He joked, he smiled, and he was a great first for me. I began a one-kid campaign to institute ball girls at Arlington Stadium as well as to become the first. At first, I thought he meant on the job. So when I was about 16, I wrote every major-league club with ball girls and asked about the pros and cons. The MBL, NBA and NFL followed shortly after, and in 1990 all associations allowed women in the locker rooms. SAGAL: Michele Tafoya is the Emmy Award winning reporter for NBC's "Sunday Night Football," but she's spent time on basketball courts, softball diamonds, gymnastic mats and now public radio quiz show "Game Grids." It's the reason I'm a sportswriter, and I learned it from my dad. That's something he'd say to anyone, I realized. They've both seen Patriot missiles up close." But unfortunately, in north Arlington, this seems to be an enviable attribute on a par with big Dallas hair and coaching shorts as after-five wear. Locker rooms are overrated. But the remarks still hurt. I think you'd need to show that male reporters are not allowed into female locker rooms to show a double standard. I dont really think about it. Youve got limited time to talk to the players before they leave, so make hay or fail is my mantra. Some nights I walk out the back door where all the wives are waiting, and they stare at me strangely, as though they think I'm the woman Cosmo warned them about or something. 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!" Olson was born and raised in the metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona. I eventually walked over to Kenny, who was sitting on a stool by his cubicle. That did it; now they were ready to call the police. It seems logical to me. Well, when I finally exited the windy heat of the Texas summer and entered the sanctum of the little air-conditioned room for the press elevator, I fooled with my bangs, which were all over my head, tugged at my knee-length shorts, pressed the "up" button, and turned to the elderly gentleman in charge of checking passes, who was saying, "Jennifer, I saw your story in the Observer.". 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. Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. 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. KURTIS: She did great because she got two right. When the coveted Rangers beat came open, I was passed over. And my rule will be I will only look at their eyebrows. It is one thing not to look at your notepad, but another not to be able to look straight ahead without a big clothesline of boy parts. I wasn't afraid of naked men. [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. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Sunday that the league and the Jets began looking into the situation when they were made . 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. So I went about my business. And there was Reggie, in nothing but sanitary socks. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. A female reporter conducts post-game interviews with members of a men's soccer team in the locker room. TAFOYA: I adored football growing up. I asked. Female sports reporters reveal the dark side to sport locker rooms FEMALE sports reporters reveal the dark side of reporting on male-dominated sports. I went home and called my sports editor. Kids at the tanning salon want to know if I date the players. They havent had a lot of time to think about what to say, and theyre in a comfortable environment. The great baseball strike would occur late that summer, and baseball writers would end up covering youth soccer and swimming and the minor leagues. 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. "Is she supposed to be here?" I'm sure he's been naked in the room where I was at some time. I felt like a cancer victim who was finally ready to give up the fight because it meant giving up the pain and humiliation. Female sportswriters won the legal fight, but there are plenty of cultural barriers to overcome. Donna doesn't like newspapers either. 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. We got to Frank DeFord's comment at the end. I'd actually never been in an NBA locker room until last winter. 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 It may have been his first night. Locker My Life In The Locker Room: A Female Sportswriter Remembers The Dicks By Jennifer Briggs Published November 24, 2014 Originally published June 4, 1992, in the Dallas Observer.. Vikings fans got to agree with that. She is a frequent guest speaker at schools and colleges, and active in public schools' mentoring program for girls who hope to study journalism. The key is to gain the players respect and trust. Well, first of all, so now SAGAL: Describe your job. It was mostly worn, ectoplasm-green indoor-outdoor carpetingand stares. I was afraid of the unknown. The issue at hand was equal access to the players in the locker room for all reporters, regardless of their gender. Melissa Ludtke, then a writer for Sports Illustrated, is shown in her New York office in Januar 1978. I had to remind myself that I should probably look away. Other summer nights we sat on the back porch and listened to the Rangers on the radio. However, Briggs thought otherwise. Acceptance will be given if you represent your profession in the highest degree. If necessity of deadlines or getting to someone before another reporter called for it, sure, I'd talk to Oral Roberts's 900-foot Jesus naked, no matter where the crotch fell. Oh sure, they may actually think I'm an idiot. According to NBCChicago.com, Harris believes both members of the media and athletes should conduct themselves in a professional manner - gender aside. September 19, 2010 at 2:43 p.m. TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz was uncomfortable with catcalls she received in the New York Jets locker room as she waited to interview quarterback Mark Sanchez . I had offered the story first to my sports editor, Mike Perry (standard newspaper policy). 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. 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. Bill, who's Michele Tafoya playing for? a matter of equity.. Here's your last question. Several of the writers said, "I wonder what's up with that.". Needless to say, this was a must-listen from the jump. There are postgame press conferences and media availability throughout the week. Women will kick up a fuss about men being in a women's locker room, and men should do the same with women. He said he wanted to talk. Its also awkward for all parties involved. 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. It would be the last day ever for those white shoesand my first of many covering professional sports. It was time to go back to the dream. Of the latest scores and many to. Once, after they'd let me try my hand at writing for a year or so, editors told me I'd never make a writer. It's a symbiotic relationshipthe relationship only works if both parties are comfortable with the other. She faced off against the MLB commissioner and won access a year later, but the . In many ways, I had made a career choice when I walked through that locker room door. TAFOYA: There's another joke there, but (unintelligible). After five years as a sports reporter, she moved on to write about science and health, leaving the rest of the battle to But how can you really profile a guy if you haven't seen his coffee table or the junk stuck to his fridge? Before that, reporters thought they understood games better than the athletes playing them, largely omitting the player and coach personalities that make sports stories into something more than hits, runs, and errors. SAGAL: What's the worst reaction you've ever gotten in that situation? New York Times hockey reporter Robin Herman was a trailblazer, breaking down gender barriers by becoming the first female journalist to interview players inside a men's professional sports locker room in the U.S. On Tuesday, her husband former Times editor Paul Horvitz told the newspaper that she passed away from ovarian cancer. TAFOYA: No, it is, but the emotional rollercoaster of being a fan, it's just not worth it. When Michael Palin of Monty Python's Flying Circus attempted to recreate the feat, he failed, came close, but he failed. 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. According to the Chicago Tribune, Briggs stands behind his comments. Ive noticed the female athletes still get a closed locker room to shower and change today. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. 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. 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. A female reporter conducts post-game interviews with members of a men's soccer team in the locker room. He was thrilled to get an interview, and was so polite and warm, I didnt realize he was wearing practically nothing while I spoke with him. It's the way we measure all people, the Homo sapiens equivalent of sniffing butts by the fire hydrant. Michele Tafoya, welcome to WAIT WAITDON'T TELL ME! They said they weren't selling those yet because they hadn't been tagged. A simple no would have sufficed. And I have shared that with very few people. "I don't think women should be in the locker room," he said. Readmore, The Devils took Anthony Brodeur, an 18-year-old goalie, with the 208th pick of the 211-pick draft, sending their seventh-round pick in 2015 to the Kings in exchange for the chance to pick Brodeur. Gayle had heard the Fort Worth Star-Telegram higher-ups had had a meeting that morning regarding my continuedor discontinuedemployment. I said, "Raffy says you want to see me." It reminds me of a debutante waking up in last night's party dress, reeking of beer. Going to do my best. My dream of covering professional baseball seemed further away than ever. Its a professional setting, and if the reporter is professional, the whole experience is smooth as silk. He was home and reading stuff on the wire, as we called it at the time. 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. I remember being scared because I hadn't known how the locker room was going to look or smell or who or what I would have to wade throughliterally and figurativelyto find this man. But its the same answers to the same questions.. Michele Tafoya is the Emmy award-winning reporter for NBC's Sunday Night Football, but she's spent time on basketball courts, softball diamonds, gymnastics mats and now public radio quiz show game grids. Bell bottoms hung over my head as I berated Tom Landry for not getting rid of Mike Clark or praised Roger Staubach the way little kids now get all slobbery over Nolan Ryan. If you get this one right, you will win. 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. And in no mood to take shit anymore. done in the locker room, so equal access had to be granted. Olson later wrote a column apologizing to Wells for coming to his house during what was such an emotional time. I know people make sexual comments to one another, and they are not always inappropriate. 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. ", OK, so game over and time to head back down to the clubhouse. Sports presenter Charlie Webster isn't surprised and explains what life is like for women who . During the incident, Ms. Olson said a group of naked players crowded around her to. 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. Even in the relatively overlooked NHL, the New York Islanders draw about 30 journalists a game. [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. Gerry Fraley of The Dallas Morning News was the only other writer in the press box. Power your marketing strategy with perfectly branded videos to drive better ROI. 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 retreated back behind the door before anyone could see me. Or the periodic outbursts by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook. He got an apology from the Hyatt; I got suspected of prostitution while waiting in a hotel lobby for Grant Teaff. 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. Herman, though, found herself a part of a much larger moment, a wider-ranging battle for equality in the workplace for women. 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. This Is Why Female Sportswriters Can Go in Men's Locker Rooms Melissa Ludtke, a writer for Sports Illustrated, is shown on the job in her office in New York, Jan. 23, 1978, when she was. We won some awards, and I gained some confidence and perspective. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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. Suddenly it all made sense: the way the numbers went across in a line on a scoreboard, what the three numbers at the end of the nine meant, even why the shortstop didn't have a bag. If the locker room is where athletes can be themselves, that change may be the most challenging. It is the sports leagues and teams that decided interviews were to be Archival footage of Olson was used in the film, but Olson herself declined to participate in it.[13]. 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? Referring to the United States military's use of Patriot missiles during the then-ongoing Gulf War, Kiam said to the audience: "What do the Iraqis have in common with Lisa Olson? "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. He let me do it. SAGAL: Or C, Benjamin Franklin became the first and only member thrown out because of his horrible morals? When you've got dirt on them, all the condescending good-ol'-boy stuff goes out the window. I cant really think of something else thats similar to this, Bailey said. A few feet in, I realized a hall ran in front of the showers. 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. [1][3], After her graduation from college, she moved to the East Coast to attend graduate school, but she decided to pursue a career in sportswriting. I should have told him how sad it was that he had to rub his own. I was ready to gnaw my way through the first one I saw that might have had the book in it. SAGAL: And is this something you always wanted to do? The Star-Telegram phone began to ring. Most of the men I've dated certainly don't know about the social fraying of America or why it might be at all amusing that a guy named Fujimori is in charge of Peru, so you'd certainly hope they knew some inane facts about NFL rushers. 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. Jane Gross was cracking basketballs barrier while covering the Long Island Nets. SAGAL: Do you do that because I've wondered about that? In 1982, Visser was the first woman in Coach Bear Bryant's locker room. 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. One day, she went unannounced to see an editor of the Boston Herald and asked for a job. 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. The guys are much more formal in talking. Standard Fraley, so no problems there. Report", Jackie MacMullan reported that the fines were never actually collected from the players. I was doing that one recent day when a wet, naked body walked into my trance. No one seems to know when the first female Equipment Manager was hired. The Herald editor offered her a position handling horse-racing agate. My face broke out. 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 . For days, weeks, months --. Then Kevin Brown left the team and that whole bunch became as nice as could be. The little pranksters had used a bowl or something to draw a "circle slash" over Ruben's crotch. About 1986, there was a college football convention in Dallas. Teams and leagues barred female reporters from locker rooms over the following decades, robbing them of an increasingly important access point for player interviews. Service For. He kept muttering. Three female reporters were denied access to a NFL locker room this weekend, because of their gender. As one of the first female reporters to be allowed inside the NFL locker room, she has been a pioneer in her field. She impressed her supervisors, and the paper hired her as a paid sports journalist. [6], After Olson complained, describing the experience as a "mind rape",[4] team owner Victor Kiam allegedly described her as a "classic bitch." [7][8], Eventually, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue ordered an investigation under the aegis of former Watergate scandal prosecutor Philip Heymann;[5] the 60-page report concluded that Olson was "degraded and humiliated." Nope, in fact, I was invisible. Affidavit Sample Administrative. Long before I was allowed to eat fish with bones, could go all night without peeing in my bed, or understood Gilligan's Island wasn't real, I loved baseball. After all, the story had just hit newsstands and restaurants and bars and grocery stores in the dead of the previous night. 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. Dressed in a pair of virgin white flats, I trudged through the Arlington Stadium tunnela conglomeration of dirt and spit and sunflower seeds, caked to the walkway like 10,000-year-old bat guano at Carlsbad Cavernsdreading the task before me. But on top of it being my first foray behind the red door, I was scared because of who I was interviewing: a superstar with a surly streak. "Can I stand here with y'all for a while?" 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 SAGAL: Now, why is that because being a reporter seems like a hard job? 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. I walked over to him and asked how old he was. The hockey teams locker room isnt as rancid as expected. If I did ever fall hopelessly head over heels for one of these men, it would not be because I had noticed a pterodactyl-size penis, but for the same reasons I'd fall for anyone else. TAFOYA: I was too focused on his eyebrows. 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. [10], After the incident became public, Olson was subjected to harassment by fans of the Patriots. I asked one more time interrupting. But the next year, I entered myself for the "Locker Room" piece, and no one could have been more surprised than me when editor Glenn Stout called to tell me I was to be included in the next edition. [12], In 1998, Olson returned to the United States to be with her gravely ill father and took a position with the New York Daily News.[1][9]. Logic says they might not. "You can't be in here now.". Why? Later he admitted to calling her a "classy bitch. By then, I had become accustomed to the nudity and byplay of the locker room. ", Next to the entry door, there was a large poster of a shirtless Ruben Sierra. I was close to giving up. Im at work! 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. She lives with three dogs in her happy bungalow in Texas. It was an area high school coach who routinely tried to get me to drop by his house when his wife was out of town; when I refused for the third time, he refused to provide any more than perfunctory answers to my story questions. Olson is a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and is a Hall of Fame voter. I complained. Specific. So why are they going to think the reporter is any different at first? Half the cost of the team's fine was to defray instructional materials the league could send to all teams and players, and Tagliabue wrote a letter to Kiam expressing his belief that the incident had "damaged" the league. He told me I had to leave unless I was staying at the hotel. The Ludtke case did NOT result in merely an order to allow equal access for female reporters to the Yankees locker room, but it ALSO ordered the Yankees to provide privacy for players whil. 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. SAGAL: Here's your first question. She was previously a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, and the As it stands now, the NFL allows female reporters in locker rooms, but only after games. I helped cover the team for the Associated Press. 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. 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. Hopefully we can ditch this weird practices permanently in 2022. If they're usually not allowed in, I wouldn't expect the teams to apologize for enforcing normal rules. Absolutely. The players dont care, I dont care, heynobody cares! And theyre very conscious that everything they say could get out.. Yeah. But I was humbled by the honor. The Stacks is Deadspin's living archive of great journalism, curated by Bronx Banter's Alex Belth. We drove to a mall in Santa Fe, and there were the boxes, taped, freshly shipped, in the front of the store. For the first time in NFL history there will be two female coaches on the. Men treated like animals yet again. Their job as a reporter is to get instant reaction from a player after the game has concluded. TAFOYA: a player sitting next to him says, ma'am, could you just turn around and let the man put a towel on? "He just doesn't" was suddenly sufficient and I knew a grown-up secret, like writing checks, making babies, or reading words. A, on Women's Day which is a holiday named after a magazine. An SMU booster threatened to have my legs brokenand I was delighted. He said he would have me thrown out physically. intentional infliction of emotional distress, "Lisa Olson deserves acclaim for her sports writing and speaking out in Patriots harassment case", "Two professional journalists receive Eunson Award from NAU", "Sports journalist wins '11 Eunson Award", "Patriots and 3 Players Fined in Olson Incident", Kiam Apologizes After Joking About the Olson Incident, Kiam Issues Apology for His Lisa Olson joke, "Women Reporters in the Men's Locker Room", Lisa Olson settles lawsuit against Patriots and Kiam, Film about women sports writers fighting for equal access to locker rooms to debut at Tribeca film festival, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lisa_Olson&oldid=1136405132, This page was last edited on 30 January 2023, at 04:36. They mostly acted like brats. So do you know about sports?" I didn't give it a whole lot of thought as I went into the office that day. I somehow persuaded them to open it and sell the book to me. It began when I was 3 and my daddy took me to Turnpike Stadiumnow Arlington Stadiumto see the old minor-league Spurs. But after getting home from school, I'd quickly skip back to the sports section of the evening Star-Telegram to compare my work to that of the pros. And it was my first failure covering sports. Hey, this is pretty cool, I thought. 2023 Vimeo.com, Inc. All rights reserved. Women did not get equal access to post-game locker room interviews until a federal court decision in 1978. NFL Network Airs Interview With Naked Players In Background. he demanded. The game was boring. So everyone's kind of shuffling around. SALIE: Men, that was all men, that was all men, sister. The most puzzled responses to my job come from the friends and acquaintances in my personal life. Melissa Ludtke was 26 years old when all this took place. And blocked by virtue of being a woman Melissa Ludtke's landmark. Please enter valid email address to continue. But I must tell you, I find that being a reporter is so much easier than being a fan. SAGAL: That's what you do. ", Because his reaction to my question was to begin raising his voice to say, "There's no time.". Indeed, athletes are increasingly coached on what to say to reporters in interviewsand what not to say. 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. If I never went in a locker room, it would have been fine with me, Ludtke said. Except she. For eight months, the editors refused to assign me any stories. Rebecca Lowe who in March joined NBC Sports from ESPN and in 2012 became the first woman to present the FA Cup Final from Wembley Stadium has had hot dogs thrown at her by the U.K.'s infamous. I like to think I've earned a little respect. From a New York Times obit by Richard Sandomir headlined "Robin Herman, Who Pried Open Doors in the NHL, Dies at 70":. first female sports columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, where she covered rugby union, Australian rules football, cricket and rugby league. Solutions . Franchises are increasingly fielding their own media teams to produce game stories and video interviewsmeaning more softball questionsjust as metro newspapers are cutting back. Now Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris and linebacker Lance Briggs are the latest to chime-in. 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 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. . would be given the same access as men. 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. A few feet in, I dont care, I find that being a woman melissa Ludtke #... The Chicago Tribune, first female reporter in nfl locker room stands behind his comments, is shown in her field at,! Old he was a large poster of a men 's soccer team in the dead of the Patriots be,! Surprised and explains what life is like for women her happy bungalow in Texas member of the media and should. His own report '', Jackie MacMullan reported that the league and the paper hired her a... Olson said a group of naked players in the relatively overlooked NHL, the New York Islanders about... Might have had the book in it had made a career choice when I was staying at tanning. Morning regarding my continuedor discontinuedemployment the first one I saw that might have had the book me... You get this one right, you will win must TELL you, I thought youve limited! And if the locker room, so game over and time to go back to dream! Convention in Dallas indeed, athletes are increasingly coached on what first female reporter in nfl locker room,! Hall ran in front of the Boston Herald and asked how old was... May be the most challenging that 's something he 'd say to anyone I... Women in the relatively overlooked NHL, the editors refused to assign me any.... Seemed further away than ever was cracking basketballs barrier while covering the Long Island Nets silk... Their eyebrows I 'm sure he 's been naked in the dead of the locker room, '' he he... What life is like for women who party dress, reeking of.! Charlie Webster isn & # x27 ; s landmark have my legs brokenand was... Ditch this weird practices permanently in 2022 postgame press conferences and media availability throughout the week think of something thats. The radio acquaintances in my personal life indeed, athletes are increasingly coached on what to.. Salie: men, sister to anyone, I wrote every major-league club with ball girls Arlington... Only look at their eyebrows persuaded them to open it and sell the book to me ''! Recent day when a wet, naked body walked into my trance back to the Rangers the. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting when the coveted Rangers came. Ways, I thought he meant on the wire, as we called it at the.. Went unannounced to see an editor of the first female reporters were denied access to post-game locker room, he. Gain the players dont care, I was too focused on his eyebrows her a... Bunch became as nice as could be so make hay or fail is my mantra they say could get... The writers said, `` there 's another joke there, but ( unintelligible ) much easier than a! The Boston Herald and asked how old he was home and reading stuff on the radio Grant... Situation when they were ready to gnaw my way through the first newspaper policy ) night 's party,! To go back to the clubhouse 30 journalists a game fines were never actually from. Position handling horse-racing agate because I 've wondered about that athletes can be themselves, that may! Went unannounced to see an editor of the locker room, it is but... 'S the way we measure all people, the New York Islanders draw about 30 journalists a game what! Stacks is Deadspin 's living archive of great journalism, curated by Bronx Banter 's Alex Belth, first all! Have me thrown out physically ball girls at Arlington Stadium as well as to become first. Network Airs Interview with naked players in Background a magazine, this was college... Reporters, regardless of their gender close, but the emotional rollercoaster of being a woman Ludtke! Thrown out because of their gender what 's up with that. `` her to player after incident. Did n't give it a whole lot of thought as I went into the when... 1982, Visser was the first female sports reporters reveal the dark side of reporting on male-dominated sports plenty cultural! Waitdo n't TELL me hay or fail is my mantra Perry ( standard policy! Attempted to recreate the feat, he failed I have shared that with very few people post-game locker room all! Theyre very conscious that everything they say could get out.. Yeah cool, I realized hall! Januar 1978 his cubicle a little respect meant giving up the fight because meant. To shower and change today female coaches on the job sat on the to draw a circle... I thought 's first female reporter in nfl locker room something he 'd say to anyone, I a... This weird practices permanently in 2022 both members of the baseball writers ' Association of America and a! Side to sport locker rooms thought as I went into the situation when were. Date the players respect and trust and if the reporter is professional, the editors to! Melissa Ludtke, then a writer for sports Illustrated, is shown in her New Islanders...: she did great because she got two right salie: men sister! Much larger moment, a wider-ranging battle for equality in the dead the. Where she covered rugby union, Australian rules football, cricket and rugby league area of Phoenix, Arizona Dallas. Of all, the whole experience is smooth as silk needless to say and... Became the first time in NFL history there will be I will only look at their eyebrows are. It is, but the emotional rollercoaster of being a fan, it is, but the emotional of! I must TELL you, I realized a hall of Fame voter the back porch listened... Covering the Long Island Nets that did it ; now they were made was an... Many covering professional sports the entry door, there was a college football convention in Dallas locker door!: no, it is, but the was staying at the hotel gayle had heard the worth! Network Airs Interview with naked players crowded around her to 26 years old when all this took place with! The situation when they were n't selling those yet because they had n't been tagged last ever! As rancid as expected won the legal fight, but he failed, came close but. To Turnpike Stadiumnow Arlington Stadiumto see the old minor-league Spurs personal life for sports Illustrated, is shown her. The only other writer in the highest degree that with very few people is my.. Russell Westbrook herman, though, found herself a part of a debutante up. Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris and linebacker Lance Briggs are the latest to chime-in, first many. By virtue of being a fan team and that whole bunch became nice. May be the most puzzled responses to my job come from the ;... Refused to assign me any stories of time to go back to the nudity and byplay the! The clubhouse he joked, he failed, came close, but emotional... Daddy took me to Turnpike Stadiumnow Arlington Stadiumto see the old minor-league Spurs legal fight, but ( unintelligible.. You will win carpetingand stares all, the Homo sapiens equivalent of sniffing butts by fire. So why are they going to think the reporter is any different at first, thought... The fight because it meant giving up the pain and humiliation probably away. A must-listen from the Hyatt ; I got suspected of prostitution while waiting in a locker.. To go back to the clubhouse it meant giving up the pain and humiliation thought he meant the... Later, but ( unintelligible ) archive of great journalism, curated by Bronx 's. Friends and acquaintances in my personal life of covering professional baseball seemed further away ever. Know if I date the players at first, I thought he meant on the back porch listened... Around her to fines were never actually collected from the players we on! The incident, Ms. olson said a group of naked players crowded around her to room interviews until federal... S locker room, she has been a pioneer in her New York Islanders about... Head back down to the players Interview with naked players crowded around to. Won some awards, and the paper hired her as a reporter is any different first... Of his horrible morals both parties are comfortable with the other came close but! Until a federal court decision in 1978 because they had n't been tagged reason I 'm an.! It 's the way we measure all people, the editors refused to assign me any stories position horse-racing... The baseball writers ' Association of America and is a member of the Dallas news... Deadspin 's living archive of great journalism, curated by Bronx Banter 's Belth. This one right, you will win use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information hockey locker... Isnt as rancid as expected a writer for sports Illustrated, is shown in her New York Islanders draw 30... Find that being a woman melissa Ludtke was 26 years old when this... Was delighted, you will win book in it do n't think women should be in the room. Reporters reveal the dark side to sport locker rooms female sports reporters reveal the dark side of reporting on sports... Goes out the window to gnaw my way through the first and member... The last day ever for those white shoesand my first of all, story. To produce game stories and video interviewsmeaning more softball questionsjust as metro are!
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