Letters from Linden
by JACK LINDEN
The daughter of a friend of mine got me hooked on girls softball. I was reluctant – until I went to my first game. I have now begun to watch softball on television. In the process, though, I am learning some things about collegiate sports that fans might want to think about.
In particular, the emphasis on football, basketball and baseball has gotten way out of hand in collegiate sports.
There is probably no bigger fan of college basketball than me. I don’t go to every game, nor do I watch every game on television. I never miss a University of Kansas game if possible. But there is something disconcerting happening in university level sports.
Though not true in football, students turning professional their freshman year is not uncommon in basketball and prevalent for stars in their junior year. Can we really blame a young man for leaving his university when he is offered several million dollars to play professionally? Coaches are paid millions of dollars at the collegiate level, but the people who are doing the work are the players who are restricted from earning money or taking gifts. Collegiate sports demand so much of students’ time that they can’t really be a student at all.
The Women’s College Softball World Series will be over when you read this article. That’s too bad, because you would have seen some true student-athletes. There are currently only four professional women’s softball teams in the United States. The young women playing collegiate softball have no illusions of being drafted into the multi-million dollar professional sport. They are playing for fun, the honor of winning and their university. They are on a scholarship, thanks to Title IX, but they are also truly students.
Unlike baseball, softball doesn’t have constant arguing with the officials. Occasionally you see a questioning look but not a verbal harangue. Coaches walk out to question the officials, but they don’t charge and yell and rant.
Meetings at the pitcher’s box also bring to mind the movie, “Bull Durham.” I wonder if the women are really discussing strategies. They always seem to have a smile on their faces when they return to their positions.
It is time that we stop and observe the women in sports. They seem to have a lot more fun. They are courteous to one another and give all out support to their fellow players and opponents. Even the fans in the stands seem to be much more courteous than what we see and hear at male sporting events.
Yes, I know that income from male sporting events helps pay the way for women’s sports, especially the minor sports. Women’s sports may never draw the attention that men’s sports do. But women’s sports show us that sports can be fun. It is not a death sentence to lose a game. The other players are just playing a game; they do not hold the power of life and death.
Perhaps through women’s sports we will return to the day when college players were truly student-athletes and not athletes who happened to attend a university. Perhaps we will return to the day when the universities educated the youth of America and not be a “farm team” for professional sports.
Maybe women’s sports teams are on the path to doing that. Let’s help them along.
