Upon hearing that two women had earned their stripes from the NBA, I immediately thought of Robin Herman. She was a sportswriter.
Many years ago, she not only was assigned to cover hockey by the esteemed New York Times. She wanted to get into locker rooms to interview players.
We guys on the beat thought this would mean at least the end of journalism, or maybe civilization altogether, and the athletes were no less perplexed when Herman gained access. The great Bobby Orr, who revolutionized his sport, also set a speed record for sprinting from shower stall to towel rack.
Gradually, we learned to survive this traumatic intrusion on our turf. There are women on this staff who could wake up in the middle of the night and outwrite yours truly. Lesley Visser remains a friend, even though she has gone electronic and no longer has to worry whether she’ll be stuck next to me and my rotten cigar in the press box.
When the NBA regular season commences Friday night, Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer will crack another sex barrier as the first female referees to officiate a pro game played by males only.
If your initial response to the news contained a trace of skepticism, you were not alone. We are always suspicious of big business and the NBA is a big business that prides itself on setting trends.
But I’m going to believe the NBA is sincere on this matter, that it’s taking the high road, that Kantner and Palmer got their jobs because they are at least as qualified as the male candidates.
The NBA knocked a little cynicism out of me last spring. You recall the brawl between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat during the playoffs. The Knicks led the series 3-1 and everything seemed pointed toward the New York-Chicago Eastern Conference final that everybody seemed to want, especially the league and its television angel, NBC.
After the Knicks emptied their bench to fight in Game 5, I was just waiting for the NBA to find an excuse not to punish the flagship franchise. A lenient sentence would nourish the old conspiracy theory.
Instead, the league body-slammed the Knicks, who lost the next three games, and the series, in large part because of the players suspended. I’m not sure this has anything directly to do with the two women referees, but I’m prepared to give the NBA the benefit of acting with integrity.
Obviously, Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer will be under severe pressure, but it is not like the NBA to make a bold move and then back off. Witness all the support given the WNBA. David Stern, the progressive and enlightened commissioner, isn’t experimenting with the idea of failing.
The NBA got into a jackpot last year when a few veteran officials allegedly engaged in tax fraud. I can’t imagine Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer causing the league any worse embarrassment and if they blow a call here and there, so what? Join the club.
Just the other day, a member of the Atlanta Braves’ front office expressed rage over plate umpire Eric Gregg’s work in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against Florida. It has been more than two weeks since Livan Hernandez fanned 15 Braves, but our man still burns: “Two-thirds of the earth is composed of water, the other third is Eric Gregg’s strike zone.”
Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer will know they belong when they start hearing stuff like that. Meanwhile, maybe they can teach Dennis Rodman some manners.
By the way, I recently ran into Lesley Visser and guess what? She likes cigars now. We all learn.