8/31: First female to play in Div I football

[Undertoad]

This was news yesterday: backup kicker Ashley Martin booted three extra points in three tries, becoming the first female to ever play in Division I football as well as the first female to ever score points in Division I football.

That's not why I picked this image. The reason I picked this image is because of the other players in it.

The idea that women would venture into men's sports has not really been in question since it started probably 15-20 years ago. But as far back as I can remember, every venture has been met with resistance and that resistance has been carefully noted and documented, until the popular notion is that the other male players would never want a female on the team. For whatever reason.

We've advanced to the point where that's no longer true. How about if the rest of the world takes notice of that fact; no controversy here, it's time to move on.

dude...

i guess you didn't hear. they're cheering 'cause she made a deal - "let me play, i let you gangbang me..."

seriously though. i don't think it shows that we've all become that accepting - just that a certain group of football players are accepting that they have a female kicker on the team. i wish i could say that i felt it was uniform across humanity, or even this nation, or even the state or city i live in, but, alas, it's not. there's always going to be "the good ol' boys" elitism.

[elSicomoro]

This has me thinking though...

Generally, things like this make the national news. I remember when Manon Rheaume played in an exhibition game for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the early 90s. Now, I'm not saying that Dan Rather telling the story is the end-all-be-all...but, given that this sort of thing has occurred in other sports and in other situations (e.g. women being accepted into the Citadel and VMI), maybe it's not really a big deal anymore.

[kisrael]

The other thing to keep in mind is you can be sure if the enthusiasm in the photo is real and for her. You'd hope so, but football players sometimes like the publicity.

She's really cute, btw.

[Whit]

Good point. For that matter I wonder if they would be cheering if she had missed some of those kicks?
Oh well, everyone loves a winner. She certainly seems to qualify and yeah, she is cute.

[Slight]

...maybe it's not really a big deal anymore.

sycamore

I think syc is right and I agree with kisrael. The but the problem I have is why aren't girls playing receiver or QB? That is the classic question. Why do [my favorite minority group] play in [sport] but not in [sport in question]? The answer is where is the money and what sports do teenage girls play. I don't remeber the last time I saw a girls highschool football team.

For that matter why do we segregate sports into male/female? I would attribute it to the fact that humans like to be in homogenous groups and reject the one that is different. What we have to change (again) is our idea of what is different and what is common. The lowest common denominator of the equation should be althletes or humans not gender.

However to paraphrase from the Matrix: "here have a cookie. Once you walk out that cellar door, you'll remember that you don't care about all that sports crap anyway."

[Whit]

For that matter why do we segregate sports into male/female? I would attribute it to the fact that humans like to be in homogenous groups and reject the one that is different. What we have to change (again) is our idea of what is different and what is common. The lowest common denominator of the equation should be althletes or humans not gender.

Great question. I think more has to be considered though, especialy in high contact sports. I mean I know that I'd shy away from the idea of slamming a woman to the ground even if it would be appropriate to the sport. Anyone else have a thought on this?

I don't see any reason to seperate by gender in sports that are non-contact at all though. Women tend to have more endurance than men and I could see some real up sets in a few fields.

[jaguar]

WHy do we segregate sport...well.....despite the efforts of various groups - the the tony lidde, widdle fact remains that males and females are built differently. In for instance rugby (similar to US gridiron but wihtout all that pansy protection crap) the team that would win would no doubt be all or 99% guys, big. Chunky. Tostesterone pumped guys. Or chicks on hormone tablets and steroids, which are pretty much the same. Its not that its sexist, its jsut that except for the occasionaly exception, thats how it works best.

[elSicomoro]

I would personally have a problem trying to tackle a woman playing wide receiver...she's a woman, after all.

My question is this: Can a woman's body physically handle football? I'm not saying that women can't be tough...and I'm not saying that women can't be buff. After all, the US women's hockey team are a rough bunch of ladies. But I'd be curious to see how those women's bodies in hockey handle the physical stress as compared to the men.

[NyokoOno]

I went to high school with Ashley Martin.

Coincidentally, she was also the homecoming queen, the prom queen, captain of the soccer team, ran track and was a captain of the basketball team.

And also a really really nice person. I played on the soccer team with her and she always had a kind and encouraging word.

Not to mention she could kick the SHIT out of a ball....

On a side note, East Coweta High School (where we both attended) is in a rural, back-country town in Georgia. 1999, the year Ashley graduated (and my Freshman year) was the last year East Coweta conducted a segregated homecoming court.

That's right, people. A ballot for the white homecoming candidates and a ballot for the black homecoming candidates. Also, there happened to be an Asian participant written onto the ballot.

She was asked to come to the front office to pick to be in either the black or the white court. In the yearbook, she ended up with a picture twice the size of everyone else because they just didn't quite know what to do with an "other" ethnicity.

Raised in Union, NJ I was absolutely flabbergasted with this situation, but I do have an interesting piece of history as a conversation piece for my coffee table: my yearbook.

I'll try to upload and send the two segregated pages...

[lumberjim]

where is she now?

[xoxoxoBruce]

[quote]1999, the year Ashley graduated (and my Freshman year) was the last year East Coweta conducted a segregated homecoming court. Good grief.

Welcome to the Cellar, NyokoOno. I'd love to see those pages.

[SPUCK]

You guys all have it wrong... She is extremely cute... And the guys are all cheering because, as one of the team, she'll be sharing the locker room with them....


You won't be seeing any women in the regular team positions in the NFL because F=ma. Mass is king on a football team and you rarely find fast agile women weighing 220lbs.. I would expect to possibly see one be a kicker though. I'd like to see one too, I think it would be great, and great for the sport.

[CharlieG]

Originally Posted by SPUCK

You won't be seeing any women in the regular team positions in the NFL because F=ma. Mass is king on a football team and you rarely find fast agile women weighing 220lbs.. I would expect to possibly see one be a kicker though. I'd like to see one too, I think it would be great, and great for the sport.

Your probably right, however you always get folks out on the ends of the bell curve. My HS did NOT have varsity football, but when we played pickup, there was this one you woman who always got picked first - she played on the line - bot ways (aka offense and defense) - she was BIG and fast - 6+ ft tall, about 205 lbs, and NO FAT. Not quite NFL sized, but I'd bet she would have had no problems playing college ball

Of course, in the NFL, you have the GUYS who are the outlyers on the bell curve playing. I've been fairly strong, and by say 1980 standards had extremely stong legs (could leg press 1500lbs - not once - could do sets). Today, that doesn't even get you looked at (plus I was always too short).

BTW funny story RE the leg press - the HS gym only had a universal machine - max weight, 750 lbs on the "harder" pedals. One day, we get a new gym teacher. I walk in, and throw my pin at the bottom of the stack (500/750 weight) and get ready to start pushing the 500lbs. New Teacher says "You should really warm up first" - " I replied "I know" - and the OTHER gym teacher smiled and said "watch" - I ripped of a quick set of 10, moved my feet to the 750 pedals, ripped off another quick 10, pulled my left leg off, did another set of 10 (NOW I'm working), switched legs, and did the set for my right leg, and got up to let the next guy work in. New teach said " I get it - 500 lbs WAS your warmup" - I just smiled

[lumberjim]

yeah, i know how that goes. boy, howdy. i remember when i used to do 10 cock pushups to warm up, and then i'd do the stack on the lat machine with my eyelids. the real work started when i would hook the leg curl machine up to my earlobes and knock out 3 sets of 300 lb ear curls. those were the days.

i did, in all honesty, use the entire stack on the neck machine. i've got a bucket neck.