In the Wake of Imus

Allow me a moment to step away from the St. Louis scene to focus on something slightly more important, the ongoing issue caused by long time sports radio talk show host, Don Imus - who, at one time, was considered to be one of America's Top 50 most influential people. WOW.

The comments don't need to be repeated here, you've heard them many times. They were uncalled for, unnecessary, racist, and ...hold your breathe...sexist? Although you wouldn't know it from the nationwide response, would you? There's no debating the comments were degrading to African Americans, but there is also no debating that the comments were degrading to women. But where are the female voices? The Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson both had something to say, standing up for the African American race. But their job isn't to defend women, it's to defend African Americans.

So where are the chicks fighting for girl power? Annika Sorenstam was asked about the situation this week, her response: "I haven't heard about it." Nancy Lopez was asked about it at the same event, her response: "I'm not sure what you just asked me. I have not read anything or heard anything." Please, EVERYBODY has heard about this.

Who else can we turn to? Oprah? I heard she had a show about it, but I wasn't able to see it. Good for her. The WNBA stars? I'll give you mad props if you can name ten WNBA players off the top of your head, right now, go...

What's my point? My point is simple, one of the most important lessons that has come of this entire situation is that the female athletes lack a voice. There isn't a single women in sports today who is willing to stand up strongly for her gender. Mike Bianchi of the Orlanda Sentinel wrote an excellent article last night asking where the Billie Jean King's of female athletics have gone? Where's the next Martha Burk? Who will speak up for the girls? Anybody? Sorenstam, probably the most popular female athlete in the world, had nothing to say. Lopez, a female golfing pioneer, had nothing to say. I haven't heard from Lisa Lobo, Pat Summit, or Natalia Coughlin. Have you?

Take the scenario of Augusta National, an all-male private golf club. Imagine if the restrictions included no African Americans. Just imagine the outcry, the rage that would have taken place had Augusta continued to be an all-white establishment. There would have been riots. But, a few years ago, when there was a push for the club to allow women onto it's golf course, there was a hustle-bustle for awhile, then silence, then it was all those females concluding: "oh, well, boys will be boys." This makes no sense, why the hell shouldn't girls be allowed to play golf at Augusta? What makes the rich, white men up at Augusta so damn special that they think they're so much better than women? How is this happening, in America? The land of the free. How can we allow one establishment to get away with this? Why doesn't someone stand up to Augusta. All it would take is for Tiger Woods to say, "um, you know what, I'm not playing here any longer until you allow females the right to play here also." Literally, that's all it would take. Augusta would lose so much money, they would become so scrutinized that they would have to give in. Or the females could just stand up for themselves once again and not give in so easily. Picket, riot, make a bunch of noise from the parking lot during each one of Phil Mickelson's backswings. None of this is worse than Augusta playing God and deciding that they're better than the females. Seriously, that's about as bad as it gets. And they get away with it.

Someone speak up for the women. This country needs a female athletic icon who is willing to speak up for her gender. It needs girl power. It needs Sorenstam or Summit to make a BOLD public statement stating that the female athletes of this generation, and the next, won't stand for sexist discrimination any longer. It won't stand for Jim Rome talking about Sorenstam's breast size on his radio show. It won't stand for being called "hos" by some hotshot radio host who, somewhere along the line, thought he was granted heroic immortality. It won't stand for the segregation at Augusta. This country needs female athletes, some of the strongest, toughest women in the world, to stand up and fight for themselves. Bottom line.

Either they stand up or they keep getting pushed around by ignorant fools sitting safely behind microphones in a closed-in, window-paned room. Men who can sit there like cowards and discriminate because they know there won't be any outrage. Unless, of course, they dip into racial issues. The African Americans have leaders who aren't afraid to stand up for their race. God bless them.

But the women? Nobody. It's a damn shame.