Page 16
Sporting View
Locker room should
be a private place
by John Mufser
The Collegian
With all of this serious stuff going on with women
sportswriters being barred from men's locker rooms, it only
seems fitting that I start by throwing a fiesty quiz question at
you.
It looks as though the Pittsburgh Pirates not only have a Cy
Young award winner on their club (What, you know anybody in
the National League who’s done better than Doug Drabek this
year? Yeah, right.) and the league's MVP (Barry Bonds and/or
Bobby Bonilla). Do you remember the last time this occurrence
happened and who the players were? Answer later on.
• Why did the Pittsburgh Steeler stay in bed? Because
somebody painted a goal line around his bed and he couldn't
figure out how to get across it. (The words "Pittsburgh Steeler"
can be interchanged with the words "Cleveland Brown".)
• While the previous was not a really good joke, neither was
last week's hassle involving reporter Lisa Olson of the Boston
Herald and several unidentified New England Patriots football
players. In fact, it was no joke at all.
Olson was reportedly harassed by several players, and Patriots
Owner Victor Kiam even called her, well, "a classic (so-and-so)".
But that wasn’t the only incident that involved a woman
reporter in the past week. Cincinnati Bengal's Coach Sam Wyche
barred Denise Tom of USA Today from the Bengal's locker
room. In fact, the coach was quoted as saying, "Sam Wyche was
not letting a woman into the locker room with all his players
naked."
Why have women sports reporters suddenly become the center
of attention? There have been women in the sports media for
many years now, and you would think that they would have
gained acceptance. In fact, there was one in Wyche's locker room
last week, but the Cincy coach claims he was unaware of her
presence.
Well, while it's possible that Sammy might be snowing us a
bit on that one, I believe that he may have a valid point about
not having women in a locker room with naked men.
Sure, it's constitutional for a woman reporter to be in the
locker room so that she has as much of a chance as her male
counterparts to get the story. But at the same time, wouldn't you
feel a little uncomfortable talking to a member of the opposite
sex about how you just lost the big game while you're standing
there in your jock strap? I think I would be, whether that person
was male or female.
In other words, the locker room is a private place. Perhaps it
is time that interviews should be done only in a press conference
room (or just when the player is in public) like Joe Patemo does
for his football team at University Park.
This solution may hinder reporters in doing their jobs, but
it's the fairest way for both male and female reporters to get the
story, as well as give the athletes some of their privacy back.
• By the way, as of Wednesday, the NFL had not yet
announced their punishment for Wyche, other than a huge fine.
This won't be the first time that the Bengal's coach has been
fined for barring reporters from the locker room. Wyche was
fined $3,000 last year for barring all reporters from his team's
locker room after a 24-17 loss to Seattle.
Maybe it's not the reporters Sam's barring out, but instead
he's just embarrassed that he lost to a team with a silly bird on
its helmets.
• I find it interesting that the Pirates clinched their first
division title in 11 years on the same day as their last one (Sept.
30). I also find it interesting that their opponent in the League
Championship Series happens to be the same as the one in '79
(the Cincy Reds). And, just like then, the first two games are
being held in the Western division winner's ballpark.
Does this mean that the Pirates have to adopt a terrible disco
song like the 79 team did with "We are Family" so they can win
the LCS and then the World Series? If that's what it takes, I only
have one thing to say: GO REDS.
• Speaking of the 79 Pirates, I wonder if they would have
won the Series if they had adopted a quality song, like something
by the Eagles or Rush.
• Quiz answer. In 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the Cy
Young award winner (Orel Hershisher) and the MVP winner
(Kirk Gibson). The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in
five games over the Oakland A's.
The Collegian
Judge clears
ban on sports
drug testing
at Stanford
(CPS) A federal appeals court
said the NCAA's program for
testing athletes at member
schools unconstitutionally
infringes on students' privacy
rights.
The program, first challenged
in court by Stanford University
athletes in 1988, unfairly
punished athletes without
necessarily proving they were
abusing the drugs found in their
systems.
It also proscribed substances
that are often found in birth
control pills, Coca Cola and
herbal tea, the 6th District
Appellate Court ruled Sept 25.
Stanford lawyer Debra
Zumwalt said she hoped the
ruling would convince the NCAA
to change its program.
"Stanford is not against all
drug testing. We want to make
sure it's legal," said Zumwalt.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
&
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
IN THE BLEACHERS
SPORTS
ins October 4th at 8:07
wpse
JL ant 1450
by Steve Moore
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL*
Thursday, October 4, 1990