[TheWildJacko]

Why is WBB the only sport where our fans consistently refer to every player by first name?

not a coincidence that it's also the only sport where we refer to the coach(es) by first name.

tara sets the standard by using her first name and calls her assistants and players by their first names (e.g. kate rather than coach paye). unlike other sports, the players generally call the coaches by their first names. in press conferences, the media calls tara by her first name, which she appears to welcome. 

seems to me it's their call, not ours, and (unlike other sports) their call is mostly first names.

I was just thinking the same thing before I read your post!

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Why is WBB the only sport where our fans consistently refer to every player by first name?

This has been noted before, and I have made efforts to not do this (except for referring to the Hull sisters, for obvious reasons).  It even creeps into some of the announcing (like on KZSU).  I think absent a good reason, we ought to refer to the women's basketball team members the same way we refer to the men.

BC

Totally agree!! It's subtle, very subtle, but real, sexism.

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If it's sexism, why don't we refer to other Stanford women athletes by first name?  It's  Ledekcky, Heck, and Higuchi (and, perhaps not incidentally, it's almost always Brink.   My theory: many of us feel a special connection to these players on this particular team.  "Jones." "Williama," and "Wilson" sound impersonal.   

And yes, it's Tara while Shaw is Shaw, but you can't convince me that is out of a respect for Shaw that we don't feel toward Tara.

And, for that matter, it's complex.  Prechtel and Jerome are almost always "Prechtel and Jerome," for example, and Jump is usually Jump.

Good points!

[TheWildJacko]

Why is WBB the only sport where our fans consistently refer to every player by first name?

not a coincidence that it's also the only sport where we refer to the coach(es) by first name.

tara sets the standard by using her first name and calls her assistants and players by their first names (e.g. kate rather than coach paye). unlike other sports, the players generally call the coaches by their first names. in press conferences, the media calls tara by her first name, which she appears to welcome. 

seems to me it's their call, not ours, and (unlike other sports) their call is mostly first names.

I was just thinking the same thing before I read your post!

---

Why is WBB the only sport where our fans consistently refer to every player by first name?

This has been noted before, and I have made efforts to not do this (except for referring to the Hull sisters, for obvious reasons).  It even creeps into some of the announcing (like on KZSU).  I think absent a good reason, we ought to refer to the women's basketball team members the same way we refer to the men.

BC

Totally agree!! It's subtle, very subtle, but real, sexism.

---

If it's sexism, why don't we refer to other Stanford women athletes by first name?  It's  Ledekcky, Heck, and Higuchi (and, perhaps not incidentally, it's almost always Brink.   My theory: many of us feel a special connection to these players on this particular team.  "Jones." "Williama," and "Wilson" sound impersonal.   

And yes, it's Tara while Shaw is Shaw, but you can't convince me that is out of a respect for Shaw that we don't feel toward Tara.

And, for that matter, it's complex.  Prechtel and Jerome are almost always "Prechtel and Jerome," for example, and Jump is usually Jump.

Good points!