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Home > The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly


Reviewing women's sports in 2006



THE GOOD
Women See Their Names in Lights

  • The home of the U.S. Open is renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, marking the first time a major American sports complex is named for a woman.

  • The Women's Sports Foundation announces plans for the 2008 opening of the first comprehensive museum space dedicated to women's sports. The Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center, named for the Foundation's founder, will be an integral part of the new National Sports Museum in New York City and will allow more than 800,000 visitors annually to learn about the history of women's sports.

    Women Make Their Marks in “Men's Sports”
  • Currently the only female official in the NBA, Violet Palmer becomes the first woman to referee an NBA playoff game when she officiates the first-round game between the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets.

  • Michelle Wie makes her first cut in a professional men's golf tournament, the SK Telecom Open, after shooting a 3-under-par 69 in the second round.

  • Melanie Troxel makes NHRA drag racing history by becoming the only driver to open the season with five consecutive final-round appearances.

  • Effa Manley, 1 of 17 inductees from the Negro League, becomes the first woman elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As owner of the Newark Eagles, Manley used the team to forward the causes of the Civil Rights movement.

  • Bowler Kelly Kulick becomes the first woman to earn a full-time place in the PBA Tour by finishing sixth in the PBA Tour Trials at Stardust Bowl in Hammond.

    All-Time Winningest Coach Gets Her Due
  • Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, male or female, earns her 900th career win as the Lady Vols beat Vanderbilt 80-68. In the same year, Summitt signs a deal with the University of Tennessee for $1.125 million for the 2006-07 season. The deal makes Pat Summitt the first women's basketball coach in history to be paid a million dollars or more.

    Disability and Age Not Barriers to Sport Success
  • Rachael Scdoris becomes first legally blind musher to finish the 1,100-mile Iditarod dog sled race (in 12 days, 10 hours, 42 minutes).

  • Martina Navratilova wins U.S. Open title at nearly 50 years old.

    Support For Title IX
  • Washington High School Athletic Association announced the official sanctioning of girls' wrestling, becoming the first state to take such a step.

  • Following a decision by the federal Office for Civil Rights, cheerleaders in a New York high school athletic conference will have to cheer at an equal number of girls' and boys' basketball games.

    Women Star in Torino
  • U.S. women medal nine times in Torino: slalom skier Julia Mancuso; figure skater Sasha Cohen; snowboarders Rosey Fletcher, Lindsay Jacobellis, Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler; ice dancer Tamith Belbin; bobsleigh team Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming; and the U.S. women's ice hockey team.

  • Print (38.2% by New York Times editorial) and television coverage (42.7% by NBC) of women participating in the Olympic Winter Games far exceeds daily (8% and 6.3%, respectively) coverage of women's sports.

    THE BAD
    Participation and Purse Discrimination
  • Despite the French Open's announcement this year to offer equal prize money to both male and female champions, other female French Open competitors will still be paid considerably less than their male counterparts.

  • At the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, only 38% of the participants are female.

    THE UGLY
    When You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse . . . Participation and Purse Discrimination Gets Ugly

  • Despite concessions made by other tournaments, Wimbledon takes a defiant stance in announcing its decision to remain the only Grand Slam tournament not to offer equal prize money to men and women in any category.

  • While female participation numbers in the Olympic Winter Games are low, female participation in the Paralympic Winter Games is abysmal at only 20%, an 8% decrease from the 2002 Games.

  • Total prize money, $256 million, for the PGA tour is more than five times that of the LPGA tour, $50 million. Similar discrepancies exist throughout professional sports.