Go Gameface more than just a guide for female sports fans

Go Gameface is a no-nonsense look at sports and sports fandom for women everywhere. Virgin Books

At a time when more and more women are tuning to SportsCenter every night, many female fans think the traditionally-chauvinistic sports world and its advertisers don't give them much consideration. But one lifelong sports fanatic, Erica Boeke, has taken matters into her own hands, with her new book, Go Gameface : The Kick-Ass Guide for Women Who Love Pro Sports, and her new website, gogameface.com.

"I woke up one Sunday morning and was watching some pregame sports show and it was all ex-athletes yelling at each other and screaming stat after stat, and I think I'm the typical sports fan not devoting my week to sports," Boeke said. "And I remember thinking, I don't think these guys are talking to me."

Her mission? To start a conversation that is pointed at people like her, and to make a guide to sports for women -- full of her favorite stories from the numerous events she's attended, complete with funny anecdotes about players, fans and the games. She thinks women prefer to remember what happened at the game the previous night, rather than the numbers spouted at them by a bunch of talking heads.

"Men memorize every line in every movie and women memorize the plot," Boeke points out. "I think we're wired differently. My sports memories are wired to where I was watching the game, the food I was eating, my favorite t-shirt, not the play-by-play or every stat line."

In that spirit, her book also includes practical things for women. She includes a recipe from a good friend at Gourmet magazine, where she worked for a number of years, about a killer Bloody Mary recipe for tailgates. There are good fashion tips for women who don't want to wear their boyfriend's giant jerseys or a lame pink one. While this may not seem sports-book related, Boeke argues that all of these things are just small parts of what make a true fan.

As female sports fans ourselves, our favorite parts of the Boeke's project include the intelligent discussion on Sean Avery's recent incident and the killer recipe for super-quick chili from an editor at Gourmet.

Since finishing her book, which debuted in September, Boeke has traveled the country, speaking to other women sports fans and gathering tips that she shares on her website, where users can post recipes and clothing tips, and read sports columns written by Boeke and her co-author, Chris De Benedetti. When she's finished, Boeke just wants to create a world for female fans to live in -- without having to defend their fanhood against the boys -- or have it be interpreted as anything but a pure love of the games.

"But let me assure you, our interest in sports is not just a technique to impress our husbands or boyfriends, or even to meet men," she wrote in her recent blog post on the Huffington Post. "And nowhere in our conversations do we talk about which team has a "cuter uniform" or how great the athletes' butts look in their tight pants. Please."

Go Gameface is available on amazon.com or from gogameface.com