Page 12
The Behrend Beacon
Football not just a boys club anymore
by Mary-Kathryn Craft
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Ashley Thomas is not afraid to wear her
Pittsburgh Steelers gear.
She's got a jersey and a "terrible towel,"
the gold-eolored towel fans wave during
mimes.
One Sunday, while decked out in her
Steelers apparel, she accidentally walked
into a bar full of archrival Cleveland
Browns fans.
The 22 year-old Myrtle Beach woman,
who grew up near Pittsburgh in Toronto,
Ohio, loves football and spends most fall
and w inter Sundays cheering as her favor
ite National Football League team battles
it out on the gridiron. Thomas is part of a
grow ing national trend - women football
lans.
The Sunday “football widow,” women
deserted while husbands watch endless
hours of football, is steadily becoming a
thing of the past.
Sunday, millions of ladies will turn their
attention to the field and get just as
psyched up for the Super Bowl as their
husbands, sons and brothers. Fifty million
women in the U.S. avidly follow profes
sional spoils, according to a national sur
vey released last month by Scarborough
Sports Marketing, a New York research
linn that studies consumer and lifestyle
information.
Professional football is the top choice
among female sports fans, according to
the survey. Tara Goldstein, a spokes
woman for Scarborough Sports Market
ing, said the research also looks at who
the Ni l. fans are and what other interests
they hav e. For example, female NFL fans
are 4K percent more likely to attend
NASCAR events than other women.
Today 's women are more used to being
integrated into all aspects of society than
their predecessors, and young women ex
pect to be included in everything, includ
ing sports, said Sylvia Kenig Snyder, as
sociate professor of sociology at Coastal
Carolina University.
The defense is anchored by linebacker Der- Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, and John Lynch
lick Bnx)ks, who was this year’s Defensive hunting them every play, those old bones might
Plaver of the Year. The Bucs allowed a mere feel a lot older real fast.
12 |x>ints per game. Tampa Bay’s secondary Gannon, Rice, and Brown are only a few of
ga'e up only a little over 150 passing yards the old timers on the team, when you add in
per game (tops in the NFL). The Bucs were defensive starters Rod Woodson and Bill
also best in the game at total defense permit- Romonowski, you have over a half century in
ting opixrsing offenses to gain just above 250 professional football experience in 5 players,
total yards per game. Super Bowl XXXVD has all of the billings
let 's recap. Oakland gets 400 yards of of- to be one of the better ones. Hopefully it will
lense per game; Tampa Bay allows 250 per live up to all of the excitement. Last year the
game. The Raiders pass for 280 yards per sports world was shocked when the Patriots
game; the Buccaneers give uponly 150 pas- were able to stay close with, let alone beat, the
mg yards per game. Finally, the Silver and heavily favored Rams. Last year was a sur-
Black score 28 a game; the mighty Pewterand prise great game, let’s hope this year isn’t a
Crimson only permit 12. Something has got surprise blowout or even worse a dull 3-0 win.
to tiive.
Adding to the drama is the
fact that Jon (imden abandoned
the Raiders to take a job in
Tampa Bay. Gruden built the
Raiders into the caliber of team
they arc today and then jumped
ship (no pirate pun intended) to
the Buccaneers. He left behind
his offensive axirdinator/offen
si\e line coach, Bill Callahan.
Callahan used the offense
(imden left him, and rode it the
whole way to San Diego. There
is still a gcxxl deal of bad blood
in (iakland about Gruden leav
ing a w inning team while still
under contract. The Raiders got
two first round draft picks and
58 million in exchange for the
coach, but nxist Raiders fans are
not very forgiving
The final topic that adds spice
tothechampionshipgameisthe
issue of age. Bucs coach Jon
Cimden is the youngest coach
in the league. He is leading his
team to face the time-tested
Raideis. Very time-tested. The
Raiders three brightest stars are
well on their way to collecting
Social Security checks. Quar
terback Rich Gannon (37) and legendary wide The Raiders are favored by around four and a
recei vets Jerry Rice(4o) and Tim Brown(37) half points, but many in the sports world, in
are the new Over The Hill Gang in Oakland, eluding this editor won’t be surprised if the
flic threesome was very effective all season, underdog wins for the second year in a row.
but they did not play a defense as physical as
I ampa Bay. With players like Derrick Brooks,
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Title IX, federal legislation passed in
1972 to ensure gender equity in govern
ment-funded sports and education pro
grams, opened doors for girls to partici
pate in sports training programs and paved
the way for more female sports fans, she
said.
"It's nice for women on one hand and
then on the other it fits into capitalism,"
Snyder said. About 10 years ago, the sports
industry began recognizing women as an
untapped market, and women are now tar
gets of advertising and money making
endeavors, she said.
The NFL annually sponsors workshops
that teach women the basics and history
of football. The league has a Web site
called NFL for Her (http://ww2.nfl.com/
nflforher) that offers basics, profiles
women working in the NFL and defines
football terms and lingo. University of
South Carolina football coach Lou Holtz
also holds clinics for female fans before
each season. Women make up 43 percent
of the NFL's fan base, and more than
375,000 women attend games each week
end, according to the NFL.
Rob Hoffman, general manager of
Overtime Sports Cafe in North Myrtle
Beach, said he's seen an increase of fe
male fans in his restaurant and bar during
the past two years.
"They're actually coming up in the jer
seys," he said. "They're a lot more outgo
ing, and they get the guys into it." Over
time Sports Cafe, too, is marketing to the
women, holding contests and giving away
prizes to get females involved in the
games. Like male fans, women are often
drawn to sports because of a connection
to a certain team.
Thomas said she doesn't remember a
time when she wasn't a football fan pull
ing for the Steelers. Her dad taught her to
be a Steelers fan, and most people in her
hometown root for the team.
“I'm from a small town, and we got into
our high school team and the NFL," she
said. "My friends have always been foot
ball fans."
KRT PHOTO BY GEORGE BRIDGES/KRT
Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon an
swers questions on Media Day for Super
Bowl XXXVII on Tuesday.
SPORTS
Friday, January 24, 2003
PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM MURRAY/MYRTLE BEACH SUN-NEWS
Jamie Keehan, left, and Ashley Thomas watch their team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in their playoff game against
Tennessee in a packed Murphy's Law Sports Bar in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Female Fan Facts
There are 50 million female avid sports fans, ac
cording to survey by Scarborough Sports Mar
keting of New York. Football is the top choice
among women.
Here are the sports women ages 18 and up
picked:
-31 percent National Football League
-28 percent Major League Baseball
-19 percent National Basketball Association
-13 percent NASCAR
-13 percent Professional Golfers Association
-10 percent National Hockey League
(Note: Those surveyed were permitted to pick
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Scott Soltis, Sports Editor
more than one sport).
The study also indicated that loyal female NHL
fans are:
-34 percent more likely than the average woman
to be age 18-34
-23 percent more likely to be single
-70 percent of loyal female NHL fans have pur
chased sports apparel in the past 12 months.
-More than twice as likely than the average
woman to go in-line skating
-76 percent more likely to participate in team
sports than the average woman
-44 percent more likely to go camping than the
average woman