The Seattle Times, treating mud wrestling “lingerie football” like the extremely legitimate sport it is:
Dressed in skimpy boy shorts and see-through mesh tops, about 50 women tried out Friday for the area’s newest football team — the Seattle Mist.
The league format will be an eight-game season, with the East and West champions meeting for the famed Bowl during the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami.
Twelve women will be named to the initial squad tonight. The remaining members will be named later. They’ll be thrown into Football 101, given a massive book of terms to learn the game, then hit training camp in June.
“Yeah, it’s sexy, but that just draws the viewers,” said founder Mitchell Mortaza, 34, of West Hollywood. “You’ve got to keep them, and the fan base has to respect it. Because of that, you’re going to see girls that are beautiful, but athletic, and take it seriously.”
I wonder if these were the kind of viewers Mr. Mortaza’s “girls” were hoping to draw?
Lingerie football: Titillating lecherous, elderly construction workers since 2005!
How is that different than when you play Madden 09 alone?
Will the Times be running a series of features on all manner of Seattle prostitutes? Strippers, bikini baristas, hooters waitresses, escorts, etc.?
One can only hope. More hot chick flesh, less real people doing interesting, useful things PLEASE!
Douchebags.
I find Mikki’s comments far more interesting than this lame, fake-ass sport.
What I’d like to know is, what happened to ladies dancing with feathers? I know burlesque is the thing these days, but what happened to old fashioned giant feather dancing? I would much rather watch that than scantily-clad lady football (or burlesque). Plus, I don’t want to see scantily-clad lady football injuries.
I’m with Mikki. Well about the scantily-clad lady football injuries. I don’t have an opinion one way or another about giant feather dancing.
Pop Tart, giant feather dancing is cooler than it sounds. I don’t want to piss anybody off here, but the best part of Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the feather dancing scene where Holly is drunk and basically saying she could do it better. Also, seriously, Banacek? Wtf. Double also, I love Audrey Hepburn even though she isn’t busty.
Ah, here comes the obligatory “but hey, I’m a rollergirl” post.
I’m a member of Rat City Rollergirls since 2004. I did not try out because of my looks. Heck, I wasn’t even good at the sport. I joined because it sounded fun. Over the years it’s become so much of a sport my not-so-great skills are barely cutting it anymore. So, we can debate for 500 posts about modern roller derby: is a sport or not? But until you’ve been to a game or attend the WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) Nationals held in Portland, Oregon in about a month, I’m not going to listen to you. Nor will the 30,000 women who are currently playing derby. I believe I play a sport. Sometimes I do it wearing fake eye lashes and fishnets.
Okay, about the skaters only having “one look” thing. Shall I describe myself or let someone here post a stereotype of what they think I look like? If you guys post it it’s more fun. I’m not particularly punk, goth, or anything else. Am I ugly or pretty? Like I said, I’m sure someone here can find out and make judgments pretty quick.
Frankly, I don’t care that the Times ran this story. I do care that they refuse to run Rat City scores. By their definition, they can’t run a sports story about us because we use false names. And they will say this after they publish a story about us using our real names along with our false names. It’s an odd double standard. So, you know, calling someone “the Babe” or “the Fridge” I guess that puts a lot of sports in the false category. Also, some baseball players were excessively tight pants. I think sexy sexy tight buns like that?
Someone else also mentioned ownership. To clarify, Rat City is owned and operated by the women who skate. We don’t make any money for ourselves. In fact we must pay money to play. I suppose you would say we do it for the love of the sport (maybe it’s the fake eyelashes too). Whoops. I’m not supposed to like wearing those, right?
typo in 57:
also, some baseball players were excessively tight pants. How dare they flaunt their sexy sexy tight buns like that?
I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but I’m pretty sure the two guys in the background ARE the cheerleaders…
I support this.
I have no rationale, it just seems like a good thing to me.
Okay, you got me ECB. Sorry for the generalization.
But one question: How arev you affected when women choose to be objectified like this of their own free will?
I think these women like being objectified, otherwise they wouldn’t do this.
Did someone say that these women are earning $80,000? I can’t believe I missed tryouts! How fortunate for this league to be under the complete control of a male dominated marketing machine. That’s a lot of ticket and merchandise sales Seattle; you had better start saving your hard earned discretionary income now. This sounds more like roller derby of the 1970’s, if you are into that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, I will just keeping playing the fastest growing sport in America … well, actually, maybe the world. And don’t worry about my feelings of objectification, the joke is on you.
Did someone say that these women are earning $80,000? I can’t believe I missed tryouts! How fortunate for this league to be under the complete control of a male dominated marketing machine. That’s a lot of ticket and merchandise sales Seattle; you had better start saving your hard earned discretionary income now. This sounds more like roller derby of the 1970’s, if you are into that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, I will just keeping playing the fastest growing sport in America … And don’t worry about my feelings about objectification, the joke is on you.
@3 for the win, @13 for second place.
No, it’s not Grant.
And Puppy Bowl RULES!
oh let people have their fun.
In German, mist means poop.
The only difference with RCRG is self-ownership. But that’s a BIG difference.
jojo: you are good looking and are participating in a sport that you admit you were not very good at when you first auditioned. there are certainly some similarities that shouldn’t be discounted. some of these women may really like football, may be attractive, and might consider this an opportunity. i’m guessing you wanted us to see the many pics of you online when you posted this. to me, the rollerderby still “feels” more like a sport than this lingerie football, though.
(and being denied a job because they are not pretty enough? that’s another can of worms altogether that is far from limited to lingerie football.)
certainly ownership has much to do with it. it answers the question of whether or not the participants are being exploited or are exploiting themselves, so to speak. but let us not forget a woman can exploit other women, and so, too, can a man watch roller derby or lingerie football (or help with the workings) without exploiting women. the generalizations here are pretty obvious.
the pay — if truly $80K — is an interesting consideration. if it really is sexist, if it really is exploiting women, to take that money would seem wrong. it is nice, however, to see that it is getting more expensive to exploit women. at some point, the price at which a person is willing to sell their moral conviction because so high as to prohibit anyone from being tempted to break their conviction.
I’m willing to show some skin in the name of football,” said Alicia McLaughlin, 23, of Tacoma.
This is Alicia McLauchlin, I am one of the 12 who ended up making the team. I knew there would no doubt be controversey and aggresively opinionated bloggers speaking out. But at the end of the day, its just football. And yes, to draw a crowd we happen to be attractive women playing in bras and panties. If it were the construction workers, and they were offered the above said amount of 80,000$ to play in underwear it would instead be hilarious. But because we are attractive young women its some say its innappropriate. There will always be double standards in our society, this I understand, but hey feminists! what about cheerleading? Not to knock the “sport” but at least we are playing our own game. A game that I happened to grow up playing, and now thanks to the new league I can play and get paid to do so.
I’ve been playing football and inadvertently offending people all my life. 😉 just a lot more of both lately.
Kindest Regards
Alicia
AND! when are women not being exploited? open any magazine, or turn on the tv. sex sells, and the stock you have is only going to depreciate as time goes on. im just being an opportunist.