78-06-A7
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Sports
TranscriptA judge in Ohio made a decision having to do with the equality of the sexes and the sports world may never be the same. I'll be right back. In a federal court in Ohio recently a judge ruled that state and federal guidelines providing for separate male and female sports are unconstitutional, and that girls must be permitted to take part in contact sports such as football. I would have missed this entirely if it hadn't come to my attention in a column by M. Stanton Evans. He says the judge even went so far as to say--QUOTE--"There may be a girl lurking out there somewhere who will become the greatest quarterback in history" --UNQUOTE--. The judge was verbose on the subject. He went on to say--QUOTE--"It has always been traditional that boys play football and girls are cheerleaders. Why so? Where is it written that girls may not, if suitably qualified, play football?" --UNQUOTE--. Stan Evans answered that one in his column . --QUOTE- "The answer is written in the book of nature and the rules of common sense."-- UNQUOTE--. He went on to point out the physical differences between women and men. They are real and they are inescapable facts of nature. Men are constructed differently, with a higher ratio of muscle to body weight. He pointed out that girls, compared to boys, have narrower shoulders, less cardiovascular capacity, lower center of gravity and that running and throwing are not as natural to the typical feminine body. But enough of that. The judges decision opened up a two-way street that brings all kinds of possibilities to mind. Suppose there is an amazon-type hero out there who can throw a football 60 yards and even scramble to escape a blitz by some charging front four. She makes the grade and is in line for the Reisman trophy. Seriously I don't deny this is possible. But lets turn around and look in another direction. As I said the Judge opened the street both ways. We presently have girls basketball, softball, soccer and a number of other sports. So here comes "Joe Muscles", six feet four 225 pounds who didn't quite make the varsity. He still wants to play basketball and so he plays--on what used to be the all-girls' team. Since the not-quite-good enough Joes' undoubtedly outnumber the occasional amazons who win a place on the varsity, a lot of girls happily playing on the girls teams could find themselves permanently on the bench. You buy a ticket to see the championship girls basketball team do its stuff and five hairy chested male "rejects" from the varsity take the floor. If you think this is far fetched--brace yourself. In Connecticut Little League they made the game-gender free and in 1976 a team of mostly boys won the "Girls" softball championship. A player on the losing all-girl team disappointedly said, "They're so much bigger physically." This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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