"At a time when society is extremely critical of words
and images that are disrespectful to women, why is the
sports business so far behind?," wonders Women's Sports
Foundation Exec Dir Donna Lopiano in an op-ed in
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Noting Katarina Witt's appearance
in Playboy and Great Western Forum President Jeannie Buss
appearing in SI naked "except for basketballs covering her
breasts" in a piece titled, "She's Got Balls," Lopiano
writes, "These are talented white-collar journalists,
respected sports magazines and newspapers and business
executives who have chosen to portray women in sports and
women's sports in a certain way. ... Sports leaders --
editors, commissioners, owners, athletic directors,
journalists and athletes -- define the sports business and
culture. What do we want it to be? ... Will we give
sportswomen ... the admiration, dignity and respect they
deserve and the same admiration, dignity and respect
afforded male athletes and executives? It's up to you"
(Donna Lopiano, SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/16 issue).
NO PROGRESS FOR WOMEN: In Denver, Diane Carman wrote
that the female "athlete is a tough sell. Unless, of
course, she takes her clothes off. For all those who would
argue that folks just aren't interested in women athletes,
we offer Exhibit A: the December issue of Playboy." Carman:
"Playboy isn't revealing how much it paid her, but it's a
fair guess it was more than Campbell Soup ever offered. But
not every female athlete is, ahem, comfortable with this
form of self-expression. And plenty of them would like to
soak up even a fraction of the attention lavished on male
athletes. ... At this point, getting naked to get attention
is hardly a sign of progress" (DENVER POST, 11/14).
FREED TO DO WHAT SHE WANTS: In Denver, Vicki Michaelis
profiles Phyllis Freed, one of the "few" female player
agents. Statistically, fewer than 10 agents representing
athletes in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB are women, but Freed
said the number of women who want to be sports agents "is
growing." Michealis notes the challenges of women entering
the business and quotes NFLPA Dir of Research Mike
Duberstein as saying, "I think the real challenge is being a
woman and being able to get clients -- largely because other
agents are going to tell prospective clients the clubs
aren't going to respect a woman" (DENVER POST, 11/17).
