Male and female athletes
are not what they used be. In
sports today, we are seeing taller, faster and stronger athletes than ever
before, both for male and female sports.
Within the last decade females such as Brittney Griner, Serena Williams
and Alex Morgan have made great strides in the promotion and improvement of female
sports. Those types of athletes are
changing the game in the public eye because the gap between skill levels is
closing in. Soccer for example,
had Mia Hamm. No other female in
the United States and even the world had the recognition and skill to back up
her abilities. Now we are seeing
handfuls and groups of players that could be as talented as Mia Hamm.
Males are
looking like the same way.
Basketball is a sport that is always talking about comparing players to
the NBA’s past time. We are seeing
many players today that are being compared to the likes of Jordan, Magic
Johnson and Kareem both by talent and success. Whether LeBron or Kobe is the
most similar to Jordan might never end. So how many basketball players today
are being compared, being discussed by sports shows, to the NBA’s legends?
Every day it seems like. And to
back it up, there have been so many athletes breaking decade-long records and
it is happening not only in basketball.
All these current athletes still playing in their sports, LeBron, Kobe,
Tiger Woods, Drew Brees, are becoming the youngest or own the most records than
ever before.
The point I am
trying to make is with the separation of males and females playing together
would never work. The big sports
such as basketball, football, soccer and baseball would be the most
difficult. We are seeing more
dominant female athletes, but at the same time we are seeing the most gifted
male athletes as well. It could
possibly work with individual sports.
Tennis would be the most interesting since males and females are stronger
and can serve and hit faster.
Billiards, bowling and maybe even golf would turn some heads to see how
males and females would do competing against each other.
Bottom line: The
way sports are separated now is fine.
More male and female athletes are leveling the playing field and some are
still dominant, which is making sports even more exciting to watch.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteTo begin I would like to say well put. I cannot disagree with the statement, "We are seeing more dominant female athletes, but at the same time we are seeing the most gifted male athletes as well. It could possibly work with individual sports" I feel the same. Times have changed but with this change we have seen a growth in sports. The biggest change in the fight for equality has been Title IX. I am proud that we are now in more equal settings but this does not mean we must remove the barriers of female and male sports. As dominating and athletic as females are, we cannot physically allow for someone to get hurt. In class we saw the sports science of a female boxer who hit harder than a male boxer. This was very impressive but at the same not very typical. We cannot expect Brittany Griner to be able to compete against LeBron James in a game of basketball. So physically, it would be unfair to integrate all sports and must be done on an individual basis.
Sincerely yours,
DeleteGreg Gantt
Greg,
DeleteI'm glad you agree on my thoughts about society seeing females and males being the most dominant than ever. The fact that Title IX has given more opportunities to women to compete has closed the gap between men and female separation in sports. When we discuss about the physical difference between males and females, women are definitely more physically built than in the past, which is good for the game in sports like the WNBA. Basketball would be interesting to watch because how would Brittney Griner compete and battle it out in the post with guys like Dwight Howard? He is an extreme case because he is a freak athlete but the proportion of male athletes like LeBron James who is 6'8 260 pounds could definitely cause injuries to females as well as males.
- Jeff Kravetz
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