The Tony Stewart article from Valerie Wood (http://www.femmefan.com/site/featuredarticles/2007/Apr07/Tony%20Stewarts%20Comments_article0434.htm ) may be the best most intelligent article about NASCAR I have read to date. The point about the trash thrown at DEGGA being more about the Green-white checker instead of the 24-3 thing is spot on. I hope drivers like the ones she mentioned do get enough of NASCAR and their un printed rules break off and start a real STOCK car league in which you grab an AMERICAN car that is rear wheel drive, has a V8 and you roll with it. Any choice of Z rated tire, shock set up, hell even have GP type headlights and windshield wipers to eliminate rain outs. We would see a more true race then we do now. It would also let underdog teams like the Bill Elliot team in 87 break records without the huge budgt be being inventive and creative in their approach to car building. It is a shame the sport grew throughout the 80's to now, because of what we have..the wussification of true moonshine runnin , you build it you race it, stock car racing

Ray Hemms
Roswell Ga

Male sports fan here, though not the obsessive type. Excellent idea for a
website. I got a chuckle out of Locker Room Lookers -- ha, good for you,
and why not. On your "About Us" page you refer to "the female's unique
perspective." Since there are only two genders out there and they're split
50/50, I'm not sure "unique" is the right word. "Unique" implies something
unusual and uncommon among many possibilities. Maybe simply "the feminine perspective" or "the female perspective" would still get the same message across.
Yeah, I know, ... but yes I do have plenty of constructive activities to fill my day.

Mike Dooley
Salt Lake City

In response to Maddening March Madness
Anthony Hernandez

If you really want to appreciate the "Madness" then next year follow college bball on a consistent basis...I've been "really" following for about 3 years now by only watching the sportscenter highlights and tivoing the games on ESPN and ESPN 2 and reading columns on ESPN.com. I don't buy the package of all the games but still know about most teams. Give it a shot, it'll be well worth it. One thing you can do to get "into" it is do what i do, when i tivo a game  i  fast  forward  to  the  last 2 mins of the game bc it's the most exciting part of the game (unless it's a game that i  have to watch like Duke vs. UNC). You can also do what i do in that i am not loyal to any team, i root for teams based on the players and coaches i like and dislike (more often than not the deciding factor are the players). Sometimes i do have to root for a team i hate so the loss can benefit a team i like...thanks for listening
God Bless, good luck and i hope you have a wonderful life.

Where have you been all my life!?! Ha-Ha I accidentally came across this website and absolutely fell in love!! I read pretty much the whole website and this really is the best thing ever! I'm an avid NFL fan.. LET'S GO PATS! I know all their stats and never miss a game! My brothers have been drilling sports stats into my head since I was born so i'm no new-be to the sport, its just nice to know that their are so many other women who are like me.. I love the "If Chicks Ran the NFL" blog, they are great ideas and should all be instated! especially the referees needing to learn how to toss a frieken coin! HAHA. I do however have a solution to the jersey problem.. No they don't make nice jerseys for women, only those fake looking baby pink jerseys, which by the way are tacky and only say that we wanna look cute... try buying a kids jersey! they fit better and actually look quite attractive.. and they don't break your budget.. I bought 2 for the price my boyfriend pays for one NFL jersey! So thanks so much for showing those NFL boys that we're serious and probably out talk them any day! HAHA..... Have a good day!

Ashley Felicissimo
Fairfield County , CT  

Ran across your ladys in sports off of one of Miss woods articles. All of you keep up the great work. I am lucky my wife is an avid race fan and she likes football better than I. She was really super when I drug her out of bed at 6 am on vacation and drug her off to INDY. With a great bit of coordination with the Petty driving experiance I asked her to marry me on the yard of brick..By the way we got married in fire suits on Halloween  To All keep up the good writing  Love to all Ed Bickel

I wanted to thank Valerie for her take on the Nextel Chicago race. I’m not a fan of Hendrick Motorsports and I agree that Nascar seems partial to Hendrick drivers, but I did want to correct Valerie on one point. Dale Earnhardt, my all-time favorite above all others, punted Terry Labonte at a night race at Bristol – I’m not sure what year. I remember it because that was the one and only time I ever felt angry at the way he drove a race. But that was Bristol , Baby, and this was Chicago – a different track with higher speeds. I’m not saying Jeff Gordon isn’t a great driver. Obviously he is to win 4 championships. I just think he could have used a little patience or more finesse. Let’s hope he doesn’t make love the way he drives.
Thanks!
JudiBee

Valerie, Once again, you have written the most correct article about the situation that I have read! Jeffy has been protected by the wallet of Rick Hendrick from day one! As long as the "convicted felon" greases NASCAR's palms, nothing will ever be done about the tactics of his spoiled brat driver! Like you said, the outcome of the race was practically orchestrated...poor Jeffy has never won at Chicagoland and besides, Jimmie must retain the points lead at any cost (paid for by Rick Hendrick)! As for Benny Parsons and Dolly Wallenbach...how obvious was it that they too are under the watchful influence of NASCAR (by way of Hendrick's persuasion)! Dallenbach has never won a Cup race and certainly could never win one today, but he was able to pontificate Jeff's innocence and denigrate the actions of the very disappointed fans! Have Wally and Benny ever heard the boos when Jeffy is introduced, let alone when he wins? To me, pro wrestling is becoming a synonym for NASCAR! Brian France and his lackey, Mike Helton, tell all the competitors how its going to be, then very selectively grant favoritism to the chosen view...did I mention Rick Hendrick's wallet! Well, enough of my diatribe! My purpose for writing was to give you an "atta-boy"! Keep up the good work and continue believing the way that you do about Jeffy!

Jim Davidson

Colorado Springs , CO

Valerie,

 Just read your article about Jeff.

 You are way off base on this one. Any real race fan would know that he bump was not intentional. If you watch the replays, you can see that when Jeff went into the turn he let off the gas, the flames coming out of his exhaust are proof of that. When entering the turn Kenseth got loose, slowed, Jeff anticipating that Matt would get of the turn the same as before, stepped on the gas, closed to quick and hit him.

 I do not believe one bit,  that this was done intentionally. Jeef needed the points, he would not risk wrecking himself also. I am sure that if Jr would have done this you would have gone crazy with delight and condoned it.

 As for that this is the way he has done many times, ever heard of a guy by the name of Dale Earnhardt?

 He made a living winning races that way and was revered for it. It was called great agressive racing. Now whenever Gordon does it, it is as if he comitted a crime.

 Quit the double standard mantra and pay more attention to the real race instead of criticizing something you apparently know very little about.

 But then, you have the website.

I'm becoming a femmefan-fan! Nice reading and a pleasant way to get updates on NHL-, NBA-, NFL-, MLB-action. Only thing is, it's a site for women. What does that make me? Hmm. If I start feeling like wearing women's underwear, I'll quit reading.
Charles

Hello, I am a football television watcher in Canada where we get the U.S. football from time to time, which is kinda different, yet, similar to Canadian football. We had Doug Flutie playing and winning many Grey Cups in Canada before warming the bench in Boston.  He did many trick plays.  I love the writing of Ronit Bezalel.  She is witty, funny and really seems to know a thing or two about football and she calls it as she sees it.  Keep on striding Ronit.  How do the receivers make the football spin on the ground when they make a big play?   I have tried it but the ball just sadly plops down.  And the ball spins with such attitude.   Keep up your fantabulous writings.   Leslie in Montreal

Dear Mr. Derong,

I am the writer who composed the recent article about Bill Russell receiving the Hank Aaron Diversity in Sports Award. In your editorial bashing Femmefan.com, you highlighted part of a sentence from my story. Extracting only that part of the story, where I stated that Bill Russell is a tall man, separates it from its humurous context. It certainly makes what followed that sentence seem ridiculous and a rehash of the obvious.

 However, the average reader of Femmefan likely does not know who Bill Russell is and is unaware of his contributions to the game of basketball, not to mention his efforts on behalf of mankind. And, if you were 5'3", as I am, and were interviewing a person as tall as Mr. Russell, the obvious height difference would probably seem comical. Believe me, it was to both he and I.

    As a contributor to Femmefan.com, I thank you for taking the time to read us and then mentioning us in your column. Any publicity is good publicity.

    Sincerely,

       Tami Kamin-Meyer
       A Girl With a Pen

Dear Femmefan,

I think your site is great.  A place for women in particular to read and write articles on sports.  There are hardly any female sports writers today, and I think this gives them a chance to speak their voice and write about sports in a male dominated society.

I especially loved the article:"The Luck Of The Irish Is Back!" The writer Davin Edwards sure has a way with words.  I've copied the story to some of my friends/co-workers to read, who are also Notre Dame fans. 

The story was absolutely unique in voice.  Instead of reading articles that reiterate the same story over and over, this writer gave a new/fresh perspective and I liked the connotation of Brady Quinn looking like a Greek God.  Absolutely!!!

The story also mentioned about coach Charlie Weis, and the writer is absolutely right on that, he made the difference, such a change from last years losing coach, who I won't even mention in name, Weis has brought the team a turn around 100%, and I'm so happy he's there to stay.

I'll keep reading articles from Femmefan, especially from this writer. I haven't seen articles from Davin Edwards before, but I hope to see more from this talented writer.

I think your sight is great.  I've told all my friends.

N. Walker

From Laura Lovell:
I am writing in regards to the woman who said you were "dumbing down" this website for women. I disagree that the format of this website or any female fan website should not include "hotties" or the feminine take on sports. I don't understand that logic whatsoever.

I am a overall sports fan, but Football is the only one that truly matters to me. Now as I read her letter, I could see both points of view, as a women who despised football until about 6 years ago, It bother me when "some women" talk and act like they know sports, or are a big football fan, when they aren't. It bothers me that "some" women use sports to try to impress men.  On occasion it bothers me to see women talk about football like its just cute quarterbacks and tight ends. It disrespects the game to me. I don’t pick any of my fantasy players based on there attractiveness or their butts. I may however pass someone up if they have a particularly bad attitude. BUT I also see the side of making a female sports website without a little girliness, because after all, if you took out all the girly stuff, wouldn't we in fact just have a regular sports website that can provide information for men and women alike. So why would we need a female sports site that was just like mens? ESPN could just take their website, copy and say, this one is for Women. What would it matter? The reason we need a female voice in sports is because we are female. And a majority of us females aren't so caught up in feminism that we can't love fantasy football, respect football and still call so and so a hottie. Were women, we should embrace the femininity in us, the things we say, like, and do make us different from men, and that’s why we need a website to show who we are. I am a feminine football fan, I hate the high neck jerseys, would rather wear a pink one with a skirt, I can name all the starting running backs in the NFL, but I still want to be a girl when I talk football.

Hi,

As a horse racing fan from the other side of the pond, I just want to say how much I enjoy reading Devon Ellington's series of articles in your pubilcation. They are as much informative as they are entertaining.

Bravo on a great website!

Best regards,

Colin Galbraith
Scotland

Ivette: 
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed your website. It is an actual relief to know that there are females out there like me who enjoy the good ol’ game of football. Most of the girls around my age, 16, are too busy chasing boys and don’t appreciate the hard work and dedication that is put into the sport. They like to look at the players, but they don’t understand how the players obtained the physical stature that they have. I would like to see more pictures of Michael Vick on your website, if possible. He is an amazing quarterback and he’s really handsome!!!!!! I have pictures of him all over my wall. I think the one thing that would make this site more interesting is having updated news on the status of the football teams and its players. Not necessarily gossip, but keep us posted on all of the stuff the guys find out about on Sportscenter (Yeah, I watch that too). Once again, I can’t tell you how happy I am to know that more of us are voicing our opinion about FOOTBALL!!!

 Christian
Aka
Mrs. Michael Vick

About your article on Lance Armstrong and your condemnation of him for divorcing Kristen...  Just fyi...if you want your facts straight....  He didn't even meet Sheryl Crow until he and Kristen were already separated.  ...and non-famous people also have relationship problems...and hey...even divorce.  He's an amazingly inspiring man...who also...just by the way...still has a good relationship with his ex.

Lee Hillhouse

Austin, Texas

valarie's review of the new nascar nation is perfect. another example of truth written beautifully. i am a 67 yr. white male who feels that your site has some of the best sprots writing available today. i will be looking to femmefan for other sports information
red shipley
orange,va.

Ms./Mrs.? Ivette Ricco, First off I would like to clear the air. I'm not one of the "Morons for brains" that a Kathie A. Klochan mentioned in finding fault in your article about the 49er's. I guess she has no idea that the 49er's are your favorite team and that is your area of the world, and my favorite team too... even if Joe Montana is retired. I'm glad you did the article, and let some of us know what goes on in those organizations other then their main product of football. Also I don't regard your fine web site as an area to look for issues of cleavage, boobs; and sex. The only thing I've found on your site is some very talented woman writers who have put a very good perspective to sports from a woman's view. The men writers are true to stereo type and write the same thing over and over again the same old story the same old way. Your women writers really bring things out in a fresh point of view with a lot of research and feelings behind their articles. Ladies keep up the good work, and I really enjoy your articles. I'm a real man and I can't stand that punk Jeff Gordon he should have been sent to Neverland Ranch with a person like Michael Jackson for what he did to that gorgeous Brooke maybe one these days that story will come out of the closet. One other thing. That MJL he/she/it or other wise who showed their stupidly with their comments about an article your Valerie Wood wrote in an article about NASCAR should put their head back in the sand and keep their mouth shut, because that girl knows more about racing then they could ever dream about. Keep up the good work and good articles!!! RWW

Ivette,

I read your article about the 49ers video scandle on FemmeFan.com, and I have to say that you are really not promoting self-respect among women.  I see that FemmeFan.com reinforces gender stereotypes and assumes that women can't discuss sports without also discussing "hotties" and other Cosmopolitan-like topics.  With that knowledge in hand, I didn't expect much from your article, and rightly so.  Telling women that  "cleavage, boobs and sex are a big part of everyman’s life," reinforces the sexist idea that it is acceptable for society to treat women and their bodies as objects and commodities.  It also reinforces the idea that men are morons who can't use their brains unless "cleavage, boobs, and sex" are involved.  You could do a lot with a sports website that is geared toward women, so why waste the opportunity by creating it with the assumption that women should treat themselves like cheerleaders of the sporting world, lesser versions of their male fan counterparts?  I suggest that you stop dumbing down the content of your website and provide a useful forum for women who actually are fans and care about the sports themselves, and manage to retain some amount of self-respect at the same time. 

Thank you for your time.

Katie A. Klochan

Katie:

I appreciate your comments. But I strongly disagree with your comment, "you are not really promoting self-respect among women".
Femmefan.com was founded in order to provide a "voice" and a forum for women whose passion for sports has been largely ignored and neglected by the male-dominated sports media and industry. Until Femmefan.com there was no forum for women who avidly follow sports.

We do not reinforce stereotypes, we simply provide "equal time" and the opportunity for women to express themselves as fans without having their intentions or interests judged. Do we like the male body? Yes. Do we care about our self-image, absolutely. Do men apologize for enjoying women in swimsuits? Never, and we won't apologize for enjoying ourselves.

If you delve a little deeper and read the articles (check our archives), it will be  evident that we are neither cheerleaders nor lesser versions of the male fan.

Femmefan.com has created a unique forum and has never 'dumbed down" its content. Your evaluation is based on one article and it is unfair for you to judge Femmefan.com based on one story and one person's opinion.

If you were to take the time to read the articles on the site both present and past you would see that self-respect, perspective and unique content by and for fans who care about sports and themselves is exactly what we are all about.
It is the reason we exceed 2.8 million hits and 120,000 page views monthly.

I do thank you for taking the time to send your comments. I hope you will look further than this one article and discover the true essence of Femmefan.com and the excellent content provided by our talented writers, both male and female.

Ivette Ricco
President
Femmefan, Inc.
www.Femmefan.com
The SportsZone for the Female
Sports Junkie
ivette@femmefan.com

I love it!!!! Femmefan is great!!

During a long night of searching for who know's what, just something to spark an idea, I came across your site. I dig it! I work as a morning show co-host a few days a week in Atlanta, Georgia. I'd love to learn any more I can about you, the creation of the site and, what is in store for the future of Femmefan.

Maybe you could call in one morning for us too. Please take a look at our station. The show would be Mayhem in the AM. There are 3 guys, two from NY and the other form Ohio. I'm the wild chick who loves guys and sports, there to mix it up a bit.

Thanks for your time, hope to hear from you soon.

Kris Klein
Miss Mayhem-"Mayhem in the AM"
www.790thezone.com
Atlanta's Sports Leader

The article Breeder's Cup by Devon Ellington makes me want to go to the horse races.

I am not a sports fan nor a betting person but he makes the event so exciting that I want to be a part of it.

Lydianna

I would just like to say how I much I enjoyed the two articles regarding the Breeders Cup written by Devon Ellington. As an oversea's reader who is unable to get to the races as much as I would prefer, I find Devon's writing full of passion and love for the sport tangible and thrilling to read. Devon is clearly an authority on the subject as well as a damn good writer, and I look forward to reading more.

Best regards,
Colin G.

dear whomever this may concern,

your website is disgusting. i was 'dragged' to it by way of a link regarding fighting in hockey and regretably had to read an article by Valerie J. Wood. The article was extremely unresearched, made large generalizations and actually tried to justify fighting in hockey. Just because you are a woman, does not mean you have to suck up to our male counter parts by saying you agree with fighting in hockey.

IN ADDITION, locker room lookers? PLEASE!! so elementary.

Hello there,

I wanted to share an experience with you that happened a few years back. I read your article about the Denver game you went to and your experience with Raider fans and the games not selling out. Im not sure if you know this or not, but the tickets are NOT sold by the team. They are sold by the Oakland Football Marketing Association, or the "OFMA" for short. Until this year, they would NOT sell single game tickets to any fans not holding a P.S.L. until the Friday before a game. This is of course after the cut-off for the sellout mark to get on TV. for the NFL. They say that all seats must be sold by Thursday at 1:00pm before that Sunday's game. So, that being said, you can see how tough it would be to sell out a game. Also, the pricing is set by the OFMA, not the team. Again, they are high, but lets consider there are only 8 home games (excluding playoffs and pre-season) to attend so factor that with baseball and they aren't too bad. Now to my experience, I tried years ago to change P.S.L.'s to lifetime instead of 10 years. I was on the Raiders flagship station the Ticket 1050, numerous times giving out my email address, I attended all but 1 home game and had a petition to be signed by Raider fans to call a meeting with the leaders of the OFMA, the Oakland City Counsel, the Alameda County Supervisors, the Raider front office members, and the Raider fans. I was told by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, that if I got 5000 signatures, he would set up this meeting in a town hall forum. Bruce Allen at the time was with the Raiders, and he promised to show a video tape of the Oakland officials promising sell-outs and guaranteeing that it had happened. Well, along the way of collecting these signatures from Raider fans, I was told that this had been tried before without success. I was told "good luck...you will need it", as well as "they wont listen no matter how many signatures you get". Turns out those people were right. I got over 10 thousand signatures and the City Of Oakland couldn't be bothered. The Raider front office was all for it, but we couldn't get Oakland to do anything. So, the not selling out issue is more then just Raider fans protecting themselves and their wallets. There is much more to the story. I think Jim Gray said it best on a pre-season broadcast, "I cant believe a team with this kind of following cant get their home city to work out the issues between them". Maybe Oakland can take notes from Nashville , TN on how the Titans feel in their home town. Maybe they should travel with the Raiders to their rival team games in Denver and Kansas City and see how they treat their teams. If they used only half what they learn, you wouldn't find a Raider ticket for a game to save your life. I thank you for taking the time to read about these sad but true events in recent Raider history. Maybe it wasn't so bad they didnt win the Super Bowl, they may have wanted a new stadium. As a niner fan, how does it feel that they have 5 Championships and cannot get a voter approved stadium built? Perhaps this isn't just an Oakland problem, but a California problem??

Best Regards,
Robert Strong

What races is Valerie Wood waching and what stats about announcers is she gathering information from? It is plainly clear she has no clue about what she is talking about.   TV ratings are what they are because thats the way NASCAR wanted it....(or at least it was their idiotic points system that created it). Why watch anything but Daytona Talladega and Bristol the first half when all that matters is the last 10 races. The top ten in points hasn't changed a whole lot in the last few weeks so if you know who the 10 are that are going to race for the Championship then why sit for 3-4 hours a Sunday until then? The ratings are getting better as time goes on because its getting closer and the race for 10th is now very tight.   As for the announcing....while I believe Darrell Waltrip got what he deserved from Tony Stewart, he is much more of an expert than Benny or Wally ever will be. Speaking of Benny and Wally where does Ms. Wood get off thinking that there is no petty bickering between them? It's a well known fact that Wally and Benny aren't the best of friends and take jabs at each other all the time.   Ms Wood needs to present her story for what it is....merely an opinion (as is this writing). No facts other than TV ratings were ever discussed. NBC does too many FLUFF pieces and too many commercials and doesn't show enough racing. I believe that there were articles stating this last year with people taking offense to NBC's coverage.   I hate to see this medium used in such a way that everyone who thinks they are an expert writes an opinion story and calls it fact.   Sorry but I just can't take the ignorance anymore   MJL

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