It recently came to light that Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for the past few weeks, stemming from a drug possession charge upon entering the country to play for a Russian club during the WNBA offseason. Playing overseas as a sort of side hustle is a common practice in women’s basketball. There are obvious financial benefits, and you can make the argument that it also expands one’s worldview and life experience. But why do they even need to do this to supplement their income?
I spent yesterday consuming podcasts and videos made by women in sports. It was nominally a day to stack the expert panels with women and tell the particularly underreported stories, presumably shelved and reserved for publication on that day. The prevailing message was that although it’s great to be celebrating International Women’s Day, there shouldn’t need to be a designated celebration of women’s accomplishments (and same with Earth Day, Pride, and so on). Optimistically speaking, though, the presence of women in sports is gradually increasing and becoming more of a normality.
When I’m writing in this space, I usually try to offer an alternate twist or insight on the topic du jour. Today, I'm fine to echo and amplify these sentiments. We need more women in executive and coaching roles, not just at women's clubs. We need women in broadcasting, not just as sideline reporters. We need more women passing through the various other gates that are traditionally kept by those who believe that only those "who played the game" should be allowed in. We need more women being allowed to fail and come back from failure and fewer one-and-dones.
To mirror the IWD sports programming, you'll notice that this week's trivia questions are women-focused. Writing sports trivia about women isn't just an IWD thing for us, it's something Dave and I have talked about more and more as we have developed, shaped, and reshaped Oddball. We knew going into this that there aren't going to be a lot of questions about women that relate to MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL — the leagues that are the focus of our trivia. And we also thought about this from a readership perspective. As people of colour in North America, we know what it's like to consume news and entertainment that is not geared to people who look like us.
We know we need to do better — and we want to do better, and we will do better — at making Oddball a place that normalizes these others, so that they are no longer others.
— JY
Answers from last week’s issue
Henrik Lundqvist, whose birthday it is today, retired with 459 regular season wins — good for sixth on the NHL’s all-time list. Who are the only five goaltenders with more career victories between the pipes?
Martin Brodeur (691 wins), Patrick Roy (551), Marc-André Fleury, Roberto Luongo (489), and Ed Belfour (484) are the droids we were looking for.
Ben Roethlisberger, whose birthday it is today, retired as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ all-time leader in pass attempts, completions, and touchdown passes. Terry Bradshaw is #2 in all those categories. What one-time Pro Bowler is third?
That would be Kordell “Slash” Stewart, whose one Pro Bowl season (2001) coincided with him finishing fourth in MVP voting (Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Brett Favre) and second in Comeback Player of the Year voting (Garrison Hearst).
What active major leaguer — a six-time All-Star and two-time MVP runner-up whose birthday isn’t today — is the all-time leader in hits among players born in Delaware?
With 1,572 hits, Wilmington’s Paul Goldschmidt has the most hits among major leaguers born in Delaware, the first-ever state in the Union. Second place, and the only other player over 1,500? Delino DeShields.
The two active NBA players born in Ukraine were drafted in 2013 and 2018 respectively. What two teams drafted them?
Oleksiy (Alex) Len was drafted 5th overall by the Phoenix Suns in 2013 and Sviatoslav (Svi) Mykhailiuk was drafted 47th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018.
#quiztianeendler
What three WNBA franchises have won four titles each?
What television show’s theme music is inextricably linked with a standout athlete (the standout athlete?) from the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal?
In January, 2022, the University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark had consecutive 30-point triple-doubles (against Nebraska and Minnesota, respectively), something previously not accomplished by any NCAA D-1 player or any WNBA player and only accomplished by six NBA players. Five of the six are active. Name them.
How many women have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Zero, one, or three?
#postscript
Happy birthday Usman Garuba!
Many thanks to Christiane Endler for being named her name and to you for being named your name, unless your name is Domantas Sabonis, who was suspended because he “approached and bumped the official in a hostile manner.” The way this is phrased suggests that you can approach and bump officials in a non-hostile manner, which in turn suggests that everyone who told Dave that no one would read his NBA player/official erotica was wrong!
Until next week, be the Ezequiel Carrera you wish to see in the world.
— DJ/JY