15.7.06

The Fairer Sex

I've just come from watching the US ladies national team win over the Swedish ladies national team in Blaine, MN. There are a number of conclusions that can be drawn from this match. First, the officiating pretty much is awful at every level of every sport. Second, it's hot everywhere in the US right now. As I write this in North Texas, it's 99 degrees Farenheit outside my front door. In Blaine, MN, where the match was held it was 97 degrees Farenheit but with heat index and the fact that stadiums in general tend to trap heat, it measured 119 degrees on the pitch. I don't care where you are, that's hot. However, the one thing I noticed during the match that I will focus on here, is that ladies truly are the fairer sex. Now, in this case I'm not referring to their physical beauty because that's pure opinion (and in my opinion, there were 23 beautiful ladies on the pitch at all times--I'm including the centre official). No, I'm referring to the fact that they play fair, and have a sense of fair play around them. In the game, there were only 2 cards (yellow) given in contrast to any given game in the recently passed World Cup. Neither of those cards were non-deserved, they were given for true fouls and were deserving of the card presentation. Contrast that with how many cards were given in the World Cup because the official was duped by play-acting and you begin to see my point. How many time during the World Cup did a slight push result in the pushed player rolling about on the ground for an extended period in a protracted effort to get the other player sent off. This simply did not occur in the ladies match I just watched. It can't be because the ground is any harder or because they fell more or more violently. No, it's simply because the men, unlike the ladies, are banal & base in their instinct and choose to cheat rather than win fairly. I urge the professional side of the game to look, watch & learn from the ladies. They truly are the fairer sex in football. Wastrel On!