Gender Bender

by Scott Hall

Kate Smith (right)is an 8th grader at Detroit Lakes.  This Spring she won the Class 2A girls state championship in golf, shooting a remarkable 140 for two rounds, 9 strokes ahead of her nearest opponent., and led her DL team to the state title.

It rained Saturday and so I turned on the TV.  On ESPN the Minnesota Lynx were locked in a ferocious contest with the "Sky", Chicago's entry in the WNBA.  The Lynx are the defending champions and so every team makes an exceptional effort to knock them off.  Minnesota's home grown hero, Lindsey Whalen (below), had 25 points and some dazzling assists and the Lynx won 79-67 to run their record to 12 wins and one loss. Lindsey was the best player on the court this day, but she isn't even the best player on her team.  In fact, the Lynx make such discussions moot because it is such a good team in the truest sense.

During breaks in the action I surfed the other ESPN channels - there are three or four - and each had an angle on girls and women sports:  an international girls volleyball tournament in Florida, profiles of basketball and soccer stars.  The reason for this focus is the 40th anniversary of Title Nine, the federal law that opened up opportunities for women in colleges that get federal money.

Title Nine was an amendment to the Higher Education Act in 1972.  It met with little opposition until years later when the breadth of its application was challenged in court. It was coincidental but appropriate that Title Nine passed on Wilma Rudolph's birthday.  Wilma (right) was born on June 23, 1940 in Clarksville, Tennessee, one of Ed and Blanch Rudolph's 22 kids!  She was in poor health for much of her childhood including a left leg and foot made lame by polio.  In 1960, at age 20, she represented the U.S. in the Olympic games in Rome, won 3 gold medals in track, and became known as the fastest woman in the world.

I remember watching those Olympics as a kid, wowed by the exploits of Wilma, Rafer Johnson in the decathalon, Cassius Clay in boxing, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson in basketball.  Wilma retired from racing in 1962 at age 22.  Track athletes in those days had to keep their amateur status to compete in the most prestigious events. In 1963 she got a degree in elementary education and became a teacher and coach.  As a kid I was oblivious to the barriers - both racial and educational - minority and women athletes had to overcome.  Those weren't the good old days.  There were many we never knew who didn't get the chance.  Title Nine blew the lid off those limits and created vast opportunities for women, well beyond sports.

I don't know if Title Nine could happen today.  It would be called overreach and social engineering by the federal government by some, and against God's will by others.  The most naive among us would say we are past the days when prejudice can deny opportunity.  But it's something every generation has to learn.

Roller Derby Rockin' Northern MN

by Doug MacRostie. 

Justin Bieber couldn't get a room full of tweens more excited than I am the day before the debut of The Women of Roller Derby, an audio documentary I have been working on since August 2010 that airs tomorrow morning at 8 during Culturology on the 91.7 KAXE Morning Show, featuring interviews with Bemidji's Babe City Rollers and the Iron Range Maidens.

Women's Flat Track Roller Derby has exploded in Northern Minnesota with leagues in Bemidji and the Iron Range. Derby has a reputation of being a very physical sport with hard hits and scandalous clothing. I wondered, ‘Who are these derby girls and what draws them to the sport?’ The answer might surprise you...

What drew me to the topic was the conflict. Not on the track, but of the people. Who’s playing derby? I heard about girls with Masters Degrees in Peace Education rockin’ the track; lawyers, opera singers, community organizers. WTF would draw these women to a sport like Roller Derby?

For The Women of Roller Derby, I met with Olive Mayhem (Shannon Murray), Vroom Vroom Kaboom Boom (Karissa Korbel), Piece MakeHer (Brooke Wichmann), and Nenookaasi (Megan Treuer) of the Babe City Rollers. And their referee R.-Sin (R. Beyer) who tried to explain the sport to me. I also talked with Ingrid M. Hulk (Sarah Bignall), founder of the Iron Range Maidens.

The countless hours spent on this documentary have been the most rewarding time I have spent "working". There isn't anything much more inspiring than sitting down with someone to talk about their passions, and after all the time editing/producing it feels like I know each of them intimately. My wife told me that the look in my eye when I talk about WoRD is similar to when I tell a sweet story about our son. Yeah, it's like that.

I started off searching for the short skirt wearing dominatrix of the game and instead found the true women of roller derby :) Tune in online or on the radio on Thursday, Jan. 27th at 8a on 91.7 KAXE.

You can read more about the Women of Roller Derby on Doug's blog "Talk Derby to Me".

Photos donated by:
Preflash Gordon of the North Star Roller Girls
Jimmy Digital of the Sioux City Roller Dames
Cruel of Thirds of the Fargo Moorhead Derby Girls and Rock City Riot

Good Sports

by Scott Hall

One of the best sports story this Fall (and maybe the whole year): Last Saturday the Wadena-Deer Creek High School volleyball team won the state 2A Volleyball Championship and completed an undefeated season. Their final record was 33-0 and they didn't lose a single game in the state tournament.

WDC has had state tournament quality volleyball teams in the past, but what made this year extra special was the Wadena-Deer Creek School was destroyed last June by a tornado. On Monday the demolition of demolition of the school began.Work on a new school is expected to begin next Spring.

Have you ALWAYS wanted to ask Fred Friedman a sports question?

by Heidi Holtan

To be quite honest, I haven't always wanted to ask Fred a sports question. But for some reason, this book-loving non-athletic gal, enjoys listening to Fred Friedman every Thursday morning on The Sports Page on KAXE's Morning Show.

Scott Hall is away this week and I'll be filling in for him and hanging out with Chad Haadvedt, so I'm relying on the generosity of sports-loving KAXE listeners to make it a good show - and call in or post your questions here. Otherwise I'll start picking Fred's brain about what he's been reading lately. Yes, that's a threat!!!!

Also tune in for a talk about sustainability at 8:10 with Chemistry instructors from Itasca Community College and Hibbing Community College... as well as a cooking segment in the kitchen with the chef from Timberlake Lodge in Grand Rapids, Andy. Rumor is we'll be eating DUCK for breakfast!

The Money in Sports

by Scott Hall

I've been closely following the Tour de France for almost three weeks. Most days I follow the race on-line, and this morning I finally got weary of all the on-line and television commercial action packed and packaged around the Tour - and all professional sports for that matter. Even the colorful uniforms and stock cars are covered with sponsor ads. Usually it's easy to block all the commercial hype, enjoy the event, and appreciate the talent and tactics.

It's no secret that all forms of media must have stars - Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, the quarterback. The media need good stories and will not let ordinary facts get in the way of making melodrama around the stars. Then they have something to sell to advertisers who have something to sell to us.

When our favorite ten million dollar outfielder strikes out in the bottom of the 9th with the winning run on third base, many knowledgeable, life long fans say something like "he makes all that money, he's gotta do better than that!" I share the frustration and deep disappointment, but the money does not guarantee or even help the prospects of success on the field. And, in another living room, someone rooting for the other team is celebrating the clutch performance of the ten million dollar pitcher who struck him out.

If the athlete didn't get the big money, we'd still probably think he's overpaid and complain about the price of a ticket, hot dog or cable subscription.

Here's a great spoof of sports and commercialism that aired on NPR's Morning Edition program about five or ten years ago.