Nell Gelhaus
Playing For The Other Team: Simon Dunn Isn’t Wasting Time
At 6’1” and 215lbs, not many would attempt to pick on Simon Dunn. A lifetime of rugby combined with intense training for the Australian Olympic bobsled team have given Dunn an imposing physique that would ward off most bullies. Nonetheless, three years ago, Simon woke up in a Sydney hospital emergency room with black eyes…
Playing for The Other Team: “Mac” is Back
At the Courts at Mayo Clinic Square, Janel McCarville is ready to sit down. Having just completed a three-hour practice, the Lynx finished their morning with a grueling conditioning session. McCarville paired up with Sylvia Fowles, pushing through a series of drills that included resistance bands and individual leg squats that looked exhausting even to…
Playing for The Other Team: Dear Abby
Dear Abby, Why didn’t you take an Uber? Sincerely, Disappointed Fans Everywhere Another week, another celebrity athlete DUI. Another red-eyed mugshot. Another fallen idol. Only this time it was one of our own. One of our best. On April 3, women’s soccer legend Abby Wambach ran a red light and was arrested for driving under…
Minnesota RollerGirls All-Star Bout
Looking for something to do this weekend? The Minnesota RollerGirls are hosting a rare public All-Star bout against the Rocky Mountain RollerGirls of Denver, Colorado. The All-Star team is made up of the best skaters from each of the Minnesota RollerGirls four home teams: the Atomic Bombshells, the Dagger Dolls, the Garda Belts, and the…
2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Nell Gelhaus
I am the worst gift-receiver. I hate being the center of attention, even for those few seconds of gift unwrapping. All eyes staring at me, anticipation building, expectant smiles as I squirm, sweat, blush… agh… moving on! I’m a much better gift-giver. So here, from least expensive to most, are my suggestions for presents that…
Playing For the Other Team: The Missing Lynx
Wednesday is magazine day. Time, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN the Magazine, and Sports Illustrated. It’s Christmas every week! Opening my mailbox this past Wednesday, I glimpsed the familiar blue of Minnesota basketball gracing SI’s cover. Was it to be? A well-deserved Lynx cover story?! Alas, I was fooled. In a slap of bold-faced sexism, SI chose…
Playing for the Other Team: It Isn’t Over at UMD
We first caught wind of trouble in Duluth — a city better known for its pine trees, waterfalls, and hiking trails than controversies — back in January, once word that legendary Bulldog Women’s Hockey Coach Shannon Miller was let go from the University of Minnesota-Duluth when her contract was not renewed. Miller built up the UMD Division I hockey program from scratch in…
Playing For the Other Team: 5 Reasons to Keep Watching Women’s Soccer
It happens every time. Every man, woman, and child in the United States goes crazy for women’s soccer for approximately two weeks, only to forget it exists for the next four years. I’m no better. Although I go crazy for women’s soccer during the FIFA World Cup, and then again during the Summer Olympics, too,…
Playing for the Other Team: Brittney Griner and Our Ugly Truth
Sorry to rain on your Pride parade, but there’s something we need to talk about. In April, WNBA superstar Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury and her fiancée Glory Johnson, also a WNBA player for the Tulsa Shock, were both arrested following a domestic dispute at their Arizona home. This news came as a shock…
Playing For the Other Team: Catch-22
So it’s Lavender’s sports issue. You should write a piece about the GLBT population, and why and how sports are important, they said. You know, like your other columns, but more broadly, they said. It’ll be easy, they said. And at first, I thought yeah, this is easy. I mean, why do we play sports?…
