Women and Football - It's not just to be cute...

It had to happen... I HAD to eventually do a post soley for ranting purposes. And especially since I'm a woman, it was inevitable that I was going to do a rant post about the dicotomy that is being a heterosexual female and liking sports. Not necessarily related to feminism - more like not at all - but more of a personal issue that I think I share with a few other ladies out there, including some friends....

So I was at the club the other night with some girls from my university's cheerleading squad. They were talking about something and I wasn't particularly interested in hearing what the topic was, so I mentally removed myself from the conversation. My eyes then caught the television screen at the bar, where they were showing a preseason football game. I couldn't really see the teams that were playing though, as they wer eonly showing one sideline at the moment.

To solve this problem, I decided to ask the handsome young man standing nearby who was playing in the game... Now I probably could have solved this by carrying my glasses that I use to read from far distances, but that would have been inconvienient for the club. I also could have just minded my own business and pretended to know who was playing and just to see blurry figures on a screen. However, I figured, he looks good so why not just ask anyway.

So this man tells me who's playing - the Chargers and the Seahawks - and then has the NERVE to say, "Aww that's real cute... you pretending to know about sports." I wasn't quite sure what he expected me to say to that, considering that I found that to be a little bit offensive, so I responded with, "So, just because I'm a woman, I have to be pretending I like sports?" Yes, I did it - I pulled the Gender Card. This man now tries to say the same thing, but claiming that it had nothing to do with me being a female. Knowing this was bull feces, I rolled my eyes, and then he starts talking about how he likes the feistiness! Like dude! Could you be anymore sexist right now! So I explain to him in a calmer manner, that I am a college-age student, studying broadcast journalism, and I cover sports for a living.

Then what REALLY infuriated me was his attempt to play me, and ask me, "Well then, who's the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys???" WHAT KIND OF A FOOL DOES HE TAKE ME FOR!?!? I just previously answered his question on where the Chargers and Seahawks were from. I was more insulted though by the simplicity of the question than the fact that he was asking me questions to test me allt ogehter.

You see, just because I may be a little bit on the good-looking side and I'm a woman, that doesn't mean that I don't watch sports, or know anything about sports. I recently saw an article suggesting that Erin Andrews should be in the booth now versus being a reporter. The comments below though argued against it, and one comment even went as far as to umbrella all good-looking females and stated that none of them know anything about sports. They may have a common knowledge about things like football but they'll never have a full understanding of the game........

Which brings me here: WHAT MAKES THIS GUY MORE KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT FOOTBALL THAN MYSELF? What God-given right has been handed down to men to inately know more about the depths of football than a woman? And then what God-forbidden theory claims that any woman who knows a "thing or two" about football is doing it for show and to purposely add to her sex appeal?

I love football. I do. And I love it because it's a sport, and I find it rather entertaining. It's ALWAYS been that way. I was a baby watching football. I had my Troy Aikman poster hanging in my room since I was about 6 years old. How can ANY MAN tell me that I like sports just to be cute? I'm sorry but I'm not crazy (all the way at least) to get a tattoo of the Washington Capitals on my back, and not like the Washington Capitals like it's my life? Like what world do I live in where I have to prove that I love sports more than anything? If it really mattered, get to know me, and read this blog, or we'll get to sports in about 10 minutes into a conversation and we'll have a nice healthy debate over coffee (beer in Canada).

So fellas, please don't make the mistake of judging a book by its cover. If the lady says she likes sports, or brings up a sports topic, don't try to play her on it and question her. I'm not a dating tip-blogger, but just for common knowledge, folks.

Notes...

Kane has officially been indicted. That'll show him. Unfortunately, those are the only news stories that come out about hockey players - the bad apples. Can we get more Ovechkin love out here and talk about the GOOD stuff they do?

So the St. Louis Cardinals technically stole John Smoltz from the Boston Red Sox. Oh well. There goes an offseason acquisition.

MOST INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH... While all the track and field news is mostly about Usain Bolt being this guy who runs faster in 100m and 200m dashes than I run to the bathroom after my 5-8pm class, I came across an article about this 18-year old runner from South Africa who needs a gender test because apparently people are questioning whether "she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman" or not... I really don't know how I feel about this because according to the article, the details are just soo complex! They can't say if they will take away her medals or not because it would be based on whether she got a sex change or if she has always defined herself as a woman... Frankly, I don't know how to take this story either, so for now, I'm only sharing with you all this issue. haha.