Monday, August 01, 2005
What We Need to Know Today
You gotta love the BBC- they are spending all week talking to women in traditional male jobs. Today, Sandra Aguebor Edokpayi, Nigeria's first female mechanic.
BBC
Say What?
A guy has been appointed chair of the women's studies department at the University of Washington. Seems that no women wanted the job.
NPR (Day to Day- NPR audio story)
Next week Wal-mart will argue that the landmark class-action gender discrimination lawsuit filed against the company should no longer be classified as a class action suit. They contend that because it applies to so many people it would open up other companies to an avalance of lawsuits. Well, yeah, isn't that the point?
WAL-MART
TV
Oprah's next TV movie for ABC will be Paradise by Toni Morrison.
SPECIAL WNBA ANALYSIS
I've been ruminating for over a week on some issues related to the WNBA- specifically The Detroit Shock. I watch basically every WNBA game that is available on TV. I don't know if it's just scheduling issues but the Shock has been on at least 4 broadcasts in the last 2 weeks. One of the attractions to the Shock is its coach- Bill Laimbeer, a former professional basketball player with the Detroit Pistons.
I am all for getting people interested in the League, but my problem is the intense focus on the coach during these games. There are stories about him, features on him, news about him- the sportcasters seem obsessed with him. They are obsessed because he is very vocal and has a tendency to act like a petulant child and it seems that we cannot enjoy sports without someone acting like an idiot.
Enough about Bill Laimbeer! He was known as one of the "Bad Boys" when he was in Detroit. His bad attitude has certainly rubbed off of his team. The women on his team even posed for a picture under the heading of "bad girls." Competition is one thing, but a bad attitude- which the Shock has, is another.
They have the most fouls in the league and two weeks ago they got beaten by 40 points! Get over yourselves! Swagger is one thing but Elaine Powell, their point guard, got suspended for five games for elbowing an opponent in the face.
I worry that the women's game is becoming too much like the men's game. Lisa Leslie of the LA Sparks seems to get into tiffs on a regular basis- recently, she pushed Sheryl Swoopes of Houston in the back after a play.
Personally, the reason why I like women's sports is because they are competetive, exciting and DIFFERENT from the men's game.
My last rant about the Shock is over the trades they recently made. Earlier in the season they got Plenette Pierson (from Phoenix) for just a draft pick and another player which Phoenix then releases and Detroit resigned. This week they got Katie Smith, arguably the best shooter in the game, for 2 role players and another draft pick. What is up with this? The talent on this team is out of control. They had the best bench to begin with and now with Smith...Is someone else watching this besides me? There is something screwy going on here. If anyone know what's going on, pleas tell me.
BBC
Say What?
A guy has been appointed chair of the women's studies department at the University of Washington. Seems that no women wanted the job.
NPR (Day to Day- NPR audio story)
Next week Wal-mart will argue that the landmark class-action gender discrimination lawsuit filed against the company should no longer be classified as a class action suit. They contend that because it applies to so many people it would open up other companies to an avalance of lawsuits. Well, yeah, isn't that the point?
WAL-MART
TV
Oprah's next TV movie for ABC will be Paradise by Toni Morrison.
SPECIAL WNBA ANALYSIS
I've been ruminating for over a week on some issues related to the WNBA- specifically The Detroit Shock. I watch basically every WNBA game that is available on TV. I don't know if it's just scheduling issues but the Shock has been on at least 4 broadcasts in the last 2 weeks. One of the attractions to the Shock is its coach- Bill Laimbeer, a former professional basketball player with the Detroit Pistons.
I am all for getting people interested in the League, but my problem is the intense focus on the coach during these games. There are stories about him, features on him, news about him- the sportcasters seem obsessed with him. They are obsessed because he is very vocal and has a tendency to act like a petulant child and it seems that we cannot enjoy sports without someone acting like an idiot.
Enough about Bill Laimbeer! He was known as one of the "Bad Boys" when he was in Detroit. His bad attitude has certainly rubbed off of his team. The women on his team even posed for a picture under the heading of "bad girls." Competition is one thing, but a bad attitude- which the Shock has, is another.
They have the most fouls in the league and two weeks ago they got beaten by 40 points! Get over yourselves! Swagger is one thing but Elaine Powell, their point guard, got suspended for five games for elbowing an opponent in the face.
I worry that the women's game is becoming too much like the men's game. Lisa Leslie of the LA Sparks seems to get into tiffs on a regular basis- recently, she pushed Sheryl Swoopes of Houston in the back after a play.
Personally, the reason why I like women's sports is because they are competetive, exciting and DIFFERENT from the men's game.
My last rant about the Shock is over the trades they recently made. Earlier in the season they got Plenette Pierson (from Phoenix) for just a draft pick and another player which Phoenix then releases and Detroit resigned. This week they got Katie Smith, arguably the best shooter in the game, for 2 role players and another draft pick. What is up with this? The talent on this team is out of control. They had the best bench to begin with and now with Smith...Is someone else watching this besides me? There is something screwy going on here. If anyone know what's going on, pleas tell me.
