Run Like A Girl: The Written History of Women in the Boston Marathon

photo courtesy of http://www.letsrun.com/
Kathrine 'K.V.' Switzer keeps running the marathon, despite officials'
attempts to physically force her out of the race.

This year marked the 114th Boston Marathon, but only the 38th year that women have been allowed to compete, as women were not allowed to officially enter until 1972.

Before 1972, however, several women made valiant attempts to run the race, despite the gender bar.

In 1966, Roberta ‘Bobbi’ Gibb was the first woman to run the entire race. The 23-year-old Californian, wearing her brother’s clothing and boys’ shoes, hid behind a bush during the start of the marathon, and snuck into the race without registering. (Sneaking into the race is still something that happens to this day; these athletes are called ‘bandit runners.’) Gibb had attempted to officially register, but her application was returned with a note saying that women were not physically capable of running a marathon. Gibb finished the course with a time of 3:21:40, which would be her first of three unofficial victories.

Run Like A Girl: The Course of the Boston Marathon

View Boston Marathon Course in a larger map

Run Like A Girl: Celebrating 44 Years of Women in the Boston Marathon

Seeing Red: Deconstructing Why The Red Sox Are Off To A Slow Start

photo courtesy of Jim Rogash/Getty Images

The system
Why did they change their system to one more oriented towards pitching and defense? Why fix what wasn’t broken? So far, their changes aren’t working out, as the Sox are already in the hole with a 7-10 record. Last year, they ended up with a 95-67 record, and this year, they’re on pace to reverse that with a 67-95 record. According to last year’s final standings, that record would tie Boston for second to last in the American League. The Red Sox have to pray that their system starts to work or abandon ship if they hope to see the postseason.

Target Field Goes Above and Beyond in Accessibility

image courtesy of http://www.areavoices.com

This season, the Minnesota Twins unveiled their new stadium, Target Field, and fans are talking about more than the views, the food, and the LEED Certification.

They're talking about accessibility.

Instead of simply adhering to state and federal guidelines, the organization strove to surpass them and give fans with special needs the baseball game and experience they deserve.

Some of the new improvements include:

• Approximately 800 accessible seats at all ticket levels.
• Lower concession counters with Braille and/or large-print signs.
• 1-2 electrical outlet boxes in accessible seating areas.
• Captioning boards for the announcer's messages and free assisted listening devices.
• All entrances to the ballpark are wheelchair accessible.
• Accessible seating areas do not have obstructions from railings or standing fans.

You can read more about the stadium's accessibility from the Star Tribune and the Twins' official access guide.

Golden Age to Info Age

photo courtesy of http://timpanogos.wordpress.com

The Golden Age of Sports and sportswriting is something that my generation sees in movies.  The Golden age of Sports and sportswriting is something that my generation, as well as generations to come, will only see in movies.

Today, it's not about novelty, and many times, it's not even about the beautiful, lengthy articles that Frank Deford strove to publish.  Today, it's about breaking the story as quickly as you can.  It's about technology and bending over backwards to provide audiences with short, to-the-point stories faster than anyone else can.

Phillies refreshing when it comes to news

I’ve followed the Philadelphia Phillies every season since I can remember, but I can’t say that I’ve always read up on their website and the news that they release.  This week was different.  For this assignment, I followed their website and news output closely, and I liked what I found.  Not only did I find information about the players, their accomplishments, and unfortunately, their injuries—I also read about the fantasy draft and other ways to stay in touch with baseball and the Phillies via technology.

Bringing in the Bullpen: Passing the Baseball From Generation to Generation

photo courtesy of http://www.emerson.edu

Left to Right: Jim Taylor, Buddy Hanley, David Hanley

It’s a story that starts out like all the rest.

A father starts coaching when his kids are young and moves up with them as their little athletes progress through the leagues. Tee ball, then little league—springs bleed into summers, and winters never leave quickly enough.

But it’s also a story that ends differently than most.

David Hanley is a Medford man, born and raised, and he is the only one of his family who stayed both close to home and close to his roots. He had an active childhood, playing baseball, football, and hockey. Hanley was out on the diamond every day that it was at least 40 degrees. Like most children, he inherited his affinity for baseball from his father.

“Growing up, everything we did was just passing time until baseball came around in the spring.”

Opening Day at the Park

Opening Day for South Boston Little League.  The Thomas C. Foley Red Sox versus the Fire Fighters Cardinals at Moakley Park in April 2009.

South Boston Little League sticks to fundamentals during changing times

Diversity and inclusion give parents more reasons to love baseball season.

On an afternoon that looked promising for an opening day of little league baseball in South Boston, the wind picked up and the sun hid behind clouds, but that didn’t stop the first pitch from being thrown.

As the 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old boys and girl swung bats, rounded bases, and made spectacular plays, their faithful parents watched eagerly, satisfied with the state of South Boston’s Little League.

Tracy Connolly’s son Griffin, 11, has played for two years, and is currently the catcher for the Thomas C. Foley Red Sox.

“I love the program. It’s good for the kids and it keeps them busy. They even practice three nights a week,” said Connolly.

Coach Davis Looks to Off-Season to Build Friars for the Long Run

photo courtesy of http://www.friars.com

"You have to be proud of the team, even though we’re losing the games. We’re playing about as hard as we can, maybe not executing as well, we’re having some breakdowns. But I think, when you have the work ethic, that’s where you’re going to find the improvement."

During the last Keno Davis show at The Abbey on March 1st, Davis took the time to reflect on a disappointing season. Currently, the Providence College Friars sit 15th in the Big East Conference standings, with a 4-14 record within the conference. At the time of the show, the team had been in the midst of an eight game losing streak. It’s now up to ten.

Assignment Four: Broadcast Critique

espn.go.com

For my critique, I listened to the broadcast of the Russia vs. the Czech Republic Olympic ice hockey game on Sunday February 21, 2010 on NBC. The announcers were Eddie Olczyk and Mike Emrick.

At the beginning of the game, the two announcers did a fantastic job of establishing the players’ history, as many of them are from the NHL. Many people who watch the Olympics don’t necessarily watch hockey, so it was important to give the players’ teams and stats from that year. However, after a bit, the background information became overwhelming. It would have been much more effective if it had been spread out throughout the broadcast.

Assignment Three: Opinion Piece

One of the few things that I hate in the world of sports is the blatant sexism. As a girl who has grown up surrounded by sports, it is absolutely demeaning to see the way that women are treated, in all aspects of the industry.

I went to my first Philadelphia Phillies game when I was just over a year old. And from then on, there wasn’t a time in my life that I didn’t have a favorite player—from Kevin Stocker to Rico Brogna to Mike Lieberthal. I went to spring training when I was five years old. I watch the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game every year, and I almost made it to the end of the 2008 game. I do my best to make it to at least one game every year and I watched every moment of the 2008 road to the World Series, despite my roommates’ disdain. I, like many other Phillies and sports fans, cried when I heard the news that the Phillies’ announcer Harry Kalas had died.

Assignment Two: 3 Article Comparison

I’m reviewing three articles from the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota Wild game from February 6, 2010.  The pieces are from an established Flyers blog from SB Nation that runs on Yahoo!, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and NHL.com.

Assignment One: A Critique

Puck Daddy is a hockey blog hosted by Yahoo! Sports.  It’s a blog that I read daily, and that I truly enjoy.  I picked out this particular article, NCAA Hockey 101: Oh boy, it's Beanpot time in Boston, because I found it particularly interesting.  I don’t know much about college hockey or the Beanpot, and I found that this article explained it in a way that was perfect for its intended audience.  It was neither demeaning nor condescending; instead, it took on a lighthearted and even sarcastic tone to explain the tournament.  I feel like this approach, while maybe not acceptable in print form, it is definitely appropriate in a blog format.  I also enjoyed that the writer’s opinion was incorporated in a way in which it was distinguishable from the facts of the article.  I could easily discern the two.  Obviously, a tournament of such magnitude is bound to have a rich history.  The writer weaves the historical statistics into the article without making it feel overwhelming or like a history lesson.  The first part of this article is successful in accomplishing exactly what it set out to do: inform the audience about the Beanpot.  When I finished this segment I felt that I understood not only what the tournament was, but what it has been as well.