FORT WORTH, TX – The Yankees held off the Mets in a slop-fest. Now that we got that out of the way… We were watching my bud’s daughter – who plays for the defending state champion Aledo Bearcats – play softball last week. Was almost unfair and unkind…the Bearcats returned nine starters from last years championship team, and have ten of their seniors committed to play D1 college softball. The poor ol’ Lady Elk’s of Burelson were dispatched in 5 innings due to the mercy rule.
Have to hand it to her and her teammates….as I said, it was almost unfair.
Given the wipe out, we all got to talking about women’s sports…which ones we like, which one’s we don’t when compared to men’s sports. Softball, for instance, was in the “we like” category. The flow of the game compares favorably to baseball. They turn a double play, the pitchers throw heat…cool.
Women’s basketball.…well, not so much. Watching the WNBA or women’s college hoops…not as interesting as the NBA or men’s college hoops. It’s just so much….slower.
Here were our votes on other sports:
Soccer… just as boring for women and men.
Skiing… about the same. The wipeouts are awesome for both; kinda like NASCAR on snow. And the women just look better in those high tech body suits.
Gymnastics… more fun to watch the women.
Swimming… the same for both, but no one watches it anyways – except the parents.
Rugby… sorry, and I know a lot of female ruggers – but the men’s version is a heck of a lot better to watch.
None of us care about tennis or figure skating and such, so we left it at that.
Which led to debate number two: why is attendance in women’s sports generally so much lower than men’s?
There are some decent attendance figures for U Conn women’s hoops and figure skating always pulls them in during the Olympics… But in general, women just do not get the paying fan to show up in the numbers that men’s sports do.
How come?
We were not too sure on that one. Figured with the rise in female participation…and parents now watching their daughters play…that attendance would be up. But it’s not. Not sure why.
Debate number three had to do with the game…specifically, the mercy rule.
Currently in Texas high school sports, if a team put gets up by 10 runs in softball or baseball, they call the game. Most other states have adopted these “mercy rules”…a 50 point lead in football, for example, stops the game in the state of Connecticut.
Is it right?
I remember playing high school sports and, as a sophomore, praying for a blow out. Because it meant I would get some playing time. If they had the mercy rule back then, it would have meant less playing time. And is not playing the actual game what we want these kids to be doing?
In the Aledo game I saw the game ended two innings early because of the rule. That meant a few less pitches, a few less at bats and less playing for both sides. Heck, I’ve been on the bad end of some very lopsided games. But I always wanted to play until the end.
The mercy rule in high school sports seems to be another attempt to shield kids from some of the harsh realities of life. Like losing. Badly. Very badly. And the reality of having to keep your head up and keep giving your full effort throughout the ordeal.
After all, sooner of later in life most of us get our metaphorical butts kicked sooner of later. Badly. Very badly. And in real life there ain’t no mercy rule.
You have to learn to deal with a difficult, crushing defeat and go on. Like the Mets. The implementation of these mercy rules just does everyone a disservice. Its emblematic of the “everyone gets a medal” culture that has sprung up around parenting over the last couple of decades.
We are creating a generation of wussies, wimps and whiners. And giving them a very wrong message – because there is no shame in losing. Even badly.
There is only shame in quitting.
At any rate – and speakin’ of the women – here’s some Girl Crush from Little Big Town for you to vibe on. We’re all doin’ some slow dancing to this one at the local honky tonk dance halls down here lately, and it’s getting a lot of airplay on the CW radio.
Till next time, throw your two cents in below and come on back tomorrow for Big Al/Fake Sandy.
