Dick’s Sporting Goods & Female Basketball Players: An F for Effort

Written By: Kim - Oct• 06•14

2014-10-06 14.56.08In today’s mail I received a nice 28 page, full-color brochure from Dick’s Sporting Goods touting their basketball gear. There is one major problem with Dick’s new basketball brochure: not one female is represented on its pages. Oh, there are young men, teenage boys and yes, even younger boys. Sorry, middle-aged and older men, but apparently you don’t play ball either. But, apparently Dick’s Sporting Goods also does not believe that girls and women play basketball. No one on their marketing/communications team has ever heard of the Women’s National Basketball Assocation, either. Oh wait, there are women in the brochure: background crowd in the stand and cheerleaders. That earns them an F for effort.

Female athletes deserve better.

I checked the brochure three times because I wanted to make sure that I was not mistaken. Surely, this is a 2014 brochure and not something from the “olden days.” Surely, the marketing/communication gurus at Dick’s who ask me everything from my zip code to my shopping preferences know who their market is. Surely, they have heard that yes, women do play sports traditionally dominated by men and in many cases, are better athletes.

The kicker on the brochure? It was addressed to me – clearly someone with a female name. And why was that? Not because I am some cool athlete, but because I make these kinds of purchasing decisions. I get the store “discount” card so that we get coupons, discounts on purchases, invites to special events, etc. Oh wait, there was a nod to breast cancer awareness month on the vanity link www.dickssportingoods.com/basketball. I suppose that is what the womenfolk should be grateful for – that this retailer is recognizing our boobs and the fact that we may lose one to breast cancer.

Female athletes deserve better than to be ignored by Dick’s Sporting Goods. If you love a female athlete, let Dick’s know that this is not acceptable.

The Limited Coat that Offers Decades of Warmth

Written By: Kim - Jan• 08•14
The 1989 coat from The Limited. Still in excellent condition.

The 1989 coat from The Limited. Still in excellent condition.

When I moved to Washington, DC, in 1989, from Alabama, I begged my frugal, depression-era mother to purchase this amazing, modern, dark navy blue wool coat that hits about mid-calf. I was starting a journalism internship at the National Journalism Center and would be in the metro area until mid-December.

The coat was from The Limited and they had layaway, if I recall correctly. It was hot as hell that summer, like it normally is in southern Alabama, and putting a coat on layaway, especially one this intense, seemed silly. But I knew I would need it for the fall internship in DC. I had a thinner car coat, which was normally sufficient in an Alabama winter where we might end up wearing shorts on Christmas Day. In 1989 in Washington, DC., it snowed that Thanksgiving. I remember because my sister, who lived in Maryland, picked me up that Wednesday and we drove to her home as the snow accumulated.

We were a single paycheck family, I was the last of five and $200 was a lot of money. My father, as you may recall, served in the US Army as an enlisted GI. My mother was a homemaker and grew up in The Great Depression. In our home, there was a difference between necessity and luxury; between desire and need. After much negotiation on my part, she finally agreed.

Twenty-five years later, through weight gain and losses, pregnancies, five homes and three dogs, I still have this coat. I asked a tailor to replace the lining and added white alpaca fur around the collar and sleeves a few years ago just to give it a different look. The coat is in excellent shape and my parents definitely got their $200 out of it. In fact, it cost my parents roughly $8 annually for me to wear this coat since then.

On days when we experience frigid weather, especially as we have this week in the DC area, I am extremely grateful that I still have this coat. Maybe that’s why I still hang it in my closet. Aside from the fact that it’s still useful, my parents made a sacrifice for me, as they did often.

Paired with a pair of knee-high leather boots and the memory of my my mother’s love, it’s all I need to stay warm.