Taking it to the Limit (and No More)
Allison Stokke is busying up for her freshman year at Cal, and she’s tired of all the attention you’re giving her. So she decided to express her desire to avoid the limelight by going on ESPN Radio’s The Big Show earlier this week to confront these issues. Because what better place to avoid the leers of middle-aged men than going on sports talk radio?
If there’s anyone who has reason to believe 43-year-old men don’t belong on Facebook, it’s Allison Stokke.
The former Newport Harbor High pole vaulter who became an Internet sensation after her vaulting photos started circulating on the Web made an appearance on ESPN 710’s “The Big Show” Wednesday afternoon.
Steve Mason, one of the show’s hosts, admitted to having a Facebook page toward the end of Stokke’s segment.
“OK, Allison, be honest with him,” said Mason’s co-host, John Ireland. “Is it a little pathetic that a 43-year old guy has a Facebook page?”
In an effort to be diplomatic, Stokke replied, “I don’t know many people who do, but it’s pretty big.”
Ireland was belly-laughing in the background.
Stokke herself had a page on the popular social networking website and MySpace rival, until the brouhaha over her photos forced her to shut it down. When the site originally began, it was only for college students. Now it’s available to anyone.
Stokke was the subject of national conversation after bloggers began posting lewd comments about her competition photos and a YouTube video of Stokke registered hundreds of thousands of hits.
Much of the controversy stemmed from the fact that Stokke, now 18, wasn’t legally an adult when the photos were taken and posted on various message boards.
Stokke, untrained and unaccustomed to being the focus of so much media attention, tried her best to retreat from the spotlight.
Now that the attention has calmed down, Stokke has been willing to talk about her experience and — and to some extent, her looks — as a way of drawing attention to the sport of pole vaulting.
Okay Allison…
We don’t want to be your big brothers here. We don’t want to look out for you everytime some loser from Bakersfield opens up his inbox, sees your picture, and starts formulating dirty dirty thoughts. We know it upsets you.
So everytime you go on one of these stations, and start yapping about pop culture and teenage junk when we all know you’d rather be hoisting poles and thrusting them into the ground and landing on cushy mattresses…well, that brings you more mainstream attention. Attention you stated you wanted to avoid. Either you want attention or you don’t. Can’t go both ways.
We don’t mind if you relent a little and say you like this. This can be good for a dead sport in America. Just embrace the way the world works and let your looks be part of the deal. Tennis does this. Golf even embraced it. Why the hell can’t pole vaulting?
We’re all with you here in Berkeley. You’ll be a little bit more popular because of this, but trust us, it’s nice to stand out in the crowd here. This place can get rather daunting sometimes. You’ll get your shot at Tom Brady in a few years, trust us. We all know we want ours.
Thoughts on America’s favorite pole vaulter? Leave them in the comments.
(And yes, Stacy Dragila must be seething right now.)
A different type of air time for Stokke [Daily Pilot]
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