I’m kind of awful and cynical sometimes, but I don’t want to be. I’m over-educated and over-privileged and maybe that’s part of why I don’t necessarily think women’s sports is the solution to a lot of systemic and ideological problems and barriers to women’s opportunities around the world. However, I do understand the price of exclusion from activities, even in something as “trivial” as soccer.

She goes on to talk about finding what’s important to you, and what is worth fighting for, and to that end I will employ the blogger cliche of “go read the whole thing.”

As for this blog, consider it shuttered. I won’t delete it outright as people do seem to be wandering by to read old WNBA stats or look at photos from 2009, but new material? Look elsewhere. Explore the sidebar at right (you’ll have to come to the site for that, RSS lurkers) and maybe find some new favorites.

As for the why, I’ll be succinct. I’m retiring.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be supporting any of the women’s athletic activities that I enjoy watching, or that I am not looking forward to upcoming events like the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. But the fact is, I’m just a gawker. I’m not a journalist, not an activist, and the whole women’s sports scene isn’t being affected in any meaningful way by my presence or absence. And ultimately, I just want to like what I like without having to worry about how to “cover” it, or take photos to cull through later and post online, or cook up screeds advocating for or against some sort of issue pertaining to women’s athletics or women in general. There’s a wealth of such activists, ready to vie for your attention.

Thank you for your interest in this blog and my associated material. Blogging will continue in fits and starts at Actionless Activity if you want my forwarding address.

Over and out.

I found myself playing as one of two token male players for the LA Sparks. The other was Josh Holloway, known to many as “Sawyer” from Lost. Dreams being what they are, I just went with it and every time I got the ball, no matter where I was in relation to the basket (so, mid-court) I kept heaving the ball up for the shot and giving possession to the other team. Finally a time-out was called and rather than going to the sidelines, we huddled as a team near the free-throw line and “Sawyer” came over all pissed off. “How about passing the damn ball,” he said, in that Sawyer-ly way.

In the huddle, Lisa Leslie (!) turned to me and said in her Lisa Leslie way, “I think it would be best if you involved your teammates more in the plays so we can be successful.” Time out over, I got the ball again, same thing. heave, miss, run down the court, Sawyer glaring at me, Lisa Leslie hanging her head down but getting back on defense.

Some points:

• No, I don’t secretly dream of playing for the Sparks, or any WNBA team, or any basketball team, period.
• I think part of the disconnect in my involvement versus what was supposed to be happening is that I somehow transitioned into this scene “cold”. Imagine suddenly finding yourself on the field for an NFL game immediately after reading this sentence. Wait, what? What do you mean here’s the ball? Why’s Reggie Lewis coming after me? AAAAHHHH! So yeah, I had a basketball, I heaved it up. Who wouldn’t, right?
• I have no idea why Lisa Leslie was part of this. Hell, why Josh Holloway?
• In case you’re wondering, “Sawyer” and I were wearing yellow t-shirts with tank tops over them, keeping with the team look but not wearing “female” attire. Yes, the Farmers Insurance logo was in the front, which was an amazing detail to include in a random dream scene.

Now: I bring this up not in terms of transgendered athletes pro or con, but I awoke from this strangeness and thought “what if the WNBA included male players on the roster? I suppose this could be asked as “will the NBA ever include female players on the roster” and get the same reasons why not. Women can’t this, men are better at that, never gonna happen, blah blah blah.

From the WNBAs perspective, this seems like a no-brainer. Hello, women’s league. Men have their own. Case closed.

From the NBAs perspective, this also seems rather pat, as it’s a men’s league.

The twain have met at least once, but it was some charity game if I remember correctly, where male and female basketball players teamed up with random celebrities. The All-Star break seems to be the time and place for experimentation without affecting the status quo.

But my fundamental question, and it doesn’t have to apply strictly to basketball, is will there ever be mixed genders in pro sports? Tennis has mixed doubles, but that’s all I can think of right now.

I had this discussion with someone recently who vehemently disagreed that men and women could ever play the same sport together, again save for tennis. And curling, assuming curling ever goes gender neutral. And bowling, yes?

But what about the “real” sports like basketball, baseball, soccer, football, and hockey?

Well, Carthage College does have a co-ed hockey team, but beyond that I am not expecting the NHL to incorporate female players in my lifetime. I’m thinking football culture is too macho to countenance female players in any capacity, even holder for field goals. Same with baseball, I’m thinking. Basketball is macho insofar as the playground attitudes that seemed to really pervade the NBA in the 1990s somewhere, plus the endless debate over dunking vs. “fundamentals”.

That leaves soccer. I contend that soccer is soccer is soccer, and men and women should in theory be able to play together. Basketball is basketball too, really, but for some reason I view soccer as presenting the best chance for gender neutral involvement. Perhaps because it is still relatively “new” in the USA relative to those European teams that have the year as part of their club name, like “Goatsmilke 1899″. The message is clear (to me) that such clubs are rife with tradition and no women are going to screw that up for anybody.

Time and time again, what seems to scuttle the idea of co-ed sports outside of academia (read: elementary school gym class) is the difference between men and women, boys and girls. Men are stronger, faster, better. Women can sorta kinda participate but not really. In my soccer-themed conversation my partner ultimately determined that any male soccer player would outperform the best female soccer player. In MLS terms, the argument is that some bench-warming scrub on the New England Revolution would play circles around, say, Kelly Smith.

I let that claim hang over us to ideally dissipate as the absurdity that it is, when the silence was broken.

“Goalkeeper.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Goalkeeper is the only position that could be gender neutral. Because women don’t have the physical demands put on them in that position like they would in others.”

This from someone who has a daughter that plays youth soccer.

I’ll have more to say about this in the near future, but I think that sums up one of the issues, if not the issue surrounding women’s athletics rather neatly.

Oh, and no, I am not playing the Fantasy Challenge this year. I know when to say when.

Carthage and UW Parkside Women’s Basketball is over. I only watched one NCAAW game this season end to end (UConn vs Stanford) and have not been following the NCAAW D-I tournament.

As I have noted in the past, this blog tends to lean toward “experiential” meaning if I do not attend the actual game, I don’t write about it. That’s not entirely the case but on the local level, it is.

Coming up:

Carthage softball has started.

WPS should be happening soon.

The Wisconsin Warriors kick off across the street in April.

I’m sure I’ll write something of substance before then, but that’s the forecast.

Today was the final regular-season home game for the Lady Reds. I don’t believe any tournament games are going to be played in Kenosha so for all intents and purposes, this is curtains for the season.

I felt more “invested” in the women’s volleyball team but the basketball team grew on me and I am excited about the 2011-2012 season and will be interested to see how the team adapts to the loss of Taylor Tondelli and Heather Gilmore.

Let’s go to the Twitter feed from the game and re-live all of the excitement:

I am here crazy early, but sometime today YOUR Carthage Lady Reds will take on Millikin University, or Fake Michigan. It’s Senior Day.

Wow, the pep band loads in quickly. Their section went from empty to filled in the time it took me to send that last tweet.

Apparently the Tarble Arena is the only place on Earth that can’t get Virgin/Sprint cell reception. Good thing I have 2 phones on me.

Blessed are the pessimists, for they made backups. Or brought backup, in this case.

Carthage has clinched a berth in the forthcoming CCIW tournament, but a win for the departing seniors would be pretty sweet.

Tondelli for THREE! This could be epic.

Finally time for a score update: Carthage squeaking by over Millikin 17-15 with 10:25 remaining in the first half.

24-29 Millikin with 5:31 remaining in the first half. Carthage needs to get the wheels back on the wagon quick-like.

At the half: tied 31-31. Carthage keeping this one a nail-biter.

Someone set off the fire alarm. This apparently closes the gap in today’s halftime festivities.

[Note: The concession stand burned a brat or something and set the smoke alarm off. We were told to leave the building and then the alarm was shut off, so everyone shuffled back to their seats.]

And just like that, “You Can Call Me Al” emits once more from the pep band. Woulda paid money to hear the Cantina Band theme.

49-44 Carthage with 11:28 to go in regulation. I am totally shipping the Carthage ball and the Millikin net.

52-60 Millikin with 5:04 left in regulation.

58-60 Millikin with 3:12 to go. The Carthage ball is totally taking the Millikin net. It’s like destiny or something.

If this were a UK broadcast the announcer would surely say “it had to be her.” On this Senior Day, Gilmore with 17.

Heather Gilmore is totally keeping Carthage in this one in the final minutes. 66-66 with 30 seconds left.

66-69 Millikin with 8.2 seconds remaining. Can Gilmore hit the three? Or will, appropriately, #3 herself Dani Ripkey sink it?

Millikin oddly fouls Tondelli. Why give up points now?

68-69 Millikin with 7.3 left.

Ripkey with the foul. 6.4 left.

Hokay, Gilmore drives the lane after the Millikin free throws but that’s not gonna cut it.

70-73 Millikin is your final from Kenosha. MWS Blog out!

This truly was the final regular-season game for Carthage. They move on now to face Illinois Wesleyan in the CCIW Tournament next weekend.

Maybe other guys sat around and moped because they didn’t have a date tonight, but not me! I had a date with the UW-Parkside women’s basketball team. Despite my obvious and obnoxious bias for All Things Carthage (except Lutheranism), I wanted to show UWP some love this Valentine’s Day.

Since “journalism” is not my middle name, let’s relive my Twitter updates, sent directly from the stands. Roll tape!

Tonight is the final regular season home game for the UW Parkside women’s basketball team, and MWS is there, live.

UWP takes on division leader Quincy, who are guaranteed to keep their top spot with a loss. It’s Senior Night here = incentive enough.

This may be the biggest turnout I have seen for a UWP women’s basketball game to date, but then again I am new here.

(Note: Tonight was “Senior Day” and this game was the first part of a doubleheader with the men’s team.)

I was just gonna say that Jadee Rooney hasn’t been a big factor so far and she drains a three. UWP 21-9 with 12+ mins left in the half.

And AGAIN! 29-16 Rangers.

Senior Brittany Hogen is on fire with 13 points. 37-16 UWP with just over 8 mins to go in the half.

Ranger Bear is hanging out with me as UWP continues the whuppin’, 40-22.

Okay, Quincy was just DE-NIED a spectacular three at the buzzer. UWP owned the half, 50-30.

Jadee Rooney with 3 threes, Brittany Hogen with 15 points of her own.

The refs just fist-bumped each other. Get ready for some freak nasty calls in the second half, apparently.

UWP kinda easing off the gas pedal in the 2nd half. 60-36 Rangers with 14:59 remaning.

Rooney is raining the threes! 67-40 UWP with 12:15 to go.

UWP very much in the driver’s seat, 81-56 with 4:23 to go. Rooney with 22 points.

The starters are getting pulled one by one. Well-deserved cheers for Brittany Hogen.

Quincy wisely lets the clock run out. 83-60 is your final from UW-Parkside. MWS Blog out!

That’s a wrap for UWP home games this season. Next up is the GLVC Tournament. UWP plays at home on Saturday, February 26. Check your local listings.

Time for another Carthage Women’s Basketball recap, and in a triumph of Lazy Journalism™, I am going to reprint my tweets that I sent out during the game. Subscribe to my Twitter feed and get it as it happens.

I’m in the Tarble Arena as the Carthage Lady Reds take on Elmhurst College. Pep Band is also in the hooooouuuuuse. They sing too!

Elmhurst comes in with a 9-11 overall and 4-5 conference record. Carthage is 15-6 overall and is absent from the d3hoops.com top 25.

Not sure how this bodes for Carthage entering NCAA tournament play. A strong showing in the CCIW tourney can’t hurt, like, y’know, winning.

O hai Glasses Girl! [Freshman PG Stephanie Kuzmanic] She has her contacts in this time.

4 minutes in and it’s already Carthage leading 15-8, mostly on the back of Diana Jacklin.

As a side note I managed to sit in a thicket of visiting Elmhurst fans. I can take ‘em.

Just over 10 mins remaining in the 1st half with Carthage still ahead, 26-15.

Quote: “What kind of fundraiser would we need to have to build a place like [Tarble Arena]?” – Elmhurst fan behind me

Carthage is squeaking by 41-39 at the half. For Elmhurst, it’s the Megan Ney show. For Carthage: Diana Jacklin.

Carthage is gonna need more than 6 points out of Dani Ripkey to stay ahead in this one.

Note to self (and [my sister]): got to find out if Carthage hip-hop dancers do shows outside of basketball games. They’ve got the moves!

Taylor Tondelli finally takes a shot, and CLANK. Sad trombone.

Ya know, I am not a fan of boorish behavior, no matter whose side you’re on. There’s a Carthage fan here who really needs to cool off.

Exclusive content starts here: I’m all for getting into sporting events. Lord knows that I left my voice at Pizza Hut Park more than once back when I went to FC Dallas games, but there’s “being a fan” and “being an ass”. Cheering for the players when they play well: Fan. Bitching at the refs rather than support your player that just scored: Ass. Please make a note of it.

12:27 to go, and Carthage leads 52-41. The Elmhurst coach is really giving her team the business during the time out.

Where’s Marv Albert to say “Heather Gilmore for two… AND the foul!” ? Because that just happened. 71-52 Carthage with 5:55 left.

I have to give props to these Elmhurst fans that have refrained from boorish behavior, unlike certain people.

Nice to see Carthage up so convincingly as to pull all of their starters. 79-58 is your final from the Tarble Arena. MWS Blog out!

Carthage plays one more home game this season, then it’s on to the CCIW tournament.

I finally made it back to good old Tarble Arena last night, and since I tend to “live tweet” the games I thought, why not provide the recap using my Twitter feed? I’ll provide director commentary to really punch it up. Here goes:

And he’s baaaaaaack/in the saddlllllllle/aaaaaaaa-gaaaaaaaaiiiiiiin…! Or is that The Tarble? @carthagesports

YOUR Carthage Lady Reds take on North Central College (IL) in conference play at the bottom of the hour.

One of the Carthage players is doing shootaround while wearing unprotected glasses. Confidence or hubris?

That would be freshman guard Stephanie Kuzmanic. She did wear a glasses strap after shootaround but still, she wasn’t sporting the Horace Grant look.

And I just realized that the pep band is providing all of the musical entertainment during pre-game. They’re quite good, akshully.

Naturally right after I tweeted that, the PA played 1.5 songs before the pep band took over again. All or nothing, people!

It’s game time! And when it’s game time, it’s pain time! GO Lady Reds!

That line stolen from the Office Depot® Office Linebacker. Hey, it’s a good line.

Good gravy, the Carthage PG foul trouble is so bad 5 minutes in that Glasses Girl is on the court, in glasses. Sponsored by LensCrafters.

Seriously. Taylor Tondelli is the starter, and while I would like to compare her to UW-Parkside’s own Jadee Rooney, she’s no Jadee Rooney. 2 fouls in the first 2 minutes, 0 points. In comes Gabby Chapa, who picks up 2 more fouls in the next 2 minutes. Kuzmanic comes off the bench (she seemed surprised to be playing) and manages to stay in the game, glasses intact.

Question for the peanut gallery: If one dislikes women’s basketball, why pay to see – wait for it – women’s basketball?

Two guys and two women sat down behind me and one of the guys started to grouse about being at a women’s basketball game and how boring it was gonna be. One of the women asked if he was going to complain all night. I wondered why the guy paid to be there but after the fact remembered that students get in free, IIRC. Still, as the late Mike Royko asked, if you stuck your head in a septic tank, would you protest the odor?

Three! Three Carthage Point Guards in early foul trouble! Ah ah ah! (thunder)

Kuzmanic was probably on her second foul when I said that. The refs were really quick with their whistles last night.

Finally time to give a score update: 28-18 Carthage with 5:42 to go in the first half.

Since this game was not on TV or the radio, there were no “official time outs”. I like to give score updates when the clock is going to sit still for at least 30 seconds.

39-25 Carthage at the half, whose fight song sounds a bit like “they always call him Mister Touchdown”.

“Mister Touchdown” is next to impossible to find online as an auudio file, but find it I did, performed on the dulcimer. The Carthage fight song is completely impossible to find, at least using Google and Bing. Maybe you’ll have better luck and can then compare the two songs.

Carthage has dropped to #42 in the d3hoops.com poll since I saw them last, but it’s okay to root for them anyway.

When Ripkey isn’t scoring threes, Groessl takes over. 58-32 Carthage with 13:24 remaining.

Really, if the scoring was presented in pie chart form, a sizable wedge would belong to Dani Ripkey, who opened the scoring for Carthage with back to back threes.

64-45 Carthage with 6:01 remaining. The game seems to be reasonably in the bag but Coach Bernero is having a fit anyway.

Taylor Tondelli *finally* heaves a shot up and…. CLANK (facepalm)

I tend to be hard on Tondelli but it’s tough love. I think she is talented, and she is a starter so somebody thinks so too, but she drives me crazy when she refuses to even try to put points on the board. Really, it’s okay to take shots. Jadee Rooney is right up the road if you want some pointers.

64-54 Carthage with 3:55 to go. North Central is creeping up thanks to sloppy passing by Carthage.

Which is the other half of my Tondelli tough love: She passes the ball around the horn a lot, but – and it’s not just her – that final pass would be limp and ta da! North Central would steal the ball and go on yet another fast break.

67-54 Carthage with 2:06 left. Tondelli at the line after the NC time out. Maybe she will make the score sheet.

Swish!

Tondelli 4/4 from the line. Way to erase the goose egg!

See? I’m supportive!

73-59 Carthage is your final score from the Tarble Arena. MWS Blog out!

The next Carthage Lady Reds home game is Tuesday, January 25.

I was thinking about the Dallas Diamonds today and how I won’t get to see them this season as I am no longer in Texas. I then thought about the Wisconsin Warriors and how they might promote their team this year. Then I got a tweet from the IWFL saying that the 2011 schedule had been released which I checked out immediately. And something was missing: No Dallas Diamonds! But lots of listings for the North Texas Knockouts, which I thought was a new team. (It is.)

To the Dallas Diamonds website! (trumpet flourish)

HISTORIC UNIFICATION OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

EXETER, CA — In an unprecedented panorama of unity, the most successful franchises in women’s football have come together for one collective platform. For the first time in history, the best teams in the sport now reside under one umbrella: The Women’s Football Alliance. This development takes effect immediately and will exhibit for the 2011 season beginning in April. Joining teams include: Bay Area Bandits, Boston Militia, Chicago Force, Dallas Diamonds, DC Divas, Kansas City Tribe, New York Sharks, Pittsburgh Passion, and the San Diego Surge. They will accompany current top WFA teams such as the Philadelphia Liberty Belles, Lone Star Mustangs, St. Louis Slam, and the West Michigan Mayhem.

Whaaaaaat!!!!!

I was under the impression that in the milieu of women’s football organizations, the WFA was smaller potatoes than the IWFL. Then again, all of the leagues brag about being the best, so it’s hard to tell.

This looks to be a huge coup for the WFA, and if this “unification” brings more interest to women’s pro football, bravo.

But this (Kenosha WI) is IWFL country, and I can’t wait to see the Wisconsin Warriors. Since they play right across the street look for much better coverage from me in the 2011 season.

Okay, I’m back.

And despite indeed holing up at the Tarble Arena as often as possible, UW-Parkside finally gets some attention out of me.

UWP took on Northern Kentucky University, which was 12-3 overall going into this game, as was UWP. Both teams were seated at the top of their respective divisions within the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).

I have to confess to being something of a Carthage snob, so it was hard to get into the game because I didn’t feel much rapport with the team or the school. Not like I am “tight” with Carthage but I am more familiar with that team, to the point of drawing mental comparisons between players from both schools.

But I found my “glue” in the form of Jadee Rooney. She had a hot first half, scoring 9 points in a very low-scoring affair. I wouldn’t say that it was an epic defensive battle, more like UWP was fortunate that NKU made a bunch of mistakes. Rooney went scoreless for most of the second half but the team had help from Amy Selk. 44-36 was the final score.

I’ll probably take in one more game this season. I have to get one of those DIY seat-backs for those bleacher seats, though. I miss you, Tarble Arena!