Beaten by a girl - in the New York Times

When I played sports (if it was a game that counted), I was out to kick anybody's and everybody's ass from buzzer to buzzer.

For the macho-man studly-studs whose fragile psyches are shattered by losing to girls, the solution is simple: beat them so emphatically and lightning-fast, they wonder what the hell they were ever thinking getting on the mat with you.

If you can't do that, then I guess you don't have much right to get upset about it.

The flipside of this, of course, is girls who want to compete in contact sports with boys (i.e. wrestling and football, most often), who then get all upset (more often, their parents do) when their little princesses are smacked around like everyone else on the team.

A few years ago, I covered a school where a girl went out for football. The coach was an old-school guy who never allowed anyone on the team to be just a kicker -- they had to play a field position too (even if they weren't very good at it). That included some exchange-student soccer players from Mozambique -- if they wanted to come out as kickers, the coach was OK with it, but they had to at least try to play DB or WR or some actual position.

The girl came out and announced, "I am a kicker." Old Coach said, "fine, but you will also run some practice reps at DB." The girl's parents went to the school board in a huge huff, because Muffy had been knocked down a few times, and THEY thought she was going to be a kicker and never get hit, and now they were insisting on it.

 

Girls can be very good wrestlers, never said they couldn't, never said they shouldn't wrestle. It's just not easy for a guy to go 100 percent against one.

What you're missing and failing to address is wrestling isn't pickup basketball. It's not tennis. It's a full contact sport. I've separated shoulders and broken fingers ... mine and my opponents ... you guys talk tough but we're not talking about your co-ed softball league.

 

Then you wouldn't deserve to win in the first place, because she showed more mettle than you.

 

No wonder you guys have 7,000-plus posts ... you spend all day brow-beating someone until they see it your way ...

But it's not going to happen. Do other people feel the same way as me? Obviously no. I was just saying my opinion based on my personal experience and I don't think I deserve to have a couple of stat geeks insulting me because they once wrote about a match or played intramural basketball in school. When I wrestled in high school I had a friend beat a girl in the 112 weight class ... he hated every minute of it. I would too.

 

I don't see you refuting any of my "cheap shots" ... btw, just cuz they're true doesn't make them cheap ...

The only argument you're presenting is this: if a woman voluntarily takes a spot on the mat than whoop her ass ... got it. Understood.

My answer to that is it's easier said than done because wrestling is a contact sport in which I know I can cause a lot of pain and I, personallly, would have some internal conflict with that.

But if you want to ever wrestle, just let me know.

 

Except the other person signed up for it the same as you, right?

 

I understand that. But it doesn't necessarily mean she belongs on the same mat as me. Weight class isn't a fair indicator of skill and a lot of JV wrestlers will wrestle varsity for a variety of reasons ... especially at the extreme heavy or light weight classes.

I wouldn't feel good about injuring a female opponent. Guys? Sure. It's just the way I was raised. Doesn't mean I'm wrong. Even with that said, I'll repeat that I do think girls should be allowed to wrestle against guys out of fairness ... it's just not black and white.

 

Having never wrestled boxed, or played football against females, I don't know if I'd have difficulty inflicting pain on them.

But there are 2-3 women who play hoops with us at the Y sometmes, and I have no problem serving them up or swatting them down.

I'd like to think my competitive nature would outweigh my sexual nature in those contact sports, and I'd view females merely as opponents. I believe they'd appreciate that "enlightened" approach.

 

You're right, she probably doesn't deserve to be on the same mat as you. She probably deserves tougher competition.

 

When I played hockey, I got pissy if a guy pulled up and didn't check me like he would of the guy players.

If you think that competing full on against a woman in a sporting event is wrong or that we'll hurt, that's your problem. And personally, I find it rather sexist.

Course I'm just a stat geek who's never wrestled, so what do I know?

 

And if he didn't check you, he received a Comet bomb.

 

There are all sorts of Ohio U. grads with Comet stains in their cars