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CGB Interviews: Jennie Finch On The College World Series, Title IX & More

By Nick Kranz

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NEW YORK - OCTOBER 12: Olympic Softball player Jennie Finch attends the 32nd Annual Salute to Women in Sports gala at The Waldorf=Astoria on October 12, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - OCTOBER 12: Olympic Softball player Jennie Finch attends the 32nd Annual Salute to Women in Sports gala at The Waldorf=Astoria on October 12, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
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You might know Jennie Finch because she led the Arizona Wildcats to a national title in 2001. You might remember her from the 2004 Olympics, where the U.S. Softball team won Gold. Or maybe it's her 2005 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit appearance. In any case, she's arguably the most famous softball player of all time, and after her retirement from competition she's taken on commentator work with ESPN, promotional work with the Capital One Cup, and wrote a book, amongst many other activities.

She's currently on site in Oklahoma City following all of the action and graciously took some time to answer a few questions. We talked plenty of softball of course, and got all her thoughts about our Bears, but Jennie also gave us some thoughts on Title IX and anti-Stanford conspiracies. Thanks Jennie!

  1. Talk a little bit about Cal/Oklahoma

    It’s going to be a great test for Cal, playing against Oklahoma in what will be like a road game. It will be an incredible atmosphere, the game is already sold out. It’s a test for cal but there’s no preparation better than the Pac-12 season.


  • As a successful former pitcher, what do you see that makes Jolene Henderson successful?

    I haven’t been able to watch her too much, but I did see a little of the Super-Regionals. Of course she’s got the experience from last year’s World Series. She puts great location on her pitches, her change up is special, and that experience.

  • Which players at the CWS do you see having national team success?

    There are so many that have the chance. Val has had a tremendous career at Cal and already has had national team success. You never know who will shine in that arena, but Keilani Ricketts from Oklahoma and Michelle Moultrie from Florida has had tremendous success.

  • You recently attended and spoke at the ‘Title IX at 40’ conference. What did you take away from the conference in terms of what Title IX has achieved so far and how much further we need to go in terms of encouraging girls and women to participate in sports?

    I actually spoke on a panel, and since I was travelling in and out of the conference I wasn’t able to hear it all. From what I heard from the other great panelist, I think we need to continue to educate young athletes about Title IX. I was shocked that so many athletes hadn’t heard about Title IX and what it has meant for female athletes having the opportunity to play sports.


  • Some Stanford fans have accused the Capital one cup of being a conspiracy against Stanford’s dominance in the Director’s Cup. Is that true, and if it is, how can we Cal fans join this conspiracy?

    I wouldn’t say that it’s a conspiracy. It’s just another way to shine a light on college athletics, Me being a fan of college athletes and college sports - It’s important to me. That’s why I’ve been working with the Capital One Cup, which will reward 400,000 in student-athlete scholarships this year. It’s the rivalries like Cal and Stanford that adds to the competitiveness and makes college sports so great. And Cal fans should be paying attention, because if Softball can add 60 points in for Cal the race will be very close for the title.


    (Ed. note: Thanks to Jennie for answering all of our questions - even the blatantly silly one at the end.)

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