Talk:Babe Didrikson Zaharias

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For some reason, this New York Times piece puts her birth year as 1914:

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/on-this-day/june-26/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.243.50.126 (talk) 03:30, 27 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.243.50.126 (talk) 03:31, 27 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

According to the New York Times [1], Zaharias was "accused as a young woman of being "mannish" and a "tomboy,"" and "in later life made a great production of being interested in what she called the "pretty things" - gardening, decorating, sewing her own clothes." As for her marriage, her husband's "idea of a greeting was to put her in an affectionate headlock. It was a cheerful, companionable marriage, but the great love of her life was probably another golfer, Betty Dodd."

Anyone have anything more substantial to back this up? Mikedash 09:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cayleff's book treats it almost as a given : Dodd and Didriksen were lovers. But the actual concrete evidence presented is fairly thin; circumstantial stuff like haircuts and interest in sports, and their closeness, especially after Babe was ill. The major problem is, none of the participants were remotely interested in discussing their sexualities in public, either because of the times they were living in, a desire for privacy, or (likely) a combination of both. It should be mentioned in this article, but I don't think it can be supported beyond acknowledging that there's widespread circumstantial evidence, and even more widespread speculation (not aided by the fact that certain parts of homosexual community are somewhat over-keen in outing famous people, regardless of the strength of the evidence). -- GWO

Isn't it awkward and redundant to say she "excelled in golf and athletics", given than golf is technically an athletic event?

What is your problem, Grovermj? I can't find the sentence you seem to refer to. Besides, the complete picture is much more extensive. Allow me to remind you: Babe Zaharias gained world fame in track and field and All-American status in basketball. She also mastered tennis, played organized baseball and softball and was an expert diver, roller-skater and bowler. And later on, she became a fabulous golfer too. So, looking back at this list, what exactly is the result of what?--Piet.Wijker 20:53, 2 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It wasnt me that made that comment, I think there must be some mistake. Grover 06:09, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Having a second look at the information in the history file, I now see that I made a mistake in trying to find the author of the remark that I made comments on. My sincere apologies for this mistake! Regards,--Piet.Wijker 09:55, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In everywhere but the US, athletics is synonymous with track and field. For that reason, at wikipedia, that is the official meaning. See Category:Athletes for an example.--Esprit15d • talk • contribs 20:20, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I do not believe this person belongs in the pool player categories, American and/or female. She played one exhibition match with Ruth McGinnis, which does NOT make her an American and/or female pool player. She did excel in other sports, but I do not understand why she is considered a pool player. Please advise. RailbirdJAM (talk) 12:00, 17 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

According to both ESPN.com and NYTimes.com Babe Zaharias won the 1954 US Open by +12 strokes vice +3 strokes, which makes an even bigger statement about her comeback after having been diagnosed with cancer in 1953.

http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014147.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/20/sports/sports-of-the-times-the-babe-returned-from-cancer.html

Dastaco (talk) 02:09, 7 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mildred Ella Didrikson was the sixth of seven children ... ...Three of her seven siblings were born in Norway, and the other three were born in Port Arthur.

Your siblings do not include yourself. You can not be a sister to yourself. If she had seven -siblings-, then that implies there were 8 children total. I recommend changing the 3rd sentence to include "Three of her six siblings were born in Norway..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 35.8.131.149 (talk) 02:17, 13 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I was surprised to see the title of the article was not "Babe Didrikson Zaharias", as I've always heard her referred to as. I've never heard anyone call her "Babe Zaharias". Shouldn't the article on a public person use the common name? Shirtwaist ^chat 00:48, 26 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. If there is a consensus on this, the article can be moved. --Crunch (talk) 14:41, 3 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Her LPGA page and WGHOF page both use "Babe Zaharias". Tewapack (talk) 19:45, 12 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There was a claim in the article that at the 1932 AAU championships, Didrikson set four world records in the javelin throw, 80-meter hurdles, high jump, and baseball throw in a single afternoon of competition. I removed this claim since it's completely bogus, but since I was already reverted once - which is understandable since some sources do in fact support that (or other similar) claims - I should probably elaborate.

Didrikson did in fact set world records or unofficial world bests in each of those events, but not at the 1932 AAU championships. The notion of Didrikson setting four world records in that particular meet is partly a latter-day myth, but not entirely; some contemporary newspaper reports already erroneously credited her with one or more world records. (This one went as high as three; I've yet to see a 1932 report that claimed four.) That there was such confusion immediately after the meet is actually understandable: Didrikson did break the listed world record in at least the high jump, maybe some other events as well, but the listed world records were not up to date.

The official IAAF world record progression clearly shows Didrikson did not set any world records at all in the 1932 AAU meet; not only are none of Didrikson's marks from that meet listed as world records, but in each case there is a better earlier mark by somebody else.

Richard Hymans, in his History of the United States Olympic Trials, covers the 1932 meet; he specifically notes (page 78) that Didrikson was thought to have set a world record in the high jump, but in fact did not; that she didn't break Nan Gindele's world record in the javelin throw; and that she did not even approach her own world best from 1931 in the baseball throw.

That the listed world records were so badly out of date is not surprising; world records were usually not listed until they received official ratification, which could be pending for a long time. Even when a record had been officially ratified, the news did not necessarily reach the USA immediately. Newspaper reports of track meets from that period are full of other bogus world record claims for the same reason. Sideways713 (talk) 17:33, 22 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Babe Didrikson Zaharias/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Last edited at 16:04, 23 August 2012 (UTC). Substituted at 08:48, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

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