Internet

This news merits first mention, though doing so perhaps betrays a self-involved disposition on my part. I'm pleased to announce that this blog is now part of the Women Talk Sports Network. I didn't even have to beg; they let me join despite my inferior biology. This new network is both fun and useful—one-stop surfing for all things related to female athletes and women's sports. Be sure to bookmark it!

Brittney Griner continues to astonish the basketball world. Only two games away from a Texas state championship, she will lead her Nimitz Cougars in a Class 5A semifinal game tonight.

I also have Wonder Woman news. First, the DVD release this week of the animated movie (available on amazon.com). Second, this little tidbit, but I doubt it means anything, much as I like Eliza Dushku.

Speaking of Eliza, have you seen this commercial?

I'm grateful that an alert reader pointed out this video from Nike's GameChangers campaign. Sometimes the best way to demonstrate the absurdity of a baseless viewpoint is to give it an unfiltered airing, a tactic used here to great advantage, I think:

Three women will do just that, and you, the athletic woman reading this blog, could be one of them. For that to happen, you have to enter the 'Me, Myself' contest hosted by adidas. Go to www.adidas.com/women and share your training struggles and successes. Then, if yours is among the three stories chosen, you will take part in a professional photo shoot with Candace Parker. Your image will then be seen in advertisements online and in adidas stores as part of promotion for the 'Me, Myself' campaign. Good luck!

I close with an observation. It is a promising sign that many companies like adidas are starting to embrace female athletes and the physical culture now flourishing among women. Everywhere today athletic women flex their muscles; women have discovered that they, too, can be strong. Society must adapt to this. Change is afoot.

The United States Olympic Committee has named Natalie Coughlin and Nastia Liukin co-winners of the USOC SportsWoman of the Year for 2008. Paralympic swimmer Erin Popovich earned praise as well—USOC Paralympian of the Year. Congratulations, Natalie, Nastia, and Erin!

Here, though, I will single out Natalie Coughlin. I'm delighted the USOC had the good sense to honor Natalie for her accomplishments in Beijing—she was, after all, the first American woman in any Olympic sport to win six medals in one Olympics—which have been, I believe, overlooked; cloaked, that is, by the fawning attention given to those of Michael Phelps.

H2O Audio, too, deserves a good word for choosing Natalie to promote its products. This I have tended to with the H2O Audio commercial spot included below. After you watch, be sure to check out Natalie's playlist. I was amused but found it wasn't my cup of tea. But then, that's just me; perhaps you will be better able to appreciate it:

Be sure to stick around for the ending:

My title is perhaps too ambitious, for what follow are a mere few of the noteworthy items (selected aimlessly by yours truly) from what has been an eventful year:

Strongwoman Kara Mann showed us how to pull a car.

Aneta Florczyk not only won her fourth World's Strongest Woman title but made it to the Dancing on Ice semifinals.

C. L. Hanson demonstrated that prudery and prejudice often masquerade as feminist outrage, an example of clear thinking set forth in a most readable style.

Candace Parker had a busy year—her first WNBA dunk, and then right in the middle of the first WNBA brawl. But just as memorable, the picture of her towering over David Beckham.

Brittney Griner made it clear that the ability of female athletes isn't so easily dismissed.

Female athletes dazzled us in the Beijing Olympics too; e.g., the awesome displays of strength by weightlifters like Cao Lei.

Finally, the best saved for last: Clara's marvelous video clip, a tribute to Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), arguably the greatest action heroine ever:



See you in 2009!

The movie A League of Their Own, which I'm sure at least some of you remember, is a fictionalized account of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the first professional baseball league for women. From the AAGPBL website:

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball and to play it at a level never before attained. The League operated from 1943 to 1954 and represents one of the most unique aspects of our nation's baseball history.

Recently, Apryl DeLancey wrote about Vintage Blue, an eco-friendly sportswear company with a line of tees and totes based on the AAGPBL. Visit Women Like Sports to learn more about this important time in the history of women's sports, and the vintage clothing line inspired by it.

A great woman. May she rest in peace.

The original version of "Santa Baby" from 1953, played just as it was then:



The song has been redone many times over the years, but no other rendition matches the original sung by the athletic, beautiful, and remarkably talented Eartha Kitt:



Have a wonderful holiday!

GEICO no doubt offers satisfactory insurance, but I would stick with Shannon Dey:

Megan, Because I Played Sports, and Apryl, Women Like Sports, both lament the poor financial health of women's professional sports, which may be taking a turn for the worse thanks to the economy.

Megan asks why enough women aren't following women's professional sports, a legitimate question. But I find something even more puzzling: Why aren't men? You would think that heterosexual men would naturally be drawn to watching strong, healthy, vibrant women display their athleticism. Instead, we have a nation of jockstrap sniffers (and a most homophobic one at that—where is Freud when you need him?).

So the WNBA, for example, struggles, yet Candace Parker and her sister athletes entertain with enough athletic ability to satisfy any sports purist, and they bring an ineffable grace to their sport that the men cannot replicate.

I don't get it, do you?

I'm guessing that many of you do your holiday shopping online nowadays (some of it anyway). I don't blame you—why fight traffic and crowds if you don't have to? Besides, you find things online that you just wouldn't in stores, like these beautiful prints from AllPosters.com:





See you in a few days. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, as part of the Blogspotting feature at Women Like Sports, Apryl DeLancey linked to my post from earlier this month that showed Aneta Florczyk performing a strength event called the Farmer's Walk. I'm returning the favor because I think the video embedded in Apryl's post is hilarious. Be sure to check it out.

I leave you this Friday with another impressive display of female strength:



How's that for strong?

uBid.com is hosting a charity auction that gives you the opportunity to win a hitting session with Martina Navratilova. Proceeds benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund.

Cogent points are made in this worthwhile piece by Kym of Championing Ourselves. If you're like me, you'll find yourself nodding your head in agreement through most of it. Not only a lament, the piece outlines what could be the ideal female action series and even gives directions on who should star (Rhona Mitra heads the short list, to which I would add Jessica Biel and perhaps a few others).