Struggling Sports Participants Get Boosts
We're stepping a little bit away from Louisville today, to pick up a bit more on the ongoing Olympics events in Paris. We're about halfway through the overall event, and already we have some wonderful, and heartwarming stories, coming out of the events.
I'm going to highlight a few here.
Snoop Dogg
First off, a shout-out to 52 year old Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, who was selected by NBC to be a "special correspondent" at the Olympics for them. His on-screen appearances with the network in their broadcasts have been full of positivity, support, and kindness, particularly to the athletes participating. Known primarily for his hip hop music, and frankly for smoking marijuana which led to some epic duets with Willie Nelson. Who could have expected that Snoop would become such a beloved figure for the Olympics.
Snoop, even before the Olympics, was quite a fan of a variety of sports, really making him a great selection for the role.
Flavor Flav
Sticking with the world of hip hop. Flavor Flav, born William Jonathan Drayton Jr., saw an Instagram post by water polo team captain Maggie Steffens in early May. In the IG post, Steffens encouraged people to support the water polo team as they competed in Paris. Flavor Flav responded, not only to say that he was going to be cheering them, but to offer sponsorship of Steffens and the whole team. An unexpected, but very helpful, boon to USA Water Polo, he has entered into a five year sponsorship deal with the program.
Beyond just throwing money at the program, however, Flavor Flav has showed up and become the biggest hype man for USA Water Polo ever. Seen sporting a custom USA Water Polo cap and just being constantly hype and cheering for the squad, he has maintained his positive energy and cheering for the squad through all of their competitions. He also got a taste of what participating with the squad, getting an opportunity to jump in the pool and tread water with the team for seven minutes, calling it the hardest seven minutes of his life.
Regarding his support for the team, the girl-dad said, "Women's sports I feel should be paid attention to more".
During the Olympics the top US finisher in discus (beating out our Jayden Ulrich) Veronica Fraley posted a plea for support as she, while being in Paris, was trying to arrange to pay her rent and was in danger of losing her housing. Flavor Flav, and Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit and husband of Serena Williams, had arranged to cover the rent within a couple of hours allowing Fraley to compete the next day, stress free...well at least free from rent-related stress, she was still competing in the absolute pinnacle of her sport which is sure to create a little stress of its own. While, let's be honest, the amount to cover her rent was a pittance to either of the two benefactors, that they were willing to immediately jump in and do the deed is the story.
Yongmee Michele Kang
OK, you'd be forgiven for not knowing who Michele Kang is. She "made it" financially in the business world, and has since turned her fortunes to owning and support women's sports teams. Most notably, she is the majority owner of the Washington Spirit of the NWSL, and while the deal is still pending approval, she will also be the majority owner of Olympique Lyon Féminin. She also purchased and support the London City Lionesses in the Women's Championship, the second tier of English football (soccer, for us 'Merican's).
Just before the Olympics began, Kang announced a donation of $4 million to USA Rugby to support the Women's Rugby 7's, a team, which in the past has had a UofL alumna on it in Jessica Javelet in 2016.
The team, fronted by social media sensation Ilona Maher, went on to win Bronze, the first medal for the US in women's rugby sevens.
Of course, it's not all flowers and rainbows, one sour note heard was a small (emphasis on small) backlash on social media after the US Beach Volleyball pair Taryn Kloth and Kristin Nuss wore leggings for their first match is the cool Parisian evening weather instead of the traditional beach volleyball bikini.
Some men (I'm going to generalize as men here, anyone want to dispute that it was the vast majority?) were upset to not see them competing in bikinis. To which I say, good, quit watching and let those of us that actually care about the sport enjoy it. You guys can go be weird creepy sexists in private.
All in all, though, this Olympics event, so far, has been a great boon to women's sports, and while the connection to Louisville sports and our main topic here is tenuous, I'm glad to see the support and success than women are having in the games. The Olympics always serve as a chance to check out under-covered sports, as every two years many of us alternate between being fans of handball and curling, but this year seems to have brought an extra emphasis (supported by the medal count) on the women's sides of these sports.
Fantastic!
Cardinal Couple Radio Hour Podcast
The Olympics was one of the topics of conversation with Case, Paulie and I yesterday on the CCRHP, but we also talked about some pre-season honors in Volleyball and their seeming absence in some other sports, as well as Paulie's interview with Soccer head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.
Available on Spotify or any decent podcast directory:
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