Pickleweasel: The Lingerie Football League

What is the main point of the article?
Do you see any issues with the Lingerie Football Leage (even if you like it)?  What are they?
Do you think the players have a realistic view of what they are doing?  Why or why not?
How do these articles fit the concept of sportwriting we talked about at the beginning of the unit?

New underwear league under debate

By Simon Evans

MIAMI | Fri Sep 4, 2009 12:17pm EDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - It does not require a great deal of imagination to work out the marketing strategy of the Lingerie Football League, which opened its debut season on Friday.

The underwear-clad female players are hoping, however -- probably in vain -- to be taken seriously.

The LFL, born out of the commercial success of the "Lingerie Bowl', a half-time show of women in scanty outfits broadcast during the half-time break in the NFL's Super Bowl, has ten teams competing in seven-a-side full-contact American football, with players dressed in sports bras and the tiniest of shorts.

The branding is blatant -- the teams have names such as the San Diego Seduction, Dallas Desire and Los Angeles Temptation -- and their websites and promotional material are more akin to those for NFL cheerleaders than genuine professional sports.

The league's founder Mitch Mortaza has described the venture as "Disneyland for football fans" but those taking part say they are serious about the sport and about winning.

"I think it is eye candy for one but it is also football and it is real," says Kaley Tuning, wide-receiver with the Miami Caliente who open the season on Friday at the Chicago Bliss.

"There were try outs for the team and if you couldn't play you didn't make the cut," she said.

"I've seen people say it is a joke and it is degrading and it makes me mad. We are real athletes, for them to not take us seriously, well I say wait till you see us play," she added.

GUCCI HANDBAG

Watching the Caliente practice, at a sports facility in the suburbs of Miami under the charge of former college football quarterback Bob Hewko, the strange clash of glamour girls and sport is quickly evident.

The training is taken seriously and the players work hard and look intense in the huddle but a Gucci handbag takes its place alongside the helmets on the sideline and one player, who like many is also a model, worries that she has picked up scratches ahead of photo shoot in a few days' time.

Hewko concedes that looks played a major part in the selection of the squad but, like everyone involved in the venture, says fans will see real football.

"I was surprised at the level -- the level of talent. They can run, they can catch and we have a quarterback that can throw the football 60 yards," he said.

It is unlikely to be the throwing prowess of the players that brings in the punters to the indoor arenas, however.

"For the first game, it is going to be people wanting to have a good time, wanting to see beautiful women playing football and getting down and dirty," said Miami's defensive captain Taira Turley, who is also a professional make-up artist.

Thousands of women play organized games of American Football across the United States in amateur teams wearing conventional uniforms, and receiving little major commercial interest.

Miami Fury has been a member of the Independent Women's Football League for all of its ten-year existence and the team's co-owner Gayla Harrington said she was initially uneasy about the formation of the Lingerie team largely due to the attire.

'PERNICIOUS OBJECTIFICATION'

However, with the Caliente recruiting two of her players, she said the team had become more of a sports project than she initially imagined.

"It is more athletic, a little more serious than I originally thought," she said, adding that she would support the team in their home games but was unsure whether the LFL would help her to generate backing for her own team.

"It could be a positive or a negative. It could be that people still don't take (women's football) seriously but then again it might help," she said.

Feminist writer Courtney Martin has no doubts over whether the LFL will help women.

"This is objectification at its most pernicious -- give women an opportunity to participate in a sport that they haven't had the chance to do for pay and publicly previously, but only let them do it if they are stereotypically pretty and willing to do it in their underwear," she wrote on website feministing.com.

So why not simply play the game in conventional dress?

"But then half the people wouldn't watch," said Tuning.

"Sure, some people aren't going to watch because they think it is degrading or they don't want to watch it with their kids.

"But then there is going to be a group of people who watch it because of (the attire) and they might say: 'Wow -- this is real, athletic and they know what they are doing."

(Editing by Clare Fallon)

Skimpy outfits will end someday, lingerie football player says
CBC News
Posted: Mar 7, 2012 2:33 PM CST
Last Updated: Mar 7, 2012 3:14 PM CSTRead 34 comments34

Some people are criticizing plans to bring "lingerie" football to Saskatoon and Regina, but a player says giving women who love football a chance to play is a good thing.

Liz Gorman, who plays with the Tampa Breeze of the women's Lingerie Football League, also thinks more traditional football attire will happen someday.

In Saskatchewan, there's been a buzz in recent weeks after the league announced two teams for the province. Some critics say making women dress in skimpy outfits is demeaning.

Gorman says she'd rather wear a more conventional uniform, but understands it's a business consideration.

"I mean, I don't like it," she said. "You'd rather wear full clothing. I have a bunch of scrapes on me."

Gorman believes the league will eventually evolve to the point that the more revealing outfits will go.

"You look back at basketball, you used to have to wear skirts," she said. "Obviously it's changed, they have the WNBA now. So if you look back, women's sports has constantly evolved and I think that this sports league is going to end up changing the uniform."

The first Lingerie Football League games in Saskatchewan are scheduled for the fall.

Inside Look At Full-Contact, Competitive Lingerie Football
Gallery: Meet the Valkyrie
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Ready or not Lingerie Football has come to the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Valkyrie are brand new to the Lingerie Football League and quickly making an impact.

While they on Friday night to the L.A. Temptation, a couple of former standout track stars that are making an impact on and off the field for this new team.

It’s being called the fastest growing sports league in the nation — 7-on-7 full-contact football.

It’s being played by women who wear sports bras, shorts and glass-front helmets. The Minnesota Valkyrie are the newest franchise in this 11-team Lingerie Football League.

They are led by former Vikings lineman Everett Lindsey.

“They are true athletes and that’s how I treat them and that’s how I look at them,” Lindsey said.

He said 85 percent of the Valkyrie players are college graduates. All were athletes but his biggest challenge is coaching them up

“It’s teaching them the game of football and just all the intricacies of the game,” he said.

They’ve learned quickly beating Green Bay in their season opener. The head coach said he’s proud of his athletes and the work they do in the community; especially the Govrick twins.

“Tiger and Panther. They’re two little fire plugs. They bring a lot of energy to this team,” Lindsey said.

Their real names are Elizabeth and Teresa Govrick. They’re former Minnesota state track champions from Washburn High School. Back in 2004, they were part of the state champion 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams.

They went on to run track and play soccer at South Carolina State University, where they both graduated. Now they mentor athletes at the high school where it all began where it also gives them a chance to learn more about their passion.

“I watched them practice on this field and gave them a little pointers,” said Washburn High School football player Jason Williams.

They say playing lingerie football fills a void in their lives.

“We were Division I athletes in college so it’s like to come back and yea we can play pick-up soccer, we can run with our kids and stuff, but it’s not that competitiveness that we’re not getting it,” said Elizabeth. “So I think playing in this competitive, tough sport that gives us that edge back and that’s why we do it.”

But what about the uniform, or lack thereof? Elizabeth and Teresa say it’s not an issue.

“We both ran track and I was wearing, you know, stuff if not close to almost smaller than what I’m wearing out on the football field,” said Elizabeth. “You take beach volleyball, you take volleyball, you take other sports where it’s pretty much the same thing. Its just the name Lingerie Football League.”

These athletes say if you take away the lingerie, what you have left is good old American football.

“You never think of women playing football. Even now were like ‘Oh my gosh that is not real football.’ But it is. You have to really watch it,” said Teresa. “Like my sister said take out the lingerie part and we’re hitting and doing everything that guys do in this sport “

If you think this is powder puff football, think again. During their first game, the star running back tore her ACL. She’s out for the entire season.

These women want you to look beyond the uniforms and see they love this game and play it well. The Minnesota Valkyrie players work full-time jobs and still practice 30 to 35 hours a week. They do not get paid for being on the team.

Their next home game is the home finale at Target Center on Saturday Nov. 19 when they play Chicago

How to legitimize Lingerie Football League

Doug Murray/Icon SMI

If the Lingerie Football League wants to be taken seriously, it should take us up on the advice below.

As far as stains on America’s cultural fabric go, the Lingerie Football League might be among the most ambitious. Representatives of the depressing, sport-based spectacle -- in which bug-eyed bros wantonly mouth-breathe at clashing gaggles of panty-clad vixens -- have announced that the next season will be postponed until April 2013 to align with a warm-weather schedule.

The 12-team league will now have plenty of time to think up novel strategies for growing its brand. Perhaps the LFL will consider actually paying its players, who not only are denied compensation for their efforts but are also required to front a participation fee. Nah, probably not.

But with hopes of helping the league inch toward something resembling legitimacy, might I recommend the following suggestions:

• Recruit big girls. I’m talking like Vince-Wilfork-in-a-wig big. I know many fans come for the curves, but I think it would be equally thrilling to see quarterbacks literally getting flattened.
• Just as the NFL is facing an endless succession of concussion lawsuits, so the LFL will soon experience the fury of jerky-skinned former players not sufficiently protected from turf burn. Let the girls wear wetsuits or something.
• Every good sports team needs a mascot, but names like the Seattle Mist, the Tampa Breeze and the Baltimore Charm are tough to depict with a costume. So in the interest of merchandising, why not go with the Seattle Hogmonsters, the Tampa Tilapia and the Baltimore Butter Churners?
• For sports franchises to be respected, they gotta hand out free slices of pizza when a certain point threshold is reached. Just ask the Toronto Raptors.
• The league needs a commissioner who will look out for the women’s best interests. Might I suggest Hillary Clinton? Totally seems like her kind of thing.