Athletic Women Blog - General

Rebecca Neuenswander Welsh, HALO on CBS Evening News

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:54:00 -0500

This blog's favorite athlete, action heroine, and humanitarian made the CBS Evening News last night for her work with orphaned children. CBS's Cynthia Bowers profiles Rebecca Neuenswander Welsh and her HALO foundation:

2010, a remembrance

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 12:53:00 -0500

The year that just ended was a busy one, too busy even to summarize in one short post. But here are a few of the many noteworthy items from 2010.

The University of Connecticut women's basketball team won 90 games straight, a new record for college basketball.

Kelly Kulick became the first female Professional Bowlers Association champion.

The IAAF, after demonstrating clearly how grotesque is the enterprise of gender testing, cleared track athlete Caster Semenya for return to competition. (Unfortunately, that still left us with some whining.)

Jordanian Farah Malhass became the first Arab woman to compete in an international bodybuilding competition.

Female athletes, not surprisingly, brought their A-game to the 2010 Winter Olympics, particularly Lindsey Vonn.

In entertainment news, Covert Affairs was, in my view, the best thing to come about in 2010; I can hardly wait for its return this summer.

I try to post little amusements throughout the year that perhaps elicit a chuckle while making a point. One from 2010 that I remember
fondly is the Knight and Day stunt rehearsal gone wrong, so good it is worth a repeat. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!—

Loree Smith and why we must support strong women

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:40:00 -0500

Being an Olympic athlete is a full-time job. There isn't time for much else. Thus money can be a problem. Depending on the athlete's sport and country, sometimes there will be a full sponsorship. Generally this is not the case, however. Instead, the typical Olympian is left to figure out on her own how to subsist and pay for training expenses. In particular, women who compete in strength-related sports quite often need financial assistance.

It is important that we support female strength athletes. They must be free to devote themselves, without distraction, to developing their bodies and advancing their sport; that is, if we really do want a future where women are regarded for their physical strength on a par with men.

Olympic hammer-thrower Loree Smith, for example. Loree works hard year-round to make herself a better, stronger thrower. Just as important, she doesn't allow oversimplified, restrictive feminine ideals to influence her training: "I love being strong and athletic, and I absolutely love being a woman and don't believe the two are exclusive!" says Loree. With her talent, determination, and hard work, she is paving the way to that aforementioned future.

But once again, Loree needs our help. Fortunately, she has made this easy enough (also here). So, now, before 2010 is gone, make a donation that helps Loree keep her dream going, not to mention ours.

P.S. — Here is Loree in action:

Take a moment to be Santa Claus

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:17:00 -0500

Former taekwondo champion and Rigged star Rebecca Welsh, née Neuenswander, is a rightful contender to be Wonder Woman. In her case, however, a script may not be required—she already plays a wonder woman in real life with her HALO foundation. This year she once again asks that we help out too, by playing Santa Claus to her Wonder Woman:

'Who should be Wonder Woman?' — The early returns

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:33:00 -0500

There seems to be modest interest in the Who should be Wonder Woman? poll, I'm happy to report. And thus far voting has been spread evenly, without a runaway leader; I assume this follows from a superb group of contenders. Continue voting—you can vote more than once—and sending in nominations, or rather, start sending them in, as I haven't received any recently.

Oh, and have a wonderful holiday too!—

Female athletes to visit Gulf Coast

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:48:00 -0400

Professional athletes will be in the Gulf Coast today as part of a press junket sponsored by the Sierra Club. There, they will survey the Oil Disaster and share their thoughts about the mess. The need for "clean" energy—is there such a thing? or is it "clean" only when not in your backyard?—is another subject that will be discussed.

Several female athletes will be in attendance, among them: Leilani Munter, Krista Bradford Ference, Stacey Cook, Loree Smith, and Chanda Rubin.

The gesture is a thoughtful one on their part, and will perhaps do some good. But to wipe the mess away will require a long-term commitment, one lasting many years. Harder still, the problem of how to supply energy to a world population close to 7 billion, and growing, many of them already living in abject poverty, without contaminating the planet or over depleting its resources. I don't have the answer, and doubt anyone does right now, but I do know that it will take more than a press junket, a concert, a slogan to produce one.

It does seem to me, though, that more could have been done here—and sooner. BP is of course responsible for the spill in the first place, and partly at least for the ineffectual response. But the government—the politicians—too, especially early on when action was most critical.

The early weeks of the disaster must have been a time of amnesia on my part, I guess, for I couldn't understand the devil-may-care attitude in Washington. Nor their incompetence once the politicians finally did take notice. But then I saw a video that jarred my memory, that got me to thinking straight again, and I understood once more that it was all par for the course:

Home security you can depend on

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:22:00 -0400

I've grown tired of a certain type of commercial, practically unavoidable nowadays, for home security systems. You know the story: a woman, home by herself or alone with children; a man, usually a stalker or a crazy ex; he smashes a window or kicks open a door; the woman screams; the alarm sounds; now another man, this one sane and professional, an employee with the security outfit, calls to check on her—help is on the way.

Not to make light of a serious topic, but must woman always be shown the helpless victim? Always at the mercy of some man—attacker or defender—for her safety? Can't producers of films, television series, commercials imagine life any other way, indeed, as it really is?

For it isn't that way in real life. A woman's safety is her own province, whether she likes it or not, and something for which she is well-equipped; and the athletic woman, abundantly so.

In point of fact, the would-be attacker in the Cincinnati area who recently found out the hard way: