If you head on over to free agent Nyjer Morgan’s Twitter account, you’ll notice that he’s currently taking suggestions for a new Twitter handle and asking his 85,000+ followers to come join him on his new Twitter account that doesn’t even exist yet. And while I could probably spend the rest of the afternoon suggesting new Twitter handles for him – including @Mr239Average, @MilwaukeesWorst and @WorthlessInOctober, among others – I should probably point out that the reason he needs a new Twitter account is because he was “hacked”.

Of course, by hacked I mean that he had an easy password, entrusted it with his girlfriend and then apparently cheated on her (or at least really pissed her off). That’s why if you’re one of the 85K that he’s begging to Jerry Maguire with him, you may have noticed a little craziness on his Twitter feed last night. You know, because he got “hacked”.

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Allison Van Pelt* has worked “for the better part of a decade” in multiple jobs in and around professional football. Before today, I knew who she was, but relatively little about her experience in the game. In the wake of this this Ines Sainz/Clinton Portis business, Allison wanted to deliver some of her thoughts on how women have been treated in the game over the course of her career. We were only too happy to accommodate.

I was recently told by a superior that I am lucky to work for a company that gives me the respect they do, given that I am a female in the football industry.

The part about getting respect here is true. I certainly no longer feel uncomfortable, as I did when I was working for other football-related organizations. I don’t have to worry about ignoring the type of comments that Ines Sainz heard from Jets players and coaches, and Brett Favre isn’t sending me pictures of his junk.

But does that mean I should consider myself lucky? That would be like saying that all women in the corporate world are “lucky” that they no longer live in a Mad Men-esque world, where looking as attractive as possible to your employer is considered a career goal. Read the rest of this entry »

On August 27 at the Showare Center Arena in Kent, Washington, the Los Angeles Temptation and Seattle Mist will kick off the 2010/11 Lingerie Football League season, offering women on 10 teams throughout the country the opportunity to prove that they can play a mean game of pigskin, too. Of course, they have to do it in their sexy underwear, but there’s nothing wrong with that, right? RIGHT???

Apparently there is, writes Orlando Sentinel columnist Shannon Owens, who has dusted off the “Why do female athletes have to be attractive to be successful” flag in an attempt to rally the troops against the idea of “sex sells” as an acceptable justification for female sports, as well as the exhibitionism of this league. You know, that women choose to play in. Some even drive across states for the opportunity, mainly because they think it’s fun. But I guess we need to walk a mile in their stiletto heels to really understand it.

Surely these women are all ashamed of their trade, Orlando Sentinel:
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With the Philadelphia Flyers on the verge of Stanley Cup elimination on their own ice at the Wachovia Center, the attention has been turned away from tonight’s Game 6 in Philly and focused on the Chicago Tribune’s latest attempt at sports rivalry humor – a graphic portraying “Chrissy” Pronger in a skirt, and declaring that he “Looks like Tarzan, skates like Jane.” Despite the distraction, Pronger has mostly ignored the jab, which makes one of us. I just can’t tell where his legs stop and his neck starts.

With the Flyers down 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks and facing their fourth elimination game of these playoffs, Pronger told reporters that he doesn’t bother reading anything that’s written about him – good or bad. The Tribune’s editorial staff, in the face of accusations that the image and accompanying copy are sexist, responded that the intent was all in harmless fun, and that nobody should be upset about some good, old-fashioned tomfoolery. Besides, with sexy pictures like that, it’s not like anyone reads the Tribune for the articles.

Photoshop my bikini line, USA Today:

Tribune sports editor Mike Kellams told the New York Daily News that the paper did not intend to be offensive but “there is no other guy in orange who commands attention like Chris Pronger does…he’s the villain, he’s the enemy. We were just trying to tap into that emotion that is unique to sports, and we were just trying to have some fun in the paper. I don’t think that’s against the law.”

Team USA women’s hockey captain Angela Ruggiero doesn’t see anything funny in the Tribune’s efforts, though, responding:

“I’d like to see that editor out on skates. I’ll take them one-on-one on the ice any day,” Ruggiero said. “They obviously have never seen women’s hockey and are living in the dark ages. … Obviously it’s offensive. It’s disappointing more than anything.”

As the one-time owner of a Manon Rheaume rookie card, I am offended as well. I can’t believe I paid $6 for it. Tribune sports editor Mike Kellams said he’s received mixed reactions to the graphic, adding: “Johnny Weir LOVED it!” Ruggiero is hosting her hockey camp for girls in Illinois this month and has said that she refuses to purchase a Tribune newspaper, making her no different than 90 percent of Americans.