NBC names Lindsey Vonn athlete of the decade

That’s right, this week, along with a new year, we’re celebrating a new decade. It’s 2010, and 10 years have officially gone by since the start of this new millennium.

Today, according to the Ski Channel, NBC gave the honor of “athlete of the decade” to a woman whose name should be recognized in every living room by now.

Sign of the times? Maybe. Regardless, it’s well-deserved.

Here’s a rundown of what she’s accomplished in the past decade. I’m sure she’ll be adding to this list this year in Vancouver.

Vonn is the first American woman to win back-to-back overall World Cup championships, earned in 2008 and 2009.

She has also won World Cup discipline championships in downhill (also back-to-back) and Super G (the first American woman to do so). With 25 World Cup wins in four disciplines (downhill, Super G, slalom and super combined) and two World Championship gold medals (plus two World Championship silver medals), she has become the most successful American woman skier in World Cup history. (See profile in Wikipedia)

Even more interesting, she survived a horrific crash in 2006 and earned the Olympic Spirit award because she still competed in the race, finishing eighth.

I can’t wait to see her this year in Vancouver. Visit Lindsay Vonn’s Web site to learn more about her life and upcoming events.

Elizabeth Lambert Spurs Facebook Interest

This blog post is part 7 of a series discussing my experiences with social media as they relate to advocacy issues that highly affect the women’s sport sphere. This is an assignment for a class I’m enrolled in as part of John’s Hopkins University’s Digital Communications program.

On Friday, we all saw the below video of New Mexico professional soccer player Elizabeth Lambert, who astonishingly displayed unsportsmanlike conduct in a game against Brigham Young University. (She’s since been suspended indefinitely from the league).

The cultural fascination with violence displayed by women in sports is nothing new. The 2008 WNBA fights gave the league more attention than they’ve ever gotten. And we all know how upset everyone got when Serena Williams gave a tennis ref a piece of her mind.

But what I find particularly interesting with the case of Elizabeth Lambert this is the varied Facebook interest that this act of violence has spurred.

Read more

WNBA Champions Video: Phoenix Mercury

… in case you missed it live last week, the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury won their second title in three years. Excellent accomplishment, and performed in front of a packed house. The video below tells the story.

ESPN’s Nancy Lieberman told me, “It was fantastic. Our ratings went through the roof.”

Congratulations to the WNBA for a truly special season.

We expected great, and that’s exactly what we got.

Can’t wait for next season.

Live Blogging from the Women’s Sports Foundations’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports!

Tonight, I’m going to be live blogging from the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports event at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Stay tuned below around 6pm ET for some live coverage from the Red Carpet!

Tonight’s evening hosts include Bob Costas, Mary Carillo, and Billie Jean King, Women’s Sports Foundation’s founder. Honorees include Annika Sorenstam, legendary golfer and philanthropist, Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, and Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee head women’s basketball coach  and all-time winningest coach in NCAA history.

Follow me live over at WomenTalkSports.com. Or, follow me on Twitter: @mhueter

Live blogging from Washington Mystics vs. Chicago Sky game, Saturday June 20, 7pm

I will be live blogging from the Washington Mystics vs. Chicago Sky game tonight at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC at 7pm.

This is a special day for the Maryland/Washington, DC area. Why? Because two local stars will be facing each other: Marissa Coleman of the Washington Mystics and Kristi Toliver of the Chicago Stars.

Toliver and Coleman were teammates on the University of Maryland this past year – local and national favorites to advance the club in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, their journey was cut short with a loss to Louisville in the elite eight.

During the NCAA tournament, Graham Hays from ESPN described the Toliver/Coleman popularity, saying,

“There are times when the things Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman do on a basketball court make it difficult to believe your own eyes. But in person, it doesn’t take a replay to verify the moment. All you have to do is listen for the roar.”

I plan to see that roar again today as the two local stars revisit their home city. I anticipate to see local girls basketball teams filling the stands, including my own, the 14U Classics AAU club of Bethesda, MD, as the WNBA, understood how my girls worship Coleman and Toliver and graciously invited us to witness their reunion.

Unfortunately, Coleman, the most promising rookie on the Mystics – averaging 12.7ppg, suffered a high ankle injury during a practice scrimmage last week. She’s out 4-6 weeks.

However, I am looking forward to seeing Toliver play. Though she’s only averaging 3.5 ppg so far for the Sky, she is expected to make an immediate impact on the club this season.

A piece in the Chicago Tribune earlier this month quoted Kristi’s coach, Steven Key, speaking very highly of her,

“Kristi Toliver is an unbelievable talent. She’s got a lot of skills,” said Sky coach/general manager Steven Key of his first-round draft pick from Maryland. “She can shoot the three and she has an unbelievable eye for her teammates.”

It just may take some time for her (and her teammates) to adjust over the course of this season.

Other players to watch today will be:

Washington Mystics:

Alana Beard – A graduate of Duke in her sixth year with the team, Beard is the Mystics biggest offensive threat as the leading scorer, averaging 17.3 ppg.

Crystal Langhorne – another local favorite, Langhorne, a Maryland graduate, led the Terps to a national championship in 2006. At 6’2,” Langhorne leads the Mystics in rebounds, averaging over 8 per game, and is third leading scorer, averaging 10.3 ppg.

Monique Currie – In her fourth year with the league, Currie is a graduate of the Duke women’s basketball powerhouse. Another strong team leader, Currie averages 7 ppg so far this season.

Chicago Sky –

Jia Perkins - A Texas Tech graduate who has been playing in the WNBA since 2004, though she skipped her first year due to the birth of her daughter. Perkins now leads the Sky with 19.8 ppg. And, at only 5’8″, she grabs an impressive 5.8 rebounds per game.

Sylvia Fowles - A Louisiana State grad in her second year with the league, goes by the name “Big Syl” as she towers a height of 6’6″. She averages 15.5 ppg and grabs 8.8 rebounds per game.

Candice Dupree – A graduate of Temple in her fourth year with the WNBA, Dupree, 6’2,” already averages 15ppg for the Sky.

Looks like a good game. Be sure to check out the live blog via WomenTalkSports.com.

WomenTalkSports.com welcomes you to the “Twitter Lounge”

As many of you know, I am one of the co-founders of WomenTalkSports.com, so I am a bit biased when I write this post. However, our site has grown tremendously, and our new Twitter Lounge resource is so good that I felt the need to write about it in an effort to spread the word.

If you’re not already aware, WomenTalkSports.com is a female sports blog network that was created in early February of this year by myself (chief marketer), Ann Gaffigan at Steeplechics (chief tech director, who literally built the site from scratch) and Jane Schonberger of Pretty Tough (chief editor).

We created WomenTalkSports.com because we knew that there was not much discussion of female athletes online or offline, and we wanted to come together with other advocates and provide that voice. Each day, we acquire new members to our community (we’re now over 30 blogs), and together, we represent  a variety of sports, professions and interests in the women’s athletic industry. Read more

Will women’s boxing be included in the 2012 Olympic Games?

Read an interesting article on BBC this morning about a new possibility to include women’s boxing in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The story broke in Europe today after hearing International Olympic Committee president Jacque Rogge publicly back its inclusion.

AIBA, the international federation for amateur boxing, also supports women’s inclusion in the Games and will soon petition for official inclusion. Read more

Japan women’s soccer cancels trip to United States due to swine flu; Wambach suspended for tackle on Daniela

This one made me laugh out loud in my chair.

A headline on USA Today reads Japan cancels games against U.S. women due to swine flu.

Japan was scheduled to play the U.S. team  in Texas on May 20, and in Utah on May 23,. The team was also scheduled to travel to Canada for a game in Toronto on May 25.

“Japan’s health ministry confirmed the fourth case of swine flu on Sunday, a day after the country’s first three were reported. The ministry said the fourth case is a teenager who recently returned from Canada on a high school trip with the three others. The Japan Football Association, which announced the decision, said it may have to pay damages for breach of contract,” USA Today reported.

Can anyone say… overkill? This is like the 100th most dangerous thing in in the U.S. (and Mexico) right now. I feel like they run more of a risk getting sick by drinking tap water.

Haha I think they should be more afraid of running into Abby Wambach Read more

What happened? Kara Goucher finishes third at the Boston Marathon

So… I’m not a runner. I never was. Actually, that’s a lie – I ran cross country my sophomore year of high school in an effort to get in shape for basketball season.

That resulted in a stress fracture in my right fibula and sheer pain that entire season. Needless to say, that was the end of my career as a runner.

So I find it hard to get excited about professional track & field events. I understand there’s an entire culture out there of people who LOVE it, and it’s one of the most popular (and grueling) sports in existence. But it just doesn’t seem as dramatic to me as some of sports that, well, let’s say… involve a ball.

Regardless, the excitement over this year’s Boston Marathon got me.

I was interested. Reason being – one Kara Goucher – who the world was watching. After only three short months after her Olympic performance, Goucher ran the New York Marathon and earned a 3rd place finish with the fastest time ever by an American woman, 2:25:53. So all eyes were on her for Monday’s race in Boston. Read more

Today’s 2009 Boston Marathon: Tune in to Universal Sports, watch Kara Goucher

…And they’re off.

Right now, more than 25,000 people are lined up in front of the starting line of one of the world’s oldest races: the Boston Marathon.

The woman to watch: Kara Goucher. Why? Because many say she’s on her way to becoming the world’s best marathoner. Read more

2009 WNBA Draft: A journey back to my love for women’s basketball

I’ve played basketball my entire life.

Ever since I was little, l knew that I loved the game. From eighth grade all the way through graduation from my NCAA Division III college, I pretty much obsessed over rankings, new prospects and players of the week, desperately trying to mold my role somewhere in the middle of it.

I remember when the WNBA started in 1997. I was 12 years old. It was a really exciting time for women’s sports. I read books written by big names like Pat Summit and Nancy Lieberman, attended basketball camps regularly, and was a subscribed reader to Sports Illustrated for Women. I knew deep down that I wanted to be a part of the future of the game. So I worked very, very hard as a player. Read more

ESPN features “The Selling of Candace Parker:” Can she transcend women’s sports?

Today, ESPN released a cover story with Candace Parker as part of their complete package of features for Women’s History Month 2009.

The story is well written, clear, inspiring and balanced. What’s great about it is the focus – a story about how Candace Parker is going to be marketed in the WNBA.

Parker is demanding a different kind of attention… the kind that focuses on her talent and her story, not her sex appeal. And that is the most promising thing I’ve heard about the future of women’s sports in a long, long time.

ESPN’s Allison Glock features Parker as one of the best, which is the attention that Parker deserves, as she’s set some serious milestones for women’s basketball over the past decade.

Glock says that Parker will “will transcend her sport:”

She will be a bigger Mia Hamm, a more accomplished Danica Patrick. Patrick is nowhere near the best in her field, but she doesn’t need to be, because she is hot enough to pose for Maxim. While that works for her, Parker wants more. She wants to be a champion, too, like Maria Sharapova, who earns upward of $25 million a year — the most of any female athlete — of which only a small fraction comes from playing tennis. Parker won’t be satisfied until she is a household name. “I wouldn’t mind being the female MJ,” she concedes. “I want to have major crossover appeal.”

What Parker doesn’t deserve is a focus on her sex appeal, which is something that’s started to happen. The focus on sex appeal has to do with female athletes appearing in Playboy and other like-minded disgraceful publications, largely due to the fact that those publications are willing to pay up.

Playboy-like publicity has serious repercussions for female athletes, as it promotes a focus body image. We learned that surfer Layne Beachle frequently suffered chronic fatigue and depression due to the focus on her body image in her career. We’ve also heard stories of female gymnists and volleyball players suffering the same kinds of symptoms as the result of their portrayal in the public eye.

So the question becomes, if Parker really is the next “female Jordan” who will transform athletics, will a “sex appeal” be necessary to get the attention of sports fans?

In my opinion, as a society, we should say no. Because we can do better than that. The athletes themselves should speak up and demand more than that, and Candace Parker is the first “big name” to do this.

Glock says:

“Team Parker has so far avoided the cheesecake route. They have higher aims. They want the all-American money, and the all-American money comes to the athletes people love, not the athletes people want to sleep with.”

What’s incredible about Parker is her story. How she got here. What she’s accomplished. Her personality (I’d love to follow her on Twitter). Her attitude. Her dedication. And most important, her talent.

Just the other day, social media guru Seth Godin (who I love to read) wrote about a difference between PR and publicity. He said the best way to get sustained attention is to communicate the stories of the clients, not simply generate publicity (which anyone can do). The stories, he said, are the ones that sell – they’re the ones that keep people coming back, because they’re real, meaningful and lasting.

And that’s the direction where women’s sports needs to head, and it looks like Parker is going to take them there.

It’s going to be great to hear stories about her baby traveling around with her to games, etc. Because that is new, different and real.

My absolute favorite quote by Parker is how she will deal with the new baby, which she is expecting in July.

“Basketball is calming to me. Whenever anything goes on in my life, I go shoot. As long as I can shoot, I’m okay.” And the baby? “The baby will be along for the ride, with me on trips, at the court.” She sighs. “You don’t hear about male players doing that, do you? Women, we just have to balance more things. It’s harder for us. That’s just the way it is.” She offers a weary smile before adding, “For now.”

Great attitude to take, Candace. I love it.

It’s very promising to hear that Parker’s sponsor (Adidas) seems to understand that Parker has a great story to tell:

Jim Gatto, head of global sports marketing for Adidas — which is releasing Parker’s player-edition shoe, the TS Ace Commander, in 2010 — sees her as an athlete who inspires women at all levels. “She was in our ‘Me, Myself’ campaign,” he says of the all-us-girls-are-in-this-together promotion. “We thought we could build stories around her. She has global reach.” Gatto says Adidas has been tracking Parker her whole career. “She always fit the brand values: authentic, inspirational. And not just from a basketball standpoint.”

With increased attention to her story (her inspiration), she’ll go far, and she just might take the rest of women’s professional sports along with her. In only one year, she has already done great things for women’s professional basketball.

“Candace is already delivering for the Sparks. LA’s season ticket sales were its highest since 2005; twice as many were sold after draft day as before. Home attendance was up 10% for the season, and road crowds were three times bigger for the Sparks than for other WNBA teams. The WNBA’s TV ratings finished up 19%, and Parker’s jersey is by far the league’s best seller.”

That’s awesome to hear.

Parker is the future of women’s basketball, and if she demands attention in the right ways, she just might transcend her sport, and set a precedence for women’s sports in general. Parker is incredibly marketable, she’s got a great story, and she’s not going to sell her body for money.

I wish the WNBA, Parker’s agent and Adidas the best of luck in generating some much-needed publicity to an awesome sport and its most promising chance at creating a new era of marketing for female athletes.

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