Social Media Blog

Recently the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport hosted the Fall 2009 Distinguished Lecture titled "Facing Off Over Facebook: The Impact of Social Media on Women Sports," featuring sport journalism scholar Marie Hardin, Star Tribune sport columnist Rachel Blount, and three-time ice hockey Olympic medalist and current U of MN graduate student Angela Ruggiero. The following morning I was the invited respondent at the event breakfast. I shared my thoughts on the Tucker Center blog. Check it out! :)

FELT BAD

I love to eat hard boiled eggs but today was not a good day. I took my fine dining plastic fork and cut the egg in half and look what I found...TWINS! That was the first word out of my mouth and my friend at the table groaned. *sigh* Then suddenly I felt bad for the twins. Why do I never think of the yolks when there is only one. I don't eat the yolk but somehow because there were two yolks it humanized them.

Weird. I might be on a little hard boiled egg hiatus.

Why? Why? Why? Why?

Dear Serena,

Why? Why this photo?



You are an amazing athlete. UN-BEL-IEV-ABLE!

So why must you take photos like this?

I think of how far female athletes have come...the fan support they have, equal pay for some championships, endorsements, sponsorships, etc. and then I think about what images like this communicate about female athletes.

Serena, in the future please think about the young female athletes who might be looking up to you before you pose for a "sports" magazine with a pose that could be featured in Playboy.

Thanks,
Heather

YES WE CAN still gives me chills

Ok, I might be in a more patriotic mood than normal. I love America don't mistake that but lately I have been confused about what we as a country stand for. I saw Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism, last night. I think Michael Moore is the other side of extremism like FOX news but I do enjoy how he makes me critically think about what goes on in our country. He makes me think about controlling my own destiny and not accepting the status quo. I enjoy people who challenge the "this is the way we always do it" or "this is the way it must be done" adages and asks WHY.

Watching the Michael Moore movie made me think back to how optismistic I felt the night Obama became President Obama. I had never beeen so involved in a political campaign. More world will forever be changed every four years now because I am active in policy, no longer dormant.

Thank you President Obama for opening up generations of "Yes, we can." I had to watch one of my favorite YouTube clips and thought I would share it with you.

SEXUAL ABUSE

I have been very confused my the media's reporting on the Roman Polanski crime. Roman Polanski gave a 13 year old girl alcohol and drugs, took photographs of her, and then raped her. He committed statutory rape of a young girl. A judge determined he was guilty and he fled the country.

Why is the media acting like it's ridiculous that the U.S. government arrested him for his crime? He was boldly attending an awards ceremony despite being wanted for the last 30 years for a crime he fled.

Why does the media report his crime of raping a 13 year old girl as "having sexual relations with a minor?" He did not have sexual relations- he raped her AFTER getting her drunk. Why do we protect famous people? If this was an average guy in your hometown he would be attacked by the media. Instead other actors have actually come to Polanski's aid with "FREE Polanski" propaganda. Would they be supporting him if he had raped their young daughters?

I just find this case appalling. It's disturbing that people don't want Polanski to serve his time for his crime because he is famous and because the victim has said she is over the whole thing and doesn't want to prosecute anymore. It is common for victims to have this position but it still doesn't justify Roman Polanski living free despite his crime.

Judy's (the Mom) Labor Day Weekend Visit

My mom came up to the great state of Minnesota (that was for you Jerry) for Labor Day Weekend. I was so excited to see her and spend some quality time. We went to the State Fair. Scratch that- we ate and drank our way through the fair. I mean it..we did it right. Ok, I really wanted to shoot up into the sky into that ball ride but no one will do this with me. If you are up for this adventure next year please let me know. :)

So we rode the scooter to the fair. It was hilarious. That's right it was me and my mom on the scooter. She is very adventurous and that's just one of the things I love about her. We walked around and spent a fortune on food and drink and then it was time for the show. I mean THE SHOW. I got us 11th row tix to the 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, and Styxx concert. It was awesome. We were in Heaven. REO Speedwagon started in Champaign, IL.(my hometown). We had a fabulous time!!!! We even caught a REO Speedwagon guitar pick. Wahoo!!

The following day we slept in and did a food crawl through Minneapolis. We ate a little bit at each place we went. It was a great way to let my mom sample all my favorites. First, we went to Joe's Garage and enjoyed the food and view of downtown. then we wanted to go to Masa on Nicollet but it's not opened on Sundays so we played at the Target downtown. This is not your average Target. This Target has escalators. :) Then we went to St. Anthony and stopped by Vic's. Vic's has such a great view of downtown. The view was better than the food but hey it was more about the talking than the food anyway!

Then we packed up Rosa and went out to the cabin. Who knew a serious cornhole tournament would break out?!?!?! First up it was Judy/Heather vs. Barb/Nicole. My mom's first warm up toss- um right through the hole. No net, not rim. What a ringer! What a dark horse! I had no idea she was so clutch. Niiiice! The Maxwell's triumphed. The LaVoi's wanted a rematch and we hurt their feelings again. Just sayin. Then my mom got all cocky because Barb and Nicole thought she was good. Good lord. Then my mom looked at me and said, "you and me. one on one. we'll see who was holding up this team." *gulp* Let it be known that I have lost one cornhole game in my lifetime and it was to Nicole (it was very close). So fine! My mom and I played 1v1 and it was very close. I was sweatin it out. In the end I won but it was very close. Whew! I think I like playin on her team versus against her. lol

Before it got too dark we went on the last pontoon boat cruise of Summer 2009. The temp was perfect. Rosa was our first mate and away we went! Then it started getting dark so we headed inside to share a raclette dinner. So tasty!!!! mmmm mmmm mmmm!! It was so great just to spend time with my mom in the summer. Her job is really busy in the summers so we don't get to spend a lot of time during this season. It was so great just to hear her stories and learn about what the thinks, likes, etc. Just so great.

My First Duathalon

Well I did it. I signed up for the Minneapolis Duathalon on a whim of an email from Nicole. We signed up and showed up today. It was a 5K run. 18 mile bike ride, and another 5K run.

The event was along the Mississippi River. It was beautiful. About 813 people finished the race. It's the largest Duathalon in the U.S.

The cool morning air made me think if HS cross country and I wanted to puke. A good kind of puke. I was excited and a little anxious. I put undue pressure on myself. Seriously, why would I have high expectations when I didn't even train? Alas, the weirdness that is me.

We biked over to the event and put our bikes in the transition area, picked up our computer chip strap (goes around your ankle to clock your time), and got to the starting line. They started us in waves. The first wave was for elite and then all the waves were classified by sex and age. I'm not gonna lie I saw some people on some Lance Armstrong lookin bikes. My bike is nice but it's didn't have filled in rims and I didn't have the spaceman helmet.

The first run wasn't too bad. I didn't know how much energy I would have so I played in a little safe. Not a stellar time but not horrible. First 5K=24:27. Next I went into the transition area and put on my bike shoes, helmet, gloves, etc. and hopped on my bike. I totally forgot my sunglasses. DOH! The bike was an out and back 18 miles. Not gonna lie, the road was rough and my legs were tired. On the way back there was some nice wind and a few steep hills (I didn't remember flying down them on the way out!).

I could have stopped at this point. Finis. Done. But oh no, there was still a 5K to run. I dropped the bike and started running. Well I should say "running." I was spent. I was afraid to really stride because I thought I might cramp. Apparently a piece of toast and half a banana isn't enough for this kind of event. Also, people were "gelling" during the race but I didn't know what the heck that stuff was. Back in the day when I was racing my measely 2 miles in cross country we didn't gel. Gatorade was a treat. LOL Mental note: next time, any energy producing snacks would be great. I had a couple half cups of water along the way but it turns out I'm not good at running and drinking. I also learned I am not good at running and drinking out of a cup. I am certain I got more Gatorade on my shirt than in my mouth.

This duathalon happened to be the largest in the USA (second in the world behind France). Next year they are shooting for the LARGEST IN THE WORLD. Sign me up. I'm game.