Women in the locker room... and Rome

I never call into sports talk radio. I listen all the time, but never have the urge to call.

That is until the topic of Inez Sainz pushed one of my hot buttons: women in the locker room.

Inez is the sports reporter for Mexican TV whose name (and everything else) is popping up in national headlines because of her visit to a New York Jets practice last weekend.

Inez felt like ball drills during practice were being deliberately thrown her way so players could get a better look at her. Then after practice, while waiting to interview quarterback Mark Sanchez in the locker room she said: "It was an uncomfortable moment because you are in the team's dressing room and they are obviously changing clothes, showering — doing what they do every day in the locker room. So being a woman, obviously it was a bit uncomfortable."

I have four words: Welcome to American football.

I’ve been in and around a men’s locker room since I was a sophomore at Broomfield High School. I was an athletic trainer for the football team, and while it wasn’t acceptable in 1985 for a woman to be in the men’s locker room, our training table was right outside the always-open door. I taped up just about every body part imaginable, so I consider that close enough to being in the locker room.

For the last 13 years, I’ve been in professional and college locker rooms too many times to count. Yes, there are naked bodies - that tends to happen when people shower and change clothes.

When I heard Jim Rome talking about Inez and the gray area that separates “locker room chatter” from harassment, I felt compelled to call and talk about my experience.

I received a very warm welcome from Rome’s producer Jason Stewart when he found out my background and what I wanted to talk about. In fact, after spending about 10 minutes on hold with a guest scheduled in the following segment, J-Stew asked if he could call me back in 20 minutes. First class.

After he called back, I listened as Rome re-set the scene about Inez. He gave his thoughts, which are very similar to mine, and it boils down to this: there is no black and white in this situation. I wasn’t there first hand to hear or see what happened so I am basing my thoughts on what Inez and others around the situation have said.

Here’s my take (and then some):

No person, regardless of anatomy, should walk away from a locker room feeling harassed, degraded or otherwise. That is unacceptable - period. However, while that line is drawn in permanent marker, it’s edges are blurry. That’s where either trouble can start or relationships can be built.

Contrary to what some players might think, I (and I’m guessing most other women) don’t walk into a locker room hoping to check out “packages” as Clinton Portis would say. In fact it’s quite the opposite.

For starters, 99.9% of the guys are very conscious of wearing towels to and from the shower and facing their locker when getting dressed. If there does happen to be a time when I catch a glimpse of bare skin below the waist, I immediately look up. I could probably tell you the ceiling material in every locker room.

Depending on the day, the locker room can be a great time to build relationships with athletes and being a woman is a huge advantage. Keep in mind: I’m married with two kids, I’m not looking for THAT kind of relationship.

Here’s what I’m talking about: before or after a practice, most guys are loose and hanging out at their lockers which are usually littered with pictures of family. Considering I’ve gone through two pregnancies in these 13 years, most guys know I have kids and there’s no better conversation starter than children. Sometimes I talk more about family with a guy than sports. No microphone, no camera, just chatting. That’s the kind of relationship I’m talking about.

Many of these initial bonds have grown into much more over the years. Take Clint Hurdle for example. I used to talk with him when he was a hitting coach and his wife Karla and I were pregnant at the same time. When his daughter Maddie was born with a genetic disorder and they wanted to spread awareness about Prader Willi Syndrom, they called me to do the first story. What an honor.

But back to Inez and now on to her credibility. I hate to question it, but when she showed up to a Super Bowl media day in a wedding dress and asked Tom Brady to marry her, I was suspect then. Those suspicions have now grown after seeing her appearances this week on multiple news shows, taking pictures with people on the streets of New York and looking wide-eyed at her profile pictures which appear on both her station and personal websites.

I’ll say this much: I’m 40, stay in shape and am proud of it. However, I don’t have to wear spiked heels, tight jeans and a blouse with a V neck to my belly button to feel good about myself. Its inappropriate dress for just about any workplace and a locker room is no different.

Things like this make my blood curl because I, along with so many other women in my profession, have worked and continue to work so hard to be professionals who are accepted as equals to our male counterparts. Stories like these set us back a few steps and it takes much longer to regain those steps than it did to lose them.

Lastly, to her concerns about plays in practice being thrown her way so guys could get a better look-see. Newsflash: they pull this stuff in every sport and it doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman. I’ve had footballs kicked my way, baseballs ground out at my feet and hockey pucks slapped into the plexiglass in front of my face. Usually I’m not standing by myself when this happens, but rather with members of both sexes. Players like to mess with the media - they test us and try to see what we are made of.

After 20 years in radio and TV, I know what I’m made of and I have to admit being in the locker room is one of the best parts of my job. It’s a way to get to know players beyond the X’s & O’s and give viewers/listeners a different into their lives (if appropriate).

I was able to articulate most of this on Rome’s show but have added quite a bit more here. Apparently I have a few things to say about this topic, thanks for hearing me out.

Did I mention I never call into sports talk radio?

Did you really ride 107 miles?

Yes I did.

I’ve been asked that question quite a few times since the Deer Creek Challenge. 107 miles and almost 13,000 feet of climbing. I talked the talk in our 9News promo and I biked the bike on August 30th.

My partner in crime for just about every cycling event is my younger brother Ted. We decided we weren’t real keen on riding in the dark when the course opened at 5:45am (plus he wanted the extra few winks of sleep – didn’t really matter to me because waking up anytime after 1:45am is sleeping in for me!).

So I picked him up at 5:45 and as we pulled into the Botanic Garden’s parking lot, it was impossible not to notice the hundreds of vehicles already there – maybe we should have started earlier.We got on the road by 6:35 and started climbing Deer Creek Canyon. It was a little chilly but we warmed up quickly with all the vertical miles. At aid station #1, we stopped, enjoyed some food and chatted a bit with amazing volunteers and other riders. This theme continued at every aid station… more on that later.

Next was the climb up City View which has some breathtaking scenery enjoyable from a car, but on a bike all you notice are the endless false summits. Just after finishing one steep climb, lo and behold another one stares you in the face. That was tough. We had a two word saying throughout the ride starting with “Really” and ending in another word not suitable for family reading. We found ourselves saying it quite often.

From there we cruised down Foxton Road. Wow, that was a chilly decent. I hadn’t been down this road before and kept debating on whether or not to stop and put on my wind jacket. I never did and by the time we hit the bottom turn around, I was frozen. Thankfully my brain was working well enough to get my first stamp of the day to verify we had made it to a checkpoint on the century route.

Turning around and climbing back out on Foxton warmed us back up and we stopped at another aid station. The aid stations are so important for fueling the body but we later realized that we spend WAY too much time at them – mostly my fault because I get to chatting with people… whoops.

The rest of the route took us down High Grade, back up Deer Creek Canyon and then around the Evergreen/Conifer area before re-hooking up to City View for a SECOND trek on that fun road. This portion of the ride was by far the toughest biking I’ve ever done. My quads were toast and I had to stop a couple times just to try and breathe some life into my legs before the next climb.

Along the route we had a few more “stamp stops” to prove we were there. When we finally rolled back into the Botanic Gardens for our final stamp, Ted and I headed straight to the jersey tent for our official Deer Creek Challenge Century jerseys. I wear it very proud.

Ready for the staggering stats from our day on the inaugural Deer Creek Challenge?

I was on my bike seat for 7 hours and 50 minutes.

We were on the course for almost 10 ½ hours.

Yeah, we didn’t cross the finish until 5pm. Ted’s wife and my nieces had been waiting to surprise us since 3:30 - we thought we would be done much sooner.

Regardless of the time, it was an amazing event – very well organized, fun and there’s no question we will be back next year.

With two lessons learned of course:

1. If you do the math, we spent a combined 2 1/2 hours between nine aid station stops. Granted, we ran into old friends and met new ones, which is half the fun with these events. But next time, we’re putting a time limit on stops.

2. Maybe we should have started earlier. :)

Getting my final stamp at the finish line to show that I indeed rode the Century (+7!)