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Female athletes still under same old double standard
What a great thing American sports society is.
Maybe someone out there among the reading public can help me out with something that I'm a little confused about. I've spent countless hours trying to figure out a few things that involve the female gender of this country in the world of sports.
The things that leave me scratching my head until my fingernails run dull are the women making headlines. They're trying to break down barriers in the male-dominated sports world. I, for one,. can't seem to figure out why so many people have problems with these women's actions.
One situation is not controversial at all, it just amazes me that it hasn't happened before. The second involves a female golfer trying to prove she can "hang" with the best male golfers of the world. The last two -- well they're a bit on the controversial side.
The first is the good old Augusta National Golf Club's policy of men being the only members. The second hits a little close to home with every American citizen either for, or against the war in Iraq. Yes that's right, I'm talking about Toni Smith, the senior basketball player from Manhattanville College. If the name doesn't ring a bell, don't worry we'll get to it in a second.
The first situation that caught the sports world's attention in mid-February was Tennessee State's Athlete Director Teresa Phillips unprecedented decision of coaching a Division I men's basketball team.
Phillips made the decision after she suspended the team's interim head coach, Hosea Lewis, for one game after a brawl in which 19 players were ejected from a game against Eastern Kentucky. According to members of the press, it was the first time in the history of college basketball that a woman had ever coached a men's basketball team.
The game was a media circus. The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and USA Today were there to see history along with four camera crews. It's ridiculous to know that after countless years of college basketball, that it took until 2003 for a woman to coach a men's team. Men coach women's teams all the time.
The University of Connecticut's women's head coach, Geno Auriemma, is male and a darn good one at that. But you know what, there are some pretty good women coaches leading women's teams.
Pat Summitt, for example, is probably one of the best coaches in all of NCAA basketball and would probably fare quite well on the men's side of things. However, it probably won't happen because it's a man's world.
That's unfortunate.
The second situation that leaves me in bewilderment is the case of Annika Sorenstam and the PGA tournament. Sorenstam has decided to try and qualify for The Colonial tournament. So what is the big deal? I don't see anywhere in the name of the Professional Golfer's Association that says you have to be male in order to play on tour.
It's striking to me how hypocritical this nation really is. We tell other countries that they need to let women do things that aren't allowed, but yet when it comes time that a woman wants to play with the men in America we say, 'Oh no, we can't have that.'
Sorenstam is a great golfer, probably better than most of the guys on tour. I would gladly put $5 down and bet that she makes it to Sunday's final round. Will she win? In my opinion, no. With Tiger Woods playing, Sorenstam would need kryptonite. Yet, I definitely think she'll be in the final round. Just watch.
The third thing that has kind of irked me, and it again has to do with the golfing world, is Augusta National's men only policy at their course. I don't see what the big deal is.
I understand it's Georgia, the south and that they've played by their own rules since the end of the Civil War, but I don't know about everyone involved at Augusta National. I side with Martha Burk (a member of the National Council of Women's Organizations that is trying to make Augusta an all-gender club). It's 2003, take a look around, the world won't come to an end if you allow women to play on the course.
I agree that the club has every right to not allow women to be members. I know the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says they have the right to choose who they want to freely associate with. But let's turn the tables. What happened if there was an all-female golf club. You can't tell me men wouldn't be lining up wanting to get in, or even calling it sexist. Men can do it, but women wouldn't be able to. Yep, it's a lovely, double standard society we live in.
The final thing I want to touch on that has generated the most debate is Smith. Since her team's season began, Smith has been turning away from the American flag to protest the war in Iraq.
Again, we pull out the trusty First Amendment. I think it's great that Smith has decided to do what she's doing. Would I do it? Probably not. I haven't quite formulated an opinion on this whole situation with Iraq. I pose this question to anyone: say an unknown Division III men's basketball player (much like Smith) decided to do the same thing. Would there be this much uproar? Very unlikely. Mike Piazza of the New York Mets openly supports the war, but you don't see sports writers and the American public ragging on him. Why? Because it's popular opinion. Oh yeah, and big surprise here, Smith is a woman.
What a great thing the American sports society is.
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