Athletic Women Blog - Internet

Hit the courts with Martina

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:48:00 -0400

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.

The sorry state of television

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:22:00 -0400

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).

Sarah Palin action figures, no thanks

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:49:00 -0400

I heard someone was selling a Sarah Palin superhero action figure; this sounded like a cool idea to me (not because I've picked a side in the presidential race, either). I should have known better—shoddy is one word that comes to mind; moreover, schoolgirl Sarah Palin has to be the silliest "action" figure I've ever seen.

Stronger

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:56:00 -0400

In March 2004, 1st Lt. Melissa Stockwell, USA, was deployed to Iraq. Not long after that, on April 13, she was leading a supply convoy through Baghdad when the Humvee she was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb. Melissa lost her left leg in that blast, the first female US soldier to lose a limb in Iraq.

But the bomb didn't damage her spirit, if anything it was made stronger. Since losing her leg, Melissa has taught herself again how to ski, become a prosthetist so she can help other wounded veterans, completed several marathons and triathlons, and set US Paralympic swimming records. Today, she is in Beijing getting ready to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games. Melissa is the consummate female warrior-athlete.

TakePride—an organization supporting the troops through art, style, and story—has launched a T-shirt called Stronger in honor of Melissa. The shirt features an image of Melissa swimming and text that tells her inspiring story. A minimum of $5 from each sale of a Stronger shirt will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Stronger is available only at www.TakePride.com.

You can keep up with Melissa's adventures in Beijing by following her blog. We wish her the best.

New fitness dating site launched

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:11:00 -0400

The purpose of my post today is to introduce you to Fitness Dating Online. (Think of this as a commercial break—gotta pay the bills somehow.) This new dating service fills a genuine niche and should be a valuable resource to muscle and fitness enthusiasts; that is, a safe spot where athletic and fitness-minded singles can meet online. The member database is already considerable, and we expect it to grow fast.

There is also a partner program that allows webmasters to generate income from traffic that they refer to the website. This is ideal for websites and blogs dedicated to sports, fitness, bodybuilding, and physical feminism; and it would probably perform well on websites devoted to other topics, too. (No banner yet, but we're working with a designer now and should have one in a few days.)

If you are single, please check out Fitness Dating Online. The site is free to join, and we think you will find it useful.

Why women need catalogs

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:02:00 -0400

Amazon feminism put into practice with a catalog:

lol

Amazon's cool new widgets

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:22:00 -0400

Amazon.com has a new MP3 widget that I couldn't help trying out. (You'll find it somewhere over on your left.) If you have a blog, this, along with a few other widgets Amazon has added recently, is a good way to liven things up a little; and it may even help pay a few expenses, though don't expect to get rich.

My widget of course reflects my own eclectic taste in music—which, yes, includes country music believe it or not. Besides, Elizabeth Cook's "Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman," well, that one just seemed too fitting to pass up.

The Sarah Connor Charm School

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:52:00 -0500

The casting of Lena Headey as Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been criticized, harshly at times. Readers of this blog know that I've had my misgivings as well. Moreover, those who pooh-pooh such criticism are simply being disingenuous, for they almost certainly wouldn't react the same way if people were, say, complaining about the selection of a scrawny male actor to take over an iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger role.

Nevertheless, Monday's season finale was, in a word, excellent. And as long as they don't force the issue (which, alas, they have done at times), Lena's Sarah Connor works, only not in the same way that Linda Hamilton's did. The difference has been made up by Summer Glau, though she has been underutilized thus far. Summer's transcendent athleticism—much like Jennifer Garner's, largely the result of years of ballet training—lends a convincing quality to her movement that shows up in action scenes and in how she carries herself generally. This, when it has been used effectively, has given the show the muscle it needs. Overall, acting, writing, and production have been superb.

Let's hope Monday wasn't the series finale as well—no word yet on whether SCC has been picked up for another season.

How to be your own tow service

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:25:00 -0500

In this cute video short, produced by the Women's Sports Foundation, strongwoman Kara Mann shows aspiring young athletic women how to pull a car:

Muscle queens of film

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:16:00 -0500

This post at AfterEllen.com is almost a year old but is well worth pointing out. I couldn't agree more with the choices, and the comments are generally spot on. I would, perhaps, order the list a little different, but more important, I'll give an honorable mention to Jenette Goldstein (pic here and here), who played Private Vasquez in Aliens. Jenette is one of the first women I remember seeing heavily muscled up for an action role; she was impressive to say the least—a true pioneer in the female action universe.

Let's hope that Megan Gale is working hard to get her name added to the list.

Links

nospam@example.com (Rob Mars) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:37:00 -0500

First, I'd like to call your attention to this review of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles posted over at Heroine Content. Grace seems to share the same generally favorable impression that I have after watching the first two episodes, along with my reservation about Lena Headey's Sarah not being physical enough (though she blames it on writing, not casting).

Now on to technical matters. You'll notice that the list of links on the left has changed a little. Women's Sports Today hasn't been updated in a while, so that link has been removed and replaced with a link to Women's Tennis Blog, which is a great place to keep up with athletes and tournament results if you like women's tennis.

Please contact me if you know of another blog covering women's sports that we should add to the list.