Sonja? Anybody?

[armensmith]

Why is it that we at U of L have a premier women's athletic program including the number 2 team in the country in volleyball, yet there is no media outlet that even acknowledges any of this? The Courier-Journal which prides itself on being the beacon for the downtrodden and in full support of gender equity has not printed a single sentence on the athletic achievements of the U of L women. What a shame!!!

 

[Bardman]

For one, it’s the CJ and it is terrible. You are right though…volleyball, field hockey and wbb - these are Elite programs. WSOC has been performing pretty well too; swimming and diving are strong. I wish there at least billboards around town advertising their schedules, etc. - but, that is on UofL. After that, unfortunately the casual fans don’t follow most of the women’s sports and mainstream media outlets just don’t promote them. It’s 98% football and basketball. I just hope UofL’s athletic marketing department does something…anything to promote this WBB team. They deserve it and advertising catches the eyes of casual fans.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I agree with the lack of exposure for the women by the local media and it is sad. However the Louisville fans are supporting the women with their attendance. I am also disappointed by the lack of coverage for the women’s volleyball team. We have been ranked in the top 5 all year and we are still undefeated.
When I turn on ESPN or the ACC network they always have lesser opponents being televised. Abig matchup coming up is Louisville vs Pittsburgh on Oct 24th at 12:00 noon.

 

[Sonja]

There is a generalized media premonition out there that Louisville women's athletics begins and ends with women's basketball. I could point out that Cardinal Couple covers women's athletics at UofL each and every day, but, I don't want a "homerism" tag applied to me. And, if you listen to some media "#C*&@$'s" -- Cardinal Couple isn't a real media outlet.

(Excuse me while I pause to laugh). Maybe it's because they don't have nice hair...

We have a local paper that is pitiful, and they couldn't cover a dog walking down the road accurately or correctly. Every few months or so, they trot out someone new to cover women's athletics, but, that changes when an opportunity to cover men's sports opens up, or a job in a larger market develops.

So, you have to search for coverage. For years, this site lacked much women's coverage. I was asked to cover women. I asked if I could cover ALL the women's sports at UofL, not just basketball, and got the "go ahead". I've enjoyed it, but my article seldom get read and never get headlines here. That's the way it is, I suppose. It doesn't bother me, though I'm jusr grateful to be in the the band, don't need to be the lead singer or guitaraist.

I will say that Howie Lindsey was a mentor and I learned a lot from him, but, he left sports reporting to make more money. God bless him.

In the final analysis, all one can do is put information out there and see if anyone cares, or reads it. Covering women's sports was once chauvinistically described to me as "putting a dessert on the table, but then five other desserts appear and yours doesn't get paid any attention to".

For those of us who care, we can look at the UofL women's sports programs and not see any furor over particular coaches, game-decisions, job-flirting, philosophy, dis-satisfaction from former minority athletes, NCAA sanctions or mediocrity. We just win and go to post-season tournaments.

Nothing to see here -- what did Mack do today while drinking his coffee or Satterfield say on his way to the locker room? That's news, not two teams in the top five currently.

--sonja--

 

[armensmith]

Thank you all for responding but unfortunately I don't feeel any better having read your posts. The CJ does print some news about women's volleyball but it typically is about Sacred Heart or Assumption games. Nary a word about U of L. As Sonja says, we get articles about what Mack has had for breakfast or what Stoops did yesterday afternoon. Yawn!!! While I do read Cardinal Couple, it is clear that the local sports "professional" writers do not work hard for their pay checks. 👎

 

[Bardman]

To many…only football and basketball ‘move the needle’. Heck, our elite baseball team doesn’t get as much press as it should.

 

[WahooCard]

Sonja. FYI I follow this Board more than the Premium Board which only wants to talk about who should not have been fired and who should be fired. Thanks for truly providing us a “sports content” Board and not a discussion of the proper HR response to FB and MBB hires.

 

[CardsFirst]

I don’t necessarily think it’s only women’s sport either. Men’s soccer gets very little coverage. So the lack of coverage I think has a lot to do with popularity of the sport.
But there’s no arguing that the women get second rate billing. And what’s sad is women’s sport at Louisville are the top performers. I now have season tickets to FB and WBB and I’m probably not changing that anytime soon. And I enjoy the heck out of the WBB games. I also enjoy watching volleyball.

 

[armensmith]

I agree that popularity ( good or bad and it is mostly bad with respect to basketball and the NCAA problem and 4th quarter failures with respect to football), that plays a big role in the amount of coverage. We get the CJ because my wife wants to read about the slanted local news so I censor the sports section, comics, and the Jumble. There is Nothing, Nada, Zilch in print within the CJ on U of L volleyball despite the #2 rating. I do not listen to radio sports show as they have in the past only irritated me because of the sarcasm, recriminations, rumour spreading, sarcasm, and shoutings matches, but I suspect there is little or nothing on volleyball. Moreover, I do not subscribe to sports magazines or sport services so the ONLY news that I read about the volleyball team is on the various internet boards. What as shame there is so little recognition in the community for the marvelous work that Coach Kelly and her staff are doing and the play of the talented young women. Let us hope they can achieve a #1 ranking but they will have to hurdle Pitt, Syracuse, Georgie Tech and the rest of the schedule and tournament(s) to do that.

 

[CardsFirst]

WDRB 41 Sit down) is doing a story on The Cards field hockey team. Right now

 

[Sonja]

WDRB 41 Sit down) is doing a story on The Cards field hockey team. Right now

With the wealth of sports coverage personnel 41 has, that's good to hear. At least they all aren't trying to figure out who replaced the Football defense in the fourth quarter against VA. I prefer WRDB sports to what the other local channels toss out there.

--sonja--

 

[armensmith]

Well, there was a volleyball article in today's Courier on a volleyball player from Male high school. In part, the article was about her signing with Memphis. The number two team in the country is in the CJ´s backyard and yet not a word. That has to be a deliberate decision by the CJ´s sports staff.

 

[Sonja]

Well, there was a volleyball article in today's Courier on a volleyball player from Male high school. In part, the article was about her signing with Memphis. The number two team in the country is in the CJ´s backyard and yet not a word. That has to be a deliberate decision by the CJ´s sports staff.

Local volleyball on the high school level has been and will continue to be dominated by Assumption, Mercy and Sacred Heart. Where was the Courier when Anna de Beer was dominating at Assumption? And who cares what Memphis has in Volleyball. Sure, I'm happy a local kid has D1 interest, but...the Courier is, once again, knocking on the wrong door and trying to sell an unneeded product.

--sonja--

 

[KozmasAgain]

And she was never heard from again.

 

[2330859]

Perhaps one of the most intriguing stories that has been kept quiet for decades is the anti-UL sentiment from the CJ. Despite so many who have come and gone from that newspaper over many years, the Editor and those who have influence over their agenda clearly viewed UL as a potential threat to UK’s lofty position as King of the Commonwealth.

It started as far back as the 50s, and gained momentum when UL evolved from a private school, into part of the State system. However, there was no greater evidence of bias than CJ’s successful effort in forcing Dr Ramsey into resigning under a cloud of ethical accusations, of which could not be proven through the courts.

Ramsey had UL in excellent position to overtake UK in both size and influence in the Commonwealth. UL’s entry into the ACC provided UL with the one missing link ……. the ultimate academic reputation that had been previously absent. The CJ never had any evidence of malfeasance, something the courts confirmed after years of civil action proved nothing.

UL Men’s and Women’s Sports will continue to be treated with disdain …….. at least as long as the CJ, WDRB and other “main stream local media” have any thing to say about the Cards.

 

[FlavRunit]

I love this page more than premium. Our women’s team’s are awesome…