SAGAL: So you are and have been for how long now, the sideline on-field reporter for NBC's "Sunday Night Football"? If he's uneasy, it's time to get out of the stirrups. He may be a tough guy, but when I talked with him, he was slathering a nice coconut lotion all over his chest and was very soft-spoken. 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. That first-person ode to Arlington Stadium was entered in a contest. Although Olson settled a civil suit, fans of the football team made threats on Olson's life in the aftermath. 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. The grass spreads out in the shape of a precious gem, and there are fans here and there who have come to see batting practice just because it's relaxing. 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. So when I was about 16, I wrote every major-league club with ball girls and asked about the pros and cons. We're sitting around the salon one day making bets on when the rest of the country will catch on that Ross Perot is a weasel when someone says he finished ahead of Bush and Clinton in another poll. I just wanted to cover sports. 26 photos, First published on August 12, 2011 / 12:24 PM. The key is to gain the players respect and trust. 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. Ill never forget the first time I entered that forbidden place called the players locker room. In fact, after 10 minutes in a locker room, you dont notice anyone naked. SAGAL: And is this something you always wanted to do? Pearlman is a household name when it comes to sportswriters, and Long is one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes in recent memory. We went to a bench just outside the door and began to look through it. I had started wandering longingly over to the sports department, just to talk about baseball. My most innocent comments were greeted with sexual innuendo. Now, there are no F-bombs. 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. Of course, Rader would have spat corn at anybody. 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." I don't have a radio talk show yet, but I now make my living writing about sportsat the moment, mostly the Texas Rangers. For a gender that keeps complaining about equality and respect, they certainly dont seem to think men should get either of those. If you dont understand that, particularly as a woman, you might misinterpret it.. The telephone poll conducted this week among 1,026 randomly selected adults nationwide found 59 percent of 556 women and 47 percent of 470 men said female reporters should be banned from NFL . Graduate. Video marketing. During the incident, Ms. Olson said a group of naked players crowded around her to. So what? a matter of equity.. 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!" No one seems to know when the first female Equipment Manager was hired. But some paranoia lingers. If reporters are usually allowed into locker rooms, then this reaction makes sense. TAFOYA: All right, Daniel. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson personally apologized for the team's behavior. And now the game where we ask people who've achieved great things questions that diminish all their achievements. They used to have us dance to the "Cotton-Eyed Joe" in the seventh inning, and for a while we shook pom-poms during ralliesacts I now, as a baseball purist, consider heresy. But she still gets recognized as "the girl" who went in the. And his eyes got to be like the size of paper plates because what I didn't notice was that he was buck naked. But I couldn't back out. 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. 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. TAFOYA: Well, you have to maneuver around that. Later that year, Olson and Sam Marchiano were reportedly subjected to a profanity-laced verbal tirade by New York Yankees pitcher David Wells when they approached him at his home to comment on his sudden trade to the Toronto Blue Jays for Roger Clemens. he demanded. 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. One of the most famous all-male gentlemen's clubs in London was the Reform Club with the fictional Phineas Fogg started and ended his trip around the world in 80 days. Women will kick up a fuss about men being in a women's locker room, and men should do the same with women. Should women be allowed in locker rooms? Then there was Everson Griffen, an underclassman defensive end who will be a big name next year and eventually on Sundays. Build a site and generate income from purchases, subscriptions, and courses. He still didn't answer my question directly. Maybe I should write news or features because I'll never have the fortitude it takes to stay on your toes with one-liners and be tough enough to handle this. It was the last time I would ever try to interview Reggie. Oh no, I was not having that. Whoops! Team dressing rooms are typically open to journalists before or after practices and games. I complained. or "You wrote a good piece, Jenn, but then your headline writers let you down at the end; what does that feel like?" The first thing I saw was four guys in a big shower. My face broke out. But it struck me that something had changed: that my presence was no longer cause for flouncing; that I'd somehow earned this strange sign of courtesy and respect. I told her I hadn't heard about it, but would let her know, assuring her I would be the last to know if I had been fired. Ludtke said she constantly reminded people that she never demanded to go in a locker room. I ended up covering minor events full time, even doing the dreaded office score-taking work again. 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. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought as I went into the office that day. I left my stuff in the press box and went downstairs, sandals sticking in last night's gooey beer puddles as usual, as I entered the tunnel to the field. 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. 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 -. Whats more, players are increasingly media empires in and of themselves, lessening their incentive to cooperate with 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. Were you a football fan growing up? At the same time, though, I dont think getting a glimpse at a players brat and potatoes is included in the information-gathering process. In an interview on the March 11, 2011 edition of Bill Simmons' podcast, "The B.S. She was 70. In no other workplace in America are you expected to be putting your clothes on, and somebodys going to talk to you. I wrote about civil rights issues and roamed through abandoned warehouses alone in search of skinheads. Back then, almost 30 years ago, passion for the national pastime was an heirloom fathers passed to their sons. I had to remind myself that I should probably look away. I had become a sweating mass of raw nerve endings. Hopefully we can ditch this weird practices permanently in 2022. People were calling from all over about the piece. One editor in the chain of sports command kept trying to get me to check into the Worthington Hotel with him after work. "It's the same as a man in the locker room to me.". I said, "Listen, I have been covering this game since I was about two years older than you are so you can just shut it right now.". And here I'd been hoping for a controlled rollout on this thing. Fugitive in $18 million COVID fraud scheme extradited to U.S. Hunter who killed, skinned pet dogs says he thought they were coyotes, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege. A, on Women's Day which is a holiday named after a magazine. To begin, I want to point out that female reporters have every right to be in the locker room as male reporters do. Except she. Its basically the same interview, over and over again, Islanders forward Anders Lee said Monday, taking off his pads in the corner of the locker room. The Mavericks were a delight to be around even when pissed off. As she wrote in a post on her own blog, I found myself forced to muster Supreme Court-worthy arguments for an inane, In 1982, Visser was the first woman in Coach Bear Bryant's locker room. Alabama Phenix. One day, she went unannounced to see an editor of the Boston Herald and asked for a job. Pearlman is a household name when it comes to sportswriters, and Long is one of the most beloved Philadelphia athletes in recent memory. SALIE: Men, that was all men, that was all men, sister. When a guy is naked, hes probably more honest than not.. But there are still places out there where they believe in cooties, so Tafoya will answer three questions about men's-only clubs. It is funny. On Jan 21, 1975 she "broke the locker room barrier" as the first female reporter to enter a male professional league locker room (NHL All-Star Game) for post-game quotes. It seems logical to me. I began to rummage through the large boxes until I found the one with my publisher's name on it. There are a lot of times I want to compliment a player or make a personal observation, just because it's my nature, but my nature has to change for a moment because I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression about my intentions. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". When the coveted Rangers beat came open, I was passed over. Prove to them you know your stuff, and you will have proven to them why you belong there. I could see my worth resided within the confines of a B cup and size six jeans. The misconceptions about the atmosphere are overrated. TAFOYA: But you do that all the time, don't you? The he got to a really big one"Best General Column Writing." I seriously considered taking a job as a researcher for a law firm. We shagged foul balls, but in retrospect, I guess we were more decorative than functional. When Michael Palin of Monty Python's Flying Circus attempted to recreate the feat, he failed, came close, but he failed. So you've been in the Mavericks locker room? I can look back now and see I was sunk early, my heart hopelessly immersed in a severely codependent relationship with a kids' game played by grown-ups. I can't tell you the bizarre arguments I've had with a few of these creeps who keep suggesting I become a teacher. I fully expected trouble. Raffy said, "Hey, he wants to talk to you," pointing to Kenny Rogers. Like a son telling his mom, Way to go, you made me proud.. Sept. 8, 1985 12 AM PT United Press International Sportswriter Donna Balancia had two team officials block her from the New York Giants' locker room after a recent preseason game. I walked over to the corner where two guys from my hometown had their lockers. Copyright 2013 NPR. I immediately got a call from Gayle Reaves, a founder of the Association for Women Journalists. SAGAL: Absolutely. I have one of the few jobs where the first thing people ask about is penises. Readmore, With the 65th overall pick, the Rangers chose Adam Tambellini, a 6-foot-2 center whose father and brother each played for the Islanders. It was quite apparent who the poor influence was on that side of the barn. Male reporters are allowed in locker rooms both before and after games. 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