QotD: Sports
Posted April 6th, 2004 @ 10:32pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: If the best men's basketball team played the best women's basketball team and both teams tried very hard (and didn't put in scrubs), what would the final score be?
My Answer: 127-24. After watching the best two women's college teams tonight, I have a hard time thinking of five sports in which a woman is better than a man. Figure skating: tie. Uhhh… pool? I dunno. The best men are better than the best women. Yes, as you gravitate towards the middle ground areas, the separation is less. Men run faster, jump higher, hit golf balls further and tennis balls harder, etc. Who can refute that? Not anyone who looks at the facts.
Am I trying to piss some people off? A little bit, yes. I'm not interested in men's basketball, but it seems to me that women's basketball needs less airballs and more scoring. 67-59? Wake me up when it's over. Yawwwwwwwn.
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Posted 06 Apr 2004 at 10:49pm #
The women's game is much much slower than the men's just because of the athletic differences between the genders.
Anyone that thinks Diana Taurasi can take Emeka Okafur has been smoking far too much of something. 🙂
Posted 07 Apr 2004 at 1:18am #
I suppose anything not relating to yak fishing or sex gets a yawn out of you.
Posted 07 Apr 2004 at 3:04am #
Yeah. I have a hard time with people who want to ignore that men and women are biologically different. I'm not trying to put one above the other, and I have no problem with women's basketball, but there's a reason the sexes (not genders[1]) are separated in many things.
As far as sports at which women perform better, maybe look at some types of gymnastics -- sports that require something other than pure muscle mass. Beyond sports, women are better fighter pilots, able to handle higher G-forces because of their more compact frame. Hell, it's all tradeoffs.
It's a difference that's more clearly delineated than any concept of race, but it's important to distinguish between recognizing differences and encouraging discrimination.
[1] Justin's comment on gender brings out the pedant in me (sorry). "Gender" refers to social and cultural distinction (GI Joe is masculine, Barbie is feminine) growing out of the grammatical meaning of gender, while "sex" refers to the biological distinction.
Posted 07 Apr 2004 at 10:58am #
When I was in 9th grade, our boys c-squad team, that had a .500 record in a small out-state conference, took on your undefeated, ranked second in state, only lost 3 games in 3 years girls varsity team. The girls had been talking a lot of smack around school about how good they were, so their coach wanted to prove a point. The plan was to play two 20 minute running halves, but the coach made them turn off the scoreboard and no-longer allowed us to block shots, or full court press, 12 minutes into the game. We were up by 30. We only played one half.
On a related note. The Minnesota Gopher girls have a drill that they do at the end of some practices (I'm told) called 3-and-out. They go up against 5 players from the Gophers Mens practice squad, and can't leave the gym until they stop them 3 times in a row. That's how to prepare for the final four.
Posted 07 Apr 2004 at 3:13pm #
I like rising to a challenge -- synchronized swimming, mud wrestling, hot oil wrestling, cheerleading, and volleyball?
The feminism that has been ingrained in me wants to say that any endeavor in which a woman excels over a man would no longer be called a sport.
Also, I want to add that if "sport fucking" were taken seriously, a serious, competitive, goal-oriented woman would likely clean up.
Posted 07 Apr 2004 at 6:30pm #
Don't you mean sexism?
Posted 08 Apr 2004 at 1:16pm #
No, I really think I meant feminism. Is there some reason I shouldn't have? Perhaps I am mistaken -- though I don't see my error just yet.
Posted 08 Apr 2004 at 7:04pm #
It seems that you think if a woman were to be the equal or better of a man in an activity, it shouldn't be worthy of being called a sport. This would be discrimination rather than equality.
Posted 08 Apr 2004 at 8:58pm #
zachk: I think David is saying that if women were better a something, then other people would no longer call it a sport.
If he was saying that he would no longer call it a sport, then yes, that would be sexism, but it's his pessimistic feminism that sees others discriminating in such a way.
Posted 20 Apr 2004 at 3:08pm #
i agree. Men are designed to be the natural hunters, women are the natural nurtures.As you clearly and correctly point out you can run faster and hit things harder but you cant run longer, the gap in long distance times between the sexes is decreasing rapidly and the girlies are about to take over. Maybe bias but i think endurance running is much more impressive than how fast you can run pumped up with drugs and wearing socks down your teenie tight gym suit!!!
Posted 28 Mar 2005 at 7:47pm #
Better yet, if the WNBA AllStars played the McDonalds highschool All Americans, what would the score be.
Answer, Highschoolers: 89, Best Women Players in the Wide World: 41