Flagpole - I think you are accurate. The majority don't need to go to politics to resolve their views on this matter.
One thing I have noticed is that when women are questioned over this matter female athletes with an athletic background have a far different answer than those who don't understand sports or never seriously competed in them. This of course is too a generalization but I think largely the case. My mother was the best athlete in my family. Not even close. My father, my brother, and me all went to P5 schools on athletic scholarship. My father was a 232 foot javelin thrower with less than one year's experience with the event (not a disciplined guy or student, unfortunately, and his athletic scholarships were spread over three schools), and he a good D1 hoops player, and he was astonished at my mother's athletic skill. I was always annoyed at his life long mania for golf but I think he caught the bug because my mother taught him to play, and she routinely shot in the 70's. It was a warm memory for him, even though my parents had an ugly divorce. My mother in the late 1950's had no opportunity. She played field hockey, far from her best endeavor, and at her college (Illinois State) it was a club sport, rarely playing other big schools. From her perspective, anything that diminished hard won gains for women in athletics was not a positive. When I relate this to those who desire that biological males compete in women's sports (at least post puberty) the context of the importance of supporting women's sports just doesn't register.
I don't look for conflict, but wonder what will happen when a talented biological male high jumper transitions to the girls event in a state like Washington. The higher center of gravity - particularly in a post puberty male - is such an advantage. How will people react when an athlete jumps 6"11 in a high school girls event? This in a event where a foot shorter is a high quality mark for a high school girl.
Starting to take more of a have pity on these people approach. Think about a guy who can only be competitive vs girls, wow that has to hurt. Yippeeee he beat some girls, think about that.
Old man telling his grandkids about how back in the day he won state vs the girls. How sad is that? Hell even a picture of him hitting the tape ahead of those young ladies who stood no chance vs this studly stud.
Remembr moving and how all the guys did the lifting while the girls pack things and fix lunch. Remember that flat and dad fixing it? Some things are simply a his and a hers, how about mowing the lawn, sure women can do it but that is a he job. The dishs a her.
All the girls want to do is have fun in whatever sport it might be do they really need some guy out there ruining that for them, the guy can't figure out how damn ridiculous he looks acting like a girl, really? Yes it would be.......
Deno.....hey Mike, get over here that's a girls game, dude. snap out of it, sheesh!
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
Flagpole - I think you are accurate. The majority don't need to go to politics to resolve their views on this matter.
One thing I have noticed is that when women are questioned over this matter female athletes with an athletic background have a far different answer than those who don't understand sports or never seriously competed in them. This of course is too a generalization but I think largely the case. My mother was the best athlete in my family. Not even close. My father, my brother, and me all went to P5 schools on athletic scholarship. My father was a 232 foot javelin thrower with less than one year's experience with the event (not a disciplined guy or student, unfortunately, and his athletic scholarships were spread over three schools), and he a good D1 hoops player, and he was astonished at my mother's athletic skill. I was always annoyed at his life long mania for golf but I think he caught the bug because my mother taught him to play, and she routinely shot in the 70's. It was a warm memory for him, even though my parents had an ugly divorce. My mother in the late 1950's had no opportunity. She played field hockey, far from her best endeavor, and at her college (Illinois State) it was a club sport, rarely playing other big schools. From her perspective, anything that diminished hard won gains for women in athletics was not a positive. When I relate this to those who desire that biological males compete in women's sports (at least post puberty) the context of the importance of supporting women's sports just doesn't register.
I don't look for conflict, but wonder what will happen when a talented biological male high jumper transitions to the girls event in a state like Washington. The higher center of gravity - particularly in a post puberty male - is such an advantage. How will people react when an athlete jumps 6"11 in a high school girls event? This in an event where a foot shorter is a high quality mark for a high school girl.
A guy that can clear 6’11” will compete as a one and receive a scholarship. Why would some that good, want to compete against the girls and not receive a scholarship as well. He can wait until at least after college to transition.
That 20 min 5k is clearly going to take a scholarship away from a deserving woman....
20:00 is a good time for a girl. Is it elite, no but it's a very good time for a girl.
It's a horrible time for a boy. back end JV, get another hobby kind of time for a boy.
20:00 will make varsity on most high school teams, displacing another girl from the top 7. Hell, on majority of teams it's good enough to be the fastest runner and MVP.
It will earn you conference, and possibly all state honors depending on the state you are in, displacing a deserving girl from their spot as well.
People get so up in arms about the elite stuff, and rightfully so, but this is the bigger threat, and this will have the bigger impact. Girls running 20:00 5Ks care DEEPLY about their sport, and yes, they probably will run in college, maybe not on full ride but they will want and have a place on the team. They care about accolades, and the things they shoot for. a girl who is 7/8 on their team is passionate about running varsity. She cares.
My teammate was a senior and held the 7th spot all year before she was (fairly) beaten by a freshman teammate, who ran state. She cried all weekend over it. Is she a pro runner today? No, but she cared. It was her passion. It mattered to her.
Fairness matters at every level of the sport, but please don't ignore the varsity levels that are going to get impacted the most. You'd have to have *some talent as a boy to run a 17:00 5K and knock a runner out of Footlocker, but it requires no talent at all for a young man to run 19:00-20:00 in the 5K which is the sweet spot for a lot of truly excellent female runners.
Flagpole - I think you are accurate. The majority don't need to go to politics to resolve their views on this matter.
One thing I have noticed is that when women are questioned over this matter female athletes with an athletic background have a far different answer than those who don't understand sports or never seriously competed in them. This of course is too a generalization but I think largely the case. My mother was the best athlete in my family. Not even close. My father, my brother, and me all went to P5 schools on athletic scholarship. My father was a 232 foot javelin thrower with less than one year's experience with the event (not a disciplined guy or student, unfortunately, and his athletic scholarships were spread over three schools), and he a good D1 hoops player, and he was astonished at my mother's athletic skill. I was always annoyed at his life long mania for golf but I think he caught the bug because my mother taught him to play, and she routinely shot in the 70's. It was a warm memory for him, even though my parents had an ugly divorce. My mother in the late 1950's had no opportunity. She played field hockey, far from her best endeavor, and at her college (Illinois State) it was a club sport, rarely playing other big schools. From her perspective, anything that diminished hard won gains for women in athletics was not a positive. When I relate this to those who desire that biological males compete in women's sports (at least post puberty) the context of the importance of supporting women's sports just doesn't register.
I don't look for conflict, but wonder what will happen when a talented biological male high jumper transitions to the girls event in a state like Washington. The higher center of gravity - particularly in a post puberty male - is such an advantage. How will people react when an athlete jumps 6"11 in a high school girls event? This in an event where a foot shorter is a high quality mark for a high school girl.
A guy that can clear 6’11” will compete as a one and receive a scholarship. Why would some that good, want to compete against the girls and not receive a scholarship as well. He can wait until at least after college to transition.
A guy that isn’t good enough to walk on at a lot of programs (1:55, 4:20, 9:10) can be a national champion as a girl in numerous events. It’s not that much of a stretch.
A guy that can clear 6’11” will compete as a one and receive a scholarship. Why would some that good, want to compete against the girls and not receive a scholarship as well. He can wait until at least after college to transition.
A guy that isn’t good enough to walk on at a lot of programs (1:55, 4:20, 9:10) can be a national champion as a girl in numerous events. It’s not that much of a stretch.
Right, but 6’11”’is equivalent to about 4:05 which is good enough to receive a scholarship for just about anywhere.
A 4:49 1600m transgender runner couldn’t handle the heat and it would be far worse for (1:55, 4:20, 9:10). The negative coverage would probably exceed what Thomas received.