Yesterday was my second yoga class and the teacher seemed surprised I came back. Haha. I did much better this time with a handful of cheerios and an apple for breakfast instead of nothing. They still couldn't get the room that hot and I definitely feel sore again today, but not as bad as last week where I couldn't raise my arms for three days.
Immediately after yoga, I raced home to get showered and dressed and head up to Amherst where I was going to be a guest speaker in my coworker's Sports Journalism class. Steve, our part-timer is a journalism professor at UMass Amherst and wanted to bring in my boss, Matt, and I to talk about what it's really like in the journalism world.
So they put a spotlight on us and a cigarette in our hands ... well, no, not really. I was pretty happy to hear that there were four women in the class of 13, even though only three showed up. Matt and I ran through our career tracks, and then they started asking some questions.
What's it like to be a woman in the sports journalism world and do you face a lot of sexism?
Clearly, I was going to get this question, so I was prepared with a good answer, a lot of which I ranted about before. But I broke it down like this, (some of you might have heard this before):
People would call the Boston Globe sports section all day long to ask random sports questions (Who won the Heisman in 1981? What is Paul Pierce's three-point shooting percentage?) I don't know why they called, or if they thought we had a giant book of answers, but they did, so we would do our best to answer those questions.
Eight times out of 10, it would go down without an issue. Then one time out of 10 it would be:
"Sports, this is Emily"
"Can I talk to a guy?"
Umm... no, you can't. Sometimes, they'd give in. Sometimes, they'd hang up and take their chances that a guy would answer. Sometimes they'd yell at me, insisting I put a man on the phone. One day, I snapped.
"Sports, this is Emily"
"Is there a guy there I can talk to?"
"No, but I can help you"
"I don't want you to help me, I want to talk to a man."
"Why do you need a man, why won't you let me help you?"
"Because only a man would know the answer to this question."
(pause)
"Well, you're a man, and you don't know the answer. So why don't you give me a try?"
I guess my angst had radiated throughout the newsroom as it erupted in cheers when I handed down my rebuttal. As you might suspect, the men and women I dealt with at the Boston Globe sports section were not sexist whatsoever, and if they were, they never exhibited that in front of me.
So that was one out of ten calls. What was the other call like?
"Sports, this is Emily"
Then came the question... and the answer.
"Wow. Thank you. Can I send you flowers? Will you go on a date with me?"
I told the kids this and then told them the truth: while there is a lot of sexism out there, it mostly comes from coaches and players moreso than the people you work with. In San Diego I was on a sports staff that consisted entirely of female reporters. (I think we might have been the only one in the country, honestly.)
Matt then jumped in and said that he tries to keep his staff diverse, but that it's not where it needs to be. Bottom line: things could be better, but are getting better. I believe that.
What was your coolest moment in journalism?
Most sports journalists you know, who cover professional sports, are completely jaded from meeting professional athletes. They've done it a million times, it's ho-hum for them. Well, I've only covered one professional sporting event (New England Patriots vs. San Diego Chargers, Divisional Playoff, January 14, 2007) and it's one of the top 10 coolest thing I've ever done. (You can stop if you've heard this one before...)
I told them how nervous and anxious I was. How I didn't want to leave my seat in the press box. How the game ended on a last minute field goal and I got my assignment about 30 seconds before I headed to the press elevator down to the locker room. How I was standing in the locker room corridor waiting for the doors to open, standing next to this woman who looked SO FAMILIAR, though I couldn't put my finger on it. (It was, of course, Gisele. I thought it was, but the news about them dating didn't come out until the next day, because apparently some 40-year old sports writer knows models better than me. So how was I to know it was really her? Also, why do we always think super models are so much taller than us regular folk? They aren't.)
Anywhoo, I told them, truthfully, that when the doors opened to the locker room, and I bolted in, the nekkidness did take me aback. Because there was a lot of it. And ... it wasn't pretty. But! Musn't dwell! Have a job to do! Find Reche Caldwell! Even though you really don't know what he looks like! And the lockers only go up to ... 60? Crap! He's 80-something! Is he around this corner? Nope, that's the shower! People do not want you in there!
Oh man, it was hectic. I finally found Reche in the press room, and got my story (http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/01/15/return_was_worth_wait_for_caldwell/
) you can hear me on the video at the 4:20ish mark too.
There's more to that story, including a bit with Tom Brady that makes most people laugh but I do not wish to type here... ;) The class seemed to enjoy it though. Because let's face it, it is cool, and it's what most of them are striving to encounter.
Later, I told the class about how my interview with the world wide leader was seven hours long, and they seemed stressed by that. Then I told them how little I got paid when I started, and they got even more stressed. Then I told them how I work weekend, nights and holidays, and they seemed apocalyptic. I tried to reassure them... see, it's a ring! I'm getting married! I kept a life, I have friends, you can do it! But the bottom line is, if they can't get past that, then they can't be journalists. (On the way out, one girl said: 'Well, now I'm discouraged.' Oops.)
My favorite part, at the end of class, one of the kids hung around to ask a question. He says to Matt: "I didn't want to put you on the spot, but how exactly did she (me) get this job?" It sounds rude, but he didn't mean it that way. He meant, how did someone with her experience level impress you? So I got to hear him talk about how awesome I am. Kidding!!!
Then Steve (the prof.) took us out to dinner and I was headed home. Jeff and I are taking it easy tonight, entertaining trick or treaters (I hope!!). Tomorrow, I'm taking my bridesmaids on a dress and secret mission extravaganza! before I have to work at 6.
There. That blog post long enough for ya?
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16 comments:
That's awesome stuff to hear (also, lol @ Gisele sighting). Oh, journalism, you crazy biz!
Happy Halloween - enjoy the tricksters and treaters tonight!
You should have told them to leave journalism now, while they still can. They can get some higher paying jobs, like The Gap or subway musician.
And who's this Steve character?
i am definitely a faithful reader, so i figured i'd show my face and leave a comment. your current career path is a true testament to the merits of hard work and tenacity, and maybe some snarky wit to boot. you more than deserve all the success you've had and will continue to have in the future! i feel like a proud parent and i would love to have you lecture my class when i'm a professor. no matter what i'm teaching haha.
the nekkidness did take me aback. Because there was a lot of it. And ... it wasn't pretty
If you don't like seeing naked men, don't go into a male locker room. The sheer hypocrisy of your statement is overwhelming.
@ Jessica -- no treaters! Boo! Hope your party was fun!
@ Esteban. From now on he will be called Steve No. 1. (You'll be Steve no. 2)
@ Drew -- you should show your face here more often!
@ Annonymous -- Hahaha. The sheer hilarity of your statement is overwhelming. No one is going into a locker room to see naked men, they are going in there to interview players. It's not about liking it or not liking it. As a person entering that situation for the first time, it was a bit overwhelming, but then I moved on and did my job. Who are youuuuuuuu? I love when random people find my blog!!!
I didn't say that you went in to see naked men. I said you complained about it. What else did you expect to see there?
If you don't like that part of the job, get another job. Would you like it if I said you weren't pretty? Either you're professional or you're not.
I don't exactly know who you are as well.
Annonymous -- Welcome back! You probably don't know who I am because I'm nobody. I wonder how you found this blog as it's read by about 30 people tops, friends and family.
I don't know where you're getting that I did or didn't like it -- it was what it was. Overwhelming, the whole experience of covering my first professional game was. For some reason you're harping on 10 words of a long blog post.
I don't see what me being pretty or not has to do with it, but I'm guessing that's the part you take issue with. Well, I can't help you there!
Ah the brave shroud of anonymity. I'm sure if you had your way sir, you'd also like to end the suffrage of women and see them back in the kitchen and doing what God intended.
That idiocy aside.
Sounds like you had a good time sis. Had to field a couple questions, almost a bit of a reverse for you, but sounds like you took it all in stride. I'm sure the students who bothered to show up learned something.
I'm glad Michael knows my beliefs. I'm actually quite liberal and because of that I believe everyone is entitled to their privacy. A pet peeve is woman reporters who invade athletes privacy, and then complain about the nudity (and I agree those comments were peripheral to your post). Now I know that the leagues make the rules not the reporters, but I also don't see any reporters defending the privacy rights of athletes, some of whom really do care. We all know that women athletes wouldn't tolerate analogous situations.
All of you are anonymous. Would you feel better if I gave a first name?
If your blog is intended only for family and friends, please use Facebook or MySpace. That's what they are for.
And yet, here you are again stating that she's complaining about the state of the locker room. You're automatically labeling her as a whiner rather than perhaps reading her perspective as the impression that she felt upon entering the locker room.
Or do you mean to tell me that you find 300+ LB sweaty, smelly men to be an attractive thought?
She did her job, did it well and did it with dignity. Your comments are off-base and unwarranted.
Yep, here I am again Michael.
No I don't find 300 lb sweaty men to be attractive. Honestly I don't find any men attractive. But what do you expect to find in locker rooms? The description of the naked men being 'not pretty' is not relevant. Would you think it pertinent if a reporter debated who was more attractive, Venus or Serena Williams? A paper wouldn't print such comments and it also wouldn't print Emily's comments above. That's what I mean by being unprofessional. The story she linked to and was printed indeed was professional.
And this is a public blog, like it or not.
I'm sorry for being a douchebag. I'll now go play in traffic.
Well, Art. I'm afraid we've hit an impasse. Of course I wouldn't print those comments in the paper. But I did tell this story in front of my boss and I wasn't demoted, fired or anything!
If you think it's alright, I mean, if it's OK with you, I think I'll continue this blog for now for those who enjoy it and take my chances on offending the anonymous masses.
My next blog post will be about bridesmaids dresses... shouldn't ruffle too many feathers.
for the record, you are pretty.
why should anyone have to edit their personal blog posts for professionalism's sake?!?!!??
a public blog is hardly a publication, as personal feelings and reflections wouldn't be relevant in that particular setting. not for nothing, but objective reporting and proper source citation would be nice, emily. so maybe you should hire an editor to help straighten out your diary entries. f'realz. i had to get this comment reviewed by several of my professional peers (monkeys with type writers) before posting it. they threw feces at me so i fired them all.
anonymous... kind of sounds like johnonymous. it's john lang! he's still chafing from the restroom ambush he got from you a 15 years ago. you're like a giant magnet to unsuspecting nekkid males!
Yeah, it's OK with me Emily. Irony is OK too. Dresses aren't my interest, but enjoy the wedding.
My guess is that if you were a regular contributor or writer for the Globe you'd have to be just as careful about what you blog as what you publish. At least I check Globe/NESN online Bosox coverage and I don't see much difference.
If you are intolerant of criticism or discussion, feel free to delete my comments. That way your brother can relax as well. I don't want to interrupt a family party.
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