Francesa New King of the Sexists
By Ken Reed
Long-time sports talk host Mike Francesa said on his radio show Wednesday that it would be “impossible” for a woman to coach a team of men.
“Do you know how impossible that would be? … It wouldn’t be tough. It would be impossible,” said Francesa in response to a caller’s question about whether his young daughter might have the chance to coach a men’s team one day.
“For her to coach the men is not a realistic destination,” continued Francesa. “It’s not realistic. I don’t think you understand how difficult that would be.”
What a Neanderthal! Back in the day, Francesa probably would’ve been the guy that said females shouldn’t be playing full-court basketball because their bodies are too fragile. He likely would’ve pushed for maintaining Iowa’s girls’ basketball rules of six on a team, three on each half of the court. Under the six-on-six rules (commonly called “Iowa Rules”), girls weren’t allowed to cross the mid-court line to the other half of the court.
Real basketball was viewed as too strenuous for girls. With the six-on-six rules, girls wouldn’t have to overdo it physically. They could simply “glisten” instead of, God forbid, actually sweating.
Later in the conversation, Francesa’s caller brought up Becky Hammon, the San Antonio Spurs’ female assistant coach. Hammon won an NBA summer league title coaching the Spurs’ summer team.
Francesa responded by saying Hammon has “no shot” to become an NBA head coach.
Hey Mike, it appears you have “no shot” at ever becoming enlightened.
— Ken Reed, sports policy director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
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Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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