first player I wanted to talk toUSC quarterback Mark Sanchez. TAFOYA: a player sitting next to him says, ma'am, could you just turn around and let the man put a towel on? It would be the last day ever for those white shoesand my first of many covering professional sports. And what if someone saw me in this state of trepidation? Chris Long on dynamic of naked players, reporters in locker rooms, New York Rangers fans took over the Wells Fargo Center and Im glad it happened, WATCH: Every pitch of Andrew Painters 1st inning vs. the Minnesota Twins, Eagles Buzz: CJ Gardner-Johnson rips Jonathan Gannon on Twitter for Super Bowl performance, Spring Training: Umpires end Orioles vs Pirates game early, but both teams wanted to finish, calling the game themselves, WATCH: Operation Flagship How D.C. Police Lured Wanted Criminals in for Arrest by Offering Super Bowl Tickets. better do it.. Mr. October, known to be Mr. An Ongoing Problem : Women Reporters Resent How They're Treated in the Locker Rooms By FRED LIEF Jan. 5, 1986 12 AM PT United Press International NEW YORK "If a reporter is duly and. NFL Network reporter, Jane Slater, says that her job being dependent on waiting around an NFL locker room while men are completely naked for an hour to get a. Gardner is considered a pioneer in sports broadcasting, having been the first female sports anchor to appear weekly on a major network. Donna is a good argument for euthanasia. And theyre very conscious that everything they say could get out.. [11] On February 24, 1992, her attorney said that Olson had settled the lawsuit on undisclosed terms. Sometimes we'd just watch any game on the TV. 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. [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. Or at least made me feel that way. I was doing that one recent day when a wet, naked body walked into my trance. It was the lonely thread that tied me to my game. But the road has been anything but smooth. Forty years ago today, "Sports Illustrated" and its reporter Melissa Ludtke took on Major League Baseball and won. A, on Women's Day which is a holiday named after a magazine. It's the way we measure all people, the Homo sapiens equivalent of sniffing butts by the fire hydrant. The hockey teams locker room isnt as rancid as expected. 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. It is the sports leagues and teams that decided interviews were to be Well, first of all, so now SAGAL: Describe your job. I feel like because we get paid so much money, and were such macho dudes that everybody is like, fuck em.. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Ive noticed the female athletes still get a closed locker room to shower and change today. And it was my first failure covering sports. But hey, I was the center of attention on a baseball field; I could sell out for that. "You know," I thought, "I doubt if any of them read the Observer.". And I make a beeline for my guy that I'm going to interview, and I'm walking up toward him. SALIE: Men, that was all men, that was all men, sister. I began experiencing panic attacks and became practically addicted to the antianxiety drug Xanax, buying it from bartenders and acquaintances when my prescriptions ran dry. The poster was new. draft.Readmore, The Rangers announced Friday that they would not use their remaining compliance buyout this summer, ensuring that Brad Richards will return to the team for at least one more season.Readmore, The Mourning Skate: Blues for John Halligan, N.H.L. Yet I wonder. And in no mood to take shit anymore. I wanted to know these 4 things: 1. Many dressing rooms dont have such modicums of privacy, leaving players in the buff in front of reporters fishing for quotes. instantly became the news and television cameras swung to them. My face broke out. Its a mind-numbing thing to experiencegetting complete wrapped up in a job and not noticing the other stuff around you. Melissa Ludtke was 26 years old when all this took place. We all just kind of deal with it, says Jenni Carlson, a columnist for The Oklahoman and self-described shorter person who fights to see and hear her often giant interview subjects. You get a really honest reaction, and thats what makes stories good. SAGAL: B, George Washington himself went on a three-day bender there. We shagged foul balls, but in retrospect, I guess we were more decorative than functional. 1950) is an American sportscaster who worked for ESPN and NBC Sports beginning in 1987 until 1993. As Orwell said, Everyone's equal, but some are more equal than others. Readmore, The Islanders sent Nino Niederreiter to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck, and took defenseman Ryan Pulock with the 15th over all pick in Sundays N.H.L. At the same time, though, I dont think getting a glimpse at a players brat and potatoes is included in the information-gathering process. So I went about my business. OK, so now it was home to take a run and try to clear my head of concerns about just what might be waiting for me at the ballpark. SAGAL: So you came back, and you're like, well, I just talked to the coach of the losing team, and he suggested certain things that were anatomically impossible. A few minutes later he came back out wearing a towel. I know people make sexual comments to one another, and they are not always inappropriate. 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. But I learned to do news as well. SAGAL: So you are and have been for how long now, the sideline on-field reporter for NBC's "Sunday Night Football"? A simple no would have sufficed. And yet, 40 years after Robin Herman became the first female reporter to enter an NFL locker room, women are still fighting a war against rampant sexism in the industry, with Twitter. The documentary was about female sportswriters' struggles to gain access to male locker rooms in order to be able to do their jobs. Or at least that's what I thought I said. All I remember is green and light and the security of my daddy's arms. Maybe I didn't belong here. If you dont understand that, particularly as a woman, you might misinterpret it.. ", Because his reaction to my question was to begin raising his voice to say, "There's no time.". The media circus surrounding professional sports is fed in part by this particularly odd sort of press access. Build a site and generate income from purchases, subscriptions, and courses. If you get this one right, you will win. Ludtke and Time Inc. filed a civil rights lawsuit months later. I always won the big awards in elementary school, went to football games, and performed in talent shows. I wasn't afraid of naked men. The Boys Only sign wasnt on the door, but still, I could see it. Fear of the unknown tends to do that to you. I was doing another piece on the last day game at the old place, and I was in the dirt bowels of that poor old Erector set where many things, including skunks and raccoons, lived. agree wrote: If a male reporter went into the womens locker room, all hell would break loose. I did not want to smell the entire ride home, so I decided to take a shower. The next year, I was included as an honorable mention for two pieces. 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. He was home and reading stuff on the wire, as we called it at the time. And that gives coaches and players less control over the story., Still, for most mainstream sports journalists, venturing into locker rooms remains a basic necessity to stay competitive. SAGAL: Michele Tafoya, we're delighted to have you with us. SAGAL: Now, why is that because being a reporter seems like a hard job? But I can understand the athletes being naturally uncertain what to make of women, of me. [Reporters] obviously need you to say some stuff so they can write their articles, said Islanders alternate captain Kyle Okposo, wiping his forehead with an already-drenched shirt. That being said, strip clubs and runway shows are completely different to NBA locker rooms. Service For. I spun around and walked outpast the staring faces, through the red door, down the 10,000-year-old bat-guano tunneland emerged into the dugout and the light of the real world, where I was nothing but a kid reporter who didn't get the story. The game was boring. Am I right? During the 1977 World Series, the MLB commissioners 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. I was quite confused. SAGAL: Do you do that because I've wondered about that? Oh no, I was not having that. 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 was leaning against a post, waiting for Grant Teaff, holding a notepad. 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 . More than two years ago, I told the sports editor I wanted to return to sports. The Boston Herald offered her a transfer to Australia, where she would work for the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, which Olson accepted. I asked. Api. I almost said matter-of-factly, "You know, Kenny, you've got a fine head of hair." He said he would have me thrown out physically. Covering major league baseball fulltime is my goal. Even when one is naked. 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. But its the same answers to the same questions.. One was about the sad tale of the career of David Clyde. And I have shared that with very few people. SAGAL: But I want to know how you got from there. When I interviewed players, I found I had a much more personal relationship with them if I could sit next to them at their locker, says Gerald Eskenazi, an occasional CJR contributor who spent more than 40 years writing for The New York Times. "Is she supposed to be here?" They will look at her as one of the guys if she doesnt act like a chick. I had to remind myself that I should probably look away. the frigid steppes of Russia and beyond, like, say, Phoenix. I had been lobbying for this for a long time, so when the opportunity presented itself, I said Id We still booted women took off the nfl reporter locker room in female reporter paola boivin felt a sports reporters are uncommon, adult . It was just one of those moments you want to hold for yourself. Yeah. Will Saturday be the last game for Jason Kelce at Lincoln Financial Field? I've always considered the real hurdle of all this to be players' perception of me, not suppressing my thoughts. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing".
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