By AP
Tackle him. Tackle HIM! TACKLE HIM!! Run it again!
The sounds on playfields throughout Texas in late summer and fall as football coaches yell and scream at little boys. Tackle football as in full contact tackle football, it hurts football, not soccer.
Soccer is a good, fun and safe sport for boys and girls. Girls can compete with boys in soccer. Feminists love it. This is because soccer is an upper body passive sport. Boys don’t develop nor require upper body muscles in soccer. Soccer is an invasive species not in the tradition of North American sports which require upper body muscle strength and coordination such as baseball, basketball, hockey and football.
I moved to Texas a few years ago from Michigan. Everybody told us about how big football is in Texas yet not one could explain why. As I sat on the sidelines watching my sons practice and play football, I began to make some observations and I would like to share a few of those. I also reached a some unique conclusions as to why football is so big in Texas. I realized the cruelest form of torture for a feminist would to be to force them to watch youth football in Texas seeing little boys grow into tough masculine young men.
Anthropologists believe the rituals of a society affirm and reinforce the values of that society. Football is a ritual which reflects Texan culture and American values.
Football is big in Texas because Texans believe football reflects the values of competition, risk and winning. The pioneer, cowboy and wildcatter spirit is alive and well in Texas. Texans believe these are good things. There is fierce and sometimes insane competition to win in Texas football culture. I never saw high school coach scandals in Michigan involving recruiting violations, falsifying grades for eligibility and pay for play. Football culture competition extends beyond the game as school bands and cheerleading in Texas is fiercely competitive. This competitive spirit is reflected in the business climate. There are few unions in Texas because it limits competition in the job market. Is it any wonder Texas at one point produced over half of the new jobs in the perpetual recession compared to the other forty-nine states? There is so much construction and economic expansion in Texas I was amazed to see heavy construction television commercial spots selling backhoes and bulldozers during the recent bowl games.
Texas youth football is a cultural shock for many little boys, even those in Texas. Most boys today have been taught to be good girls from women teachers in day care and public schools. Most boys only know women teachers and are surprised men can teach except adult men tend to shout at them. Feminists teachers discourage fierce competition preferring a nurturing, gentle, everybody wins, avoid risk, we’re all the same attitude. Little boys quickly learn football is competitive zero sum game and the other boy across the line is in no mood to be nurturing. Your job is to be mean and tough to beat the other guy. It’s not personal, it’s just a competitive game. To the horror of feminists, there are no support groups for boys who fumble the football.
There is physical risk in playing tackle football. Feminists hate risk and football because it reeks of masculinity. They will eventually destroy football on the coasts applying the safety card. The safety card is an easy sell to an ever increasing effeminate population. Millennium parents have passively accepted restrictions forbidding playing on terrifying monkey bars, horrific games of tag, dangerous football and unfair dodge ball in public schools in the interest of safety. Feminist leaders will make decisions on risk, not parents or individuals. They will enforce their decisions through governmental regulations and it’s evil twin, liability ligation. Expect many schools to be defendants in future lawsuits regarding any football injury however minor. They will drive insurance rates up trying to make the cost of a football program financially prohibitive for schools and private leagues.
Two years ago I was watching a game between the University of Michigan and Western Michigan when a thunderstorm broke out. There was severe lightning so the feminized officials at the University Michigan cancelled the game. There was identical weather at South Bend, but Notre Dame and South Florida finished their game. For 132 years, Michigan never cancelled a football game until 2011. The fans sitting in the Big House are some of the most intelligent people in the world who could have made their own decision to endure the weather conditions. Using the safety argument, feminists cancelled the game rationalizing they could be sued if someone were injured by lighting. Safety first. Besides, men have such silly football traditions such as playing in the rain and mud. (Bo Schembechler must be spinning in his grave.)
Football is big in Texas because Texans believe developing character and masculinity in boys. The future for boys is an important value in Texans. Texans want to leave a better world for their sons and grandsons. In all the years I watched youth football in Texas, I never a saw single girl play the game. I’m sure some do but only at the younger levels. Despite all the wonders of Title IX, to the best of my knowledge, there are no women playing at football at Texas, Baylor or Texas A&M much less in the National Football League.
Unlike most states, Texans form many private leagues and the public schools offer young boys the opportunity to play tackle football beginning in junior high school. In the other states, most public schools only offer football programs at the high school level. As a result, Texas boys have greater opportunities to play tackle football compared to other states. Boys in Texas are immersed in football culture, in their schools, their families and on television. In other states, families gather at weddings and funerals. In Texas, families gather at football games. When I moved here from the North, I couldn’t believe junior high schools were playing under the lights during school nights. Nor could I believe the large number of private grade school youth football leagues. Many boys in Texas begin playing organized football in Kindergarten. On my son’s fourth grade team, out of thirty players, only one may eventually make it to a high school football team, if’s he lucky because of the intense competition.
Football is a rough sport and there is always the risk of injury. The risk of injury is less so at the youth level compared to junior high or high school ball. There is risk so what is the benefit? At the youth level it is the development of masculine character that can last a lifetime. It was a bonding experience for fathers and sons For the boys the boys on our team who had single mothers, youth football may have been their most important exposure to masculine values. Even one season of tackle football for a ten year old can make a difference in their life.
When I saw boys putting on pads for the first time they were afraid and extremely reluctant to block or tackle anyone. Again it’s culture shock. Little boys today have been taught all their young lives to be good girls, sit still, be quiet, be passive and docile. Don’t take a risk, you might get hurt. You’re not allowed to hit anyone. Some boys are taught that any form of masculine aggression is pure evil.
The head coach of my son when he was in the fourth grade had experience coaching high school football but it was his first time with elementary school boys and his language was a little salty. He was shocked at their lack of aggression and hitting during various blood sport drills. At the end of practice, he screamed at the boys, “You guys hit like a bunch of pussies!” The boys looked around at each other in confusion and befuddlement. I’m not sure if they knew exactly what a pussy was, but whatever it was, it was clear they sure as hell didn’t want to be one. The next practice pads were popping. Some of the Millennium parents were horrified at his language and he apologized but did get his point across.
Football teaches boys controlled aggression and risk taking. To paraphrase George Orwell, “Good people sleep at night because rough men stand ready to do violent acts on their behalf and defend their rights.” Controlled aggression to someday protect their families, homes, state and country. Texas typically provides the greatest number of military recruits to defend the United States. The Texas population has a high gun ownership percentage. One of the state’s finest university, Texas A&M, was founded as a military institution. When people think of rough cowboys, they think of Texas. These boys may become policemen, firemen, or serve their country in the armed services. The world is always a dangerous place.
Football is the ultimate and most complicated, exciting team sport requiring absolute coordination, unison and synchronization of every player on the team at the exact same time. As I observed my son’s fourth grade team practice, I was amazed at their focused team discipline as they lined up and fired off on snap counts. I speculated if they could only show this much concentration and enthusiasm in school they would all become Rhodes Scholars. It’s a shame women teachers don’t know how to inspire and motivate little boys like the male volunteer coaches.
Football is big in Texas because Texans have a disposition for violence. There is an urban legend in the late 1930’s the German Nazis sent observers to Texas to analyze American culture. They attended a Rodeo. Then they witnessed a football game between Texas and Texas A&M. Horrified, they cabled to Berlin that if this is what these people do for recreation, these are the last people in the world we want to fight a future war against. They sent a famous cable, “Don’t mess with Texas.”
It was my sons who led me to understand why football is big in Texas.
My sons were studying the Inca culture and they were amazed. Pizarro, with army of only two hundred men, conquered the Inca Empire, which had a population of six million people. Cortes, with an army of six hundred men, conquered the Aztec Empire of five million people. Two armies of less than a thousand men conquered eleven million people! My sons asked, “how could this be possible?” Keep in mind a typical Texas boy will kill about two hundred thousand bad guys and/or zombies each year while playing violent video games.
Historians teach that these civilizations had never seen horses, guns or armor. They were intimidated by European technology. In other words, these civilizations surrendered because they were afraid of horses and boom-boom. I then realized historians don’t understand Texas football. I explained to my sons the answer to their question was in San Antonio.
Prior to the sixteenth century, people were oppressed and subjugated to tyrannical royal rule under the belief kings and emperors derived their authority from “divine powers.” As added insurance, weapons to fight for any possible freedom were severely restricted. Royal rulers could be quickly interchanged, be it Spanish, English, French, Inca or Aztec. From this cultural perspective, the Spanish were not in any way superior to the Inca or Aztec. If Pizarro and Cortes switched places with the local emperors in Europe, the people in Europe would also fall into quick submission. People were taught to obey royal authority.
In contrast, at San Antonio in 1835, two hundred fifty very rough, armed and aggressive Texans fought a heavily armed Mexican Army of five thousand soldiers. The Texans at the Alamo, unlike the cultures of the sixteenth century, believed human rights and freedom were derived directly from God to an individual. They brought to Texas the spirit and ideas of the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Texans refused to surrender. The competitive Texans at the Alamo believed freedom was worth fighting and dying for.
The main reason football is big in Texas is because football represents a subconscious love of freedom. The spirit of the Alamo and the fight for Texan independence is ingrained into the cultural consciousness of little boys all over Texas, who in turn will teach their sons about football. There is a certain attitude among Texans when it comes to individual liberty and human rights I’ve never observed anywhere else in the United States.
Honestly, I never heard a youth Texas football coach talk about the Alamo. I did hear them teach values of the Alamo such as hard work, honor, persistence, teamwork and being unafraid to play the game while taking risks. I heard them tell little boys to be aggressive and tough. I heard them tell little boys who felt pain to suck it up and get out there and play over the pain. I heard them yell at little boys when they made a mistake, but also tell them it was okay and to learn from it. I heard them scream at little boys to never give up on a play until the whistle blows and never quit or surrender their spirit no matter what the score of the game may be. Little boys who play youth football in Texas grow up to be young men are aren’t afraid of confrontation. They grow up to be men who aren’t afraid to defend freedom. Freedom is a big deal in Texas. So is football.
{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
I live north of the 49th parallel, but I read about Texans telling ex- California and other lib states, to leave those attitudes at the border. I see the Demoncrats are talking about turning Texas purple, ie giving away other peoples money to get elected. I met many Texans who were up here hunting and they are not libs and it would be a shame if Texas fell.
They are trying to ruin New Hampshire, but the free state project seems to be “ruining” their plans.
“Feminists hate risk and football because it reeks of masculinity.”
Everything you say is true … but you are missing the big picture. By a mile.
The beating heart of this nation is innovation. It has always been the foundation of our economy, our political influence, our military might, and our growth.
I don’t know who you are or where you are, but I know that everything you see around you was invented in the United States. Try to think of anything, any product, any idea, any theory, and scientific breakthrough that did NOT come from the US or Europe. There are some. Very few.
Here is the key: Innovation is risk. There is no other way to say it. Innovation means doing something that has never been done before, to find out what happens. It takes courage to put your life’s savings into a new idea, product, whatever … and maybe have it fail or flop or simply not work.
In America today, Risk is (1) no longer appreciated culturally, (2) heavy discouraged by litigation, (3) even more heavily discouraged by unprecedented regulation and red tape and, (4) a road of heartbreak because even if you are successful, the little minded mediocre nobodies of this world will take everything from you.
As an example, a friend of mine started a company to produce precision six circle robots. Necessarily, his biggest customer is government. But, it is now very difficult to sell anything to government today, unless you are female. To spend money on a non-female owned business, government purchasing departments have to justify why they did not buy from a female owned business. So, my friend passed the title of his company to his new wife. The first thing she did is re-name the company … after her first name. He says he “trusts her”, but I know exactly where this is going to end. He is now the head of product development, in the company that he started, the company that he bet EVERYTHING on, the company that (I predict) he is going to be fired from in ~5 years, after a nasty family court battle.
Whny would anyone with courage want to invest their money, time, ideas, and soul in this country? Tell me, please. Why? Why not move to China, where there is no political freedom, but there is operational freedom instead?
Innovation has slowed to a crawl in this country. You can read an Economist article about it (this weeks edition). Nobody wants to talk about why. But let me just ask the people on this board: If YOU had a wonderful idea, would you want to develop it in America?
“This competitive spirit is reflected in the business climate. There are few unions in Texas because it limits competition in the job market. Is it any wonder Texas at one point produced over half of the new jobs in the perpetual recession compared to the other forty-nine states? There is so much construction and economic expansion in Texas I was amazed to see heavy construction television commercial spots selling backhoes and bulldozers during the recent bowl games.”
I’m impressed by Texas’ business climate. I live in upstate New York (bumper stickers call it the “Vampire State”), and the U. S. Supreme Court would have to order New York state to adopt a right-to-work law for New York to have one. New York’s other state nickname might as well be “Organized Labor’s Bitch.”
oo-rah
The writer asserts that ‘Girls can compete with boys in soccer’. This would surely come as a great surprise to those millions who every Saturday afternoon in winter and spring, attend, what I call football (and you call soccer) matches up and down the country between teams with names like Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. No woman has ever been known to compete in any of these matches. I have never even seen a woman playing Soccer – other than on Youtube. Soccer is in fact a very physical game as anyone competing against a good centre-half for possession of a ball either in the air or on the ground can attest – not to mention all the tumbling and sliding and the jumping for balls from a corner-kick – it can feel nore like a scrum. Gridiron may have more tackling, but in Soccer you need the stamina of a sprinter as you will run more or less non-stop for ninety minutes or longer, and then still require ball skills, which, I, to my surprise, discovered (when in Chicago) are not innate to human beings. The idea that Soccer is a game at which women can compete on an even playing field with men is Utopian fantasy. A top girls soccer side bears as much resemblance to a top mens side as a Venus Williams bears to Andy Murray (insert name of your own favoured male tennis player) – and it is an insult to the David Beckhams of this world to pretend otherwise.
As America has so far failed to adopt the ‘Beautiful game’ the writer is to be excused his lapse.
While I disagree with some of your views, most notably on unions, you’re right about football as a rite of passage and means of training youths in the masculine virtues.
“Girls can compete with boys in soccer. Feminists love it. This is because soccer is an upper body passive sport.”
No they can’t. If u play it seriously, only some of the most talented girls can compete, but that is really rare. And older boys become, girls have no chance to compete with boys, even those really talented girls can’t compete.
And i mean if you play soccer in serious level, not some nonsense league.
“Girls can compete with boys in soccer.”
The Under 17 Germany male team beat the Adult Women World Champion Germany team 3-0 some years ago. So no, girls generally can not compete with boys in soccer.
And remember that little girl who was playing with boys in football and beating them some weeks ago, she even get in the Wheaties box. Girls and boys at a very young age are pretty much the same phisically, probably the girls even have some advantage. But with puberty everything change. Btw, soccer probably need much more skills and “tackle football”, since it’s not natural for the human body to be so skilled with the feet, while it’s alot more easier to run catch a ball with the hands and grab each other as in “tackle football”.
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/8660812/samantha-gordon-9-year-old-female-football-star-utah-makes-wheaties-box
He didn’t say that women can compete with men in soccer, he said girls can compete with boys. Young children, developing their understanding of their abilities. Young girls CAN compete fairly well with young boys in soccer, and they do, which bolsters their “confidence” in their ability to continue to compete. By the end of grade school though, when boys’ and girls’ teams separate into different leagues, many girls have lost interest and dropped out – AFTER they have “learned” that they are every bit as good as boys.
@ domestic discipline democrat
Unions DO NOT help the economies of the jurisdictions in which they are located, especially not the private sector. The private sector should always be at least twice, and probably three or more times larger than the public sector.
Even right-to-work laws do not cover the public sector, and in most states (right-to-work and forced-union) public sector unions are borderline intractable.
If New York’s labor unions on steroids are as beneficial to its economy as you claim, New York’s economy would be one of the nation’s strongest and Texas’ economy would be in dire straits.
The mentality in Texas is that “ANY job is better than NO job.” The mentality in New York is “we only want the good jobs.” In the REAL world, success can only exist in conjunction with failure, and New York cannot cordon itself off from economic failure, collective or individual. Unfortunately, almost no elected official in New York (Republicans included, sad to say) seems to realize this.
Everything you say about football applies three times as much to rugby and it’s idiot cousins league and Australian Rules. Note there are no pads in this game.
http://youtu.be/I6RoaCIzJq4
Suzy McCarley:
Im sorry to burst your bubble, but even girls can’t compete with boys. If we are talking about serious level. Of course there is some rare girls who have talent and can compete up to the point when boys become man.
But thats all. And i mean if u play it seriously, not some nonsense level, where boys are overweight etc.
As a child (by which I mean when aged between the ages of seven and fourteen) I was soccer mad. Played it every spare second, that is to say playing soccer (with a tennis ball) at every class break. Never once, though, were we joined in our play by a girl. What did they do, during breaks? No idea, and frankly didn’t care, but I am certain they were not playing soccer. Why would that be, if girls are just as likely to be gifted as boys at soccer at that age? – as I recall they preferred jumping off the wall to show us their panties! Again, had a girl joined in, then (from my recollection of childhood) she would surely have quickly suffered injury that us boys did not suffer – neither fast enough, big enough, nor skilled enough – simply pushed over in the melee.
Yet the Texans are soon to be a minority – conquered with nary a shot by the Mexicans. It doesn’t matter how tough you are if you aren’t also smart. Texans and other White Americans aren’t smart enough to see that their Nation has been taken from them – all their virtue, bravery, toughness, and loyalty are just a vehicle for others to use. As Confucius said, “The superior Man is not an instrument”. An instrument or a tool is not much of a man. Neither are “fans”. All the human energy that has gone into Pro Sports could have been used to keep us informed and Free. But it was wasted by guys who wanted to be tough not smart. And of course, they weren’t mentally tough at all. And physically, they were soon glued to the couch. Team sports do that. European weenies are in better shape with their hiking, biking, and shopping on foot.
Some Texas Fun Facts:
It’s a very large and diverse state. The east, west, north, south and central parts have differing cultures and values. East Texas is very old south Dixie, while west Texas is more southwest culture.
While it’s mostly a Red State, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas are quite Blue. As the hispanic population grows there the state becomes more Purple each day. It’s a target state for Democrats to turn back to Blue via demographic shifts.
Although there is no state income tax in Texas, property taxes more than make up for the difference. The reason Texas draws so much business is because corporations are given 10 year moratoriums on property taxes of any kind. Guess who has to make up the difference. The fine citizens of that appraisal district or county. The property tax system is the dirty little secret you won’t hear Texans outside of Texas talk about much. It’s corrupt as Hell…because value is “subjective” based on who ya’all know or how good your lawyers are.
Texans don’t work that hard until or unless they absolutely have to and then everything is a mad dash to get ‘er done. They love nothing more than sitting around and jawing about this or that, small town gossip and such. They have little sense of urgency.
From June to September the heat in Texas is positively oppressive. You live in air conditioning from your house to your car to work to the mall and back again. Forget outdoor activities in the summer. The hot weather contributes to their general “unrushed” work ethic.
The people are friendly, hospitable and layed-back (except Dallas where they’re very competitive and uptight). Politics is very heavy there in all matters of life and work. They can be the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, while passive-aggressive behavior is typical. Being “connected” is POWER in the lone star state. Just the perception that you’re connected is power. The “in crowd” knows the rules of the game. The “out crowd” asks the wrong questions and has ethics. It’s no myth that some good ol’ boy cattle ranchers made billions in oil and forms the basis for Texas today in many areas.
The women of Texas LIKE being women. They like behaving and dressing like women and they like men – which is refreshing. You’ll rarely encounter female hostility if you’re a man in Texas – like you would in Seattle or Denver.
As far as football, it will probably be banished nationally within 20 to 30 years because it’s too dangerous and for the safety of our children.
Young girls CAN compete fairly well with young boys in soccer, and they do, which bolsters their “confidence” in their ability to continue to compete.
Girls soccer is a BIG deal in Texas. If Friday night lights is big for football, Saturday mornings rule for girls soccer there. There are no mixed soccer leagues in Texas. Soccer is considered a girl’s sport. Every girls soccer team has one or two stand-out players that could probably compete with boys of equal age without making a spectacle of themselves.
In Texas though, if you’re a big fast athletic boy, you play football.
They don’t give you a choice.
*not football related but it is sports related*
In the movie and book series, “Harry Potter”, the most popular game in the magical world is Quidditch. It’s a game played on flying broomsticks. Since females are equal to males in this set up there is no such thing as a boys team and girls team. All teams are co-Ed.
In fact come to think of it, there is no mention of any sport where a man would have a natural superiority.
Hmmm
Do I smell a little bit of political correctness here?
As for the muggle world, men are naturaly superior to women in so many different sports it would be easier to make a list of what sports in which men are NOT superior to women. The only thing I can think of is synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
AP said:
@AP:
Damned straight. This is some quote GOLD, and it’s good to see boys enjoying an environment where masculinity means something.
AntZ said:
@AntZ:
Losing your dream and your life’s work to an ex-wife … ouch! But I agree he’s put his back against the wall. If she’s ruthless enough (have you met an ex-wife who wasn’t) he won’t even be able to start a competing business and poach “her” customers either. He’ll be dead in the water.
I think one good reason why even girls can’t compete with boys is because boys are training like crazy when they get something in their heads.
I remember when i played soccer, i was training in pouring rain hours, trying to get better. That kind of passion i rarely saw with girls, but of course some girls have that same passion, but it’s rare.
Boys and girls can be pretty much the same phisically, but many girls don’t have that passion that boys have.
Ah. Friday Night Lights begins to make sense now. This bastion of masculinity, Texas Football, must be ridiculed and made to look like some evil, compulsory torture by the Hollywood machine, as much as possible, with our sensitive modern intellectual male resisting the ancien regime from within!
I don’t necessarily mind such films, but it is a wearying formula to see over and over again.
The only thing I can think of is synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
Men’s synchronized swimming will not be permitted by the Olympic Commitee. They formally made a decision on it a few years ago. There are some incredible Men’s synchronized swimming teams, that would put the women to shame.
I so empathise with Sampza – who’s from Finland – training in the pouring rain, trying to get better; myself kicking a ball for hours against the wall of my parents house – like most boys – my aim was to grow up and play for the local team (in my case West Ham United, “The Hammers”) and England – just like Michael Caine in that dreadful movie ‘Escape to Victory’. Breaks my heart I never did. I don’t suppose Sampza was ultimately any more successful than I was: finally hung up my boots at the age of thirty-four – but at least I have played in the F.A. Cup albeit in preliminary rounds (reserved for the amateur teams).
The thing is: no one was either forcing or indeed encouraging me, nor facilitating it (save for the fact that the school ran a team). Boys are largely self-starters and do not need empowerment: females are being taught to mistake their lack of get-up-and-go in male activities for deliberate oppression by men. This is a very bad thing, if for no other reason than that it encourages women to not merely undervalue men, but actively dislike them, when what they really are disliking are their own natural limitations.
Even growing up in Kansas, the town I lived in didn’t allow tackle football until freshman year of of H.S. Of course the towns that had youth football and started very early would whip our ass. To me it always seemed more dangerous that we were allowed to play against teams that had been in pads much longer than we had, than starting tackle football at an early age.
Of course my town finally got it’s shit together, started a youth football program and the largest school has now won a shit load of state titles which has also been kind of a rallying point for the town. Not to mention the smaller schools are very competitive also. You notice the boys, while some being pretty cocky, have a lot more confidence and a feeling of togetherness than me or classmates did at their age.
Of course Obama and his fellow liberals will try to ban youth football, then college, and eventually PRO. And since libs are so successful at destroying this country and accomplishing pretty much anything they set their mind to, I surely would not bet against them.
“When I saw boys putting on pads for the first time they were afraid and extremely reluctant to block or tackle anyone. Again it’s culture shock. Little boys today have been taught all their young lives to be good girls, sit still, be quiet, be passive and docile. Don’t take a risk, you might get hurt. You’re not allowed to hit anyone. Some boys are taught that any form of masculine aggression is pure evil.”
I don’t think that is the cause (though it could be a contributor). In some countries I’ve visited, Japan, Germany, Iran, et al, even decades ago, the boys would have been just as apprehensive about tackling another boy, as those cultures didn’t inculcate their young with such a ridiculous machismo like they do here in the States. So I’m not sure not having a natural desire to tackle another boy is anything to be really worried about. I’d worry more about a general lack of initiative.
Football is in trouble, and it will be the fault of the gung-ho masculinists if it goes under.
In the 1970′s it was clear that football techniques involving initial contact with another player using the helmet (ie, spearing) were causing spinal injuries resulting in paralysis. Drastic rule changes were made, prohibiting these techniques, along with other head-down techniques, and the incidence of cervical trauma was dramatically reduced.
In the present era, if good quality medical studies show that football players have a significantly higher incidence of (or earlier onset of) dementia, and the cause is determined to be repeated head trauma, football enthusiasts will have to accept drastic rule changes to make it safer, or the above posters are right, our feminized education system will end football in schools.
Maybe rightly. Hear me out.
One of the effects that women have had in our culture is that they have forced men into taking positions that emphasize increased violence and a lack of empathy for others in order to differentiate themselves from women. Do you think that the masculine spirit in sports is that winning is everything, and no other values apply? Do you think it is right to teach a 12 year-old boy a tackling technique that could permanently injure another player or himself? I don’t think so.
I’m 60 myself, and I can remember tough men from an earlier time. My father and his brother played football at a high school that was so small, all the boys had to play or else no football team was possible. Winning was important, so I was told, but sportsmanlike, honorable conduct was more important. In recent years, my father was shocked by the increasing levels of violence in sports like football and hockey, and the unsportsmanlike attitude that makes it possible.
I suppose some here would call my dad and my uncle pansies for being a bit more caring and a whole lot less violently competitive. On the other hand, my dad fought in the Pacific for four years of his life in WWII and my uncle landed in France on D-Day and made it all the way to Berlin. So maybe they had some positive masculine attributes after all. And I’m sure they learned some measure of grit and determination in high school football.
Anyway… terrific, thought-provoking article. The sooner we men can take the playgrounds back for our sons (and grandsons), letting boys be boys, the better off our society will be.
Opus:
I didn’t got career in football, but i did give it my best shot. I did play youth team that was one division below premier finnish league.
Here in Finland all men have to go to the army and i stopped playing when i joined army.
forget soccer play rugby.
>>Cortes, with an army of six hundred men, conquered the Aztec Empire of five million people.
Bravo Sierra! Not a true statement. My wife is apparently descended from both Moctezuma I and Cortes, I am working on the genealogy.
The Aztecs were cruel masters, and Cortes had thousands of rebel Indians fighting on his side in all battles. Cortes’ horses with armor functioned almost like tanks, and made a big difference in battle.
But, without the very large number of supporting rebellious Indians, Cortes would have been swallowed in a few days.
In Cornwall, it’s all rugby and sailing with a bit of surfing, cricket and soccer thrown in.
Gig racing (a sport that originated in Cornwall) is increasingly popular and derives from the high speed rowing gigs that were used as pilot and life boats (not to mention outrunning the Customs boats during smuggling). Watching a gig race in a heavy swell would probably cause Hanna Rosin to infarct on the spot. Women do participate but the contrast is….umm….notable.
“The competitive Texans at the Alamo believed freedom was worth fighting and dying for. ” Yeah, and less than 30 years later, they believed that slavery was worth dying for.
I live in Texas. Highest property taxes in the country. 8.25% sales tax. The real kicker is the FEES. They fee you to death here. There’s a fee attached to everything. They brag about low taxes… What bullsh-t. Anytime the government takes money from you, it’s a tax. It doesn’t matter what you call it.
Texas was heavily in debt from the so-called “Texas Revolution”. When Texas was annexed, the U.S. absorbed that debt. The American taxpayers paid for Texas’ revolution.
Texas ethics: Enron.
Wow, there’s a fine example of masculinity. Lie to everybody. Then, cash out before things get too dicey. How noble.
“Keep in mind a typical Texas boy will kill about two hundred thousand bad guys and/or zombies each year while playing violent video games.”
Nothing unique about that. Same as any typical American boy, living in any other state.
“Men’s synchronized swimming will not be permitted by the Olympic Commitee. They formally made a decision on it a few years ago.”
Really! So as not to show up the princesses? Heh….I had no idea they had made that decision. Men’s synchro is athletic and powerful, it’s a surprise the first time you see it, after being used to all the make-up and spangles of the women’s teams.
Oh for an edit button: the last word in my above message at 14.20 should surely have been inclination [female inclination] rather than limitation – I had no intention of trying to merely rubbish the female sex, which is what I seem to have done. Of course, I never thought about it at the time – girls were girls – and children accept whatever happens as natural. Of course had a girl wanted (even with ability) to play soccer with us, we would have disliked it; as with the Army, where placing women amongst soldiers is a recipe for disaster, so would have been introducing a woman into a soccer team – I recall now, there was a rather enjoyable movie – a Scottish film – on that very subject from a few years back, by name of Gregory’s Girl – enjoyable but implausible – as of course is ‘Bend it like Beckham’. We’d like to believe that females really do have the skills of a Beckham, but history has so far failed to recall a single instance of it. Such films should, rather than being seen as proto-feminist, be seen as male fantasies of equality, but such fantasies can only increase female rage, for women must instinctively know they are unrealistic and thus in their pedestalisation end up revealing the yawning gulf in male and female abilities. The girls never wanted to play soccer, and I never heard any suggestion that they were being deprived. It is I suspect merely adult liberals who are projecting their own fantasies of equality – a rage against God or Darwin – on to children as to what children ought to want to do, that leads to girl’s soccer. Perhaps this is even worse in Texas, where after a few years the boys graduate to gridiron: it is noticable that in the lands where almost every boy plays soccer, female soccer barely exists: it is not a game for sissies, and balances fairly equally physical prowess with ball skills. What it seems to lack is intellectual skills, as witness that old Monty Python sketch about the ace goal-scorer Jimmy Buzzard: ‘Good Evening Brian, I hit the ball first time and there it was in the back of the net – I’m opening a boutique’.
Males and females have always largely self-segregated, and things tend to work better that way. For a few short years at the end of adolescence they come together, in sexual congress to make the next generation, but before and indeed after that tend to be more at ease with their own sex. Were that not the case, we would hardly have learned tracts on the net from PUAs as to how to ingratiate yourself into a woman’s bed. Some men seem to have success, and one is envious, but looked at objectively when KrauserPUA in his yearly statistics, reveals that out of 250 approaches he scored just seventeen times, a strike rate of just over 6% one has to doubt the plausibility of Game and wonder whether it is really worth the effort. He obviously feels it is, and that is fine, but if Game was all it is sometimes cracked up to be, a strike rate way over 50% would be expected – and any woman even of average looks would surely have no difficulty scoring not just 17 times in a year but 170 times, and with little effort. Look at the trouble women tend to cause on the blogs such as this one, with rare and honourable exceptions.
The Swedish women’s national team coach had the guts to let her team play a team of 15 and 16 year old boys. The ladies lost 3-0 in a 2*30 minutes match. The boys even took one boy out in half time, and the ladies did not notice any difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ym4Dwmy80g
Which reminds me of when I was a young pupil-Barrister. I would wander round the courts with my Pupil-Master. We got on just fine spending all day together, and frequently ending it in one of London’s clubs, like The Athenaeum or the RAC – where he would buy me dinner – before parting for the night. Then he acquired a second pupil – a girl – and instantly there was trouble, he losing his equabilty. Then she was gone, (to reappear a week later following a change to another Barrister), yet as soon as she went, he was back to his old self, ‘It’s better this way Opus, don’t you think?’ he said. ‘I quite agree Pupil Master’, I replied. The funny thing was, this guy, my pupil-master, could, when he wanted to, charm the proverbial birds out of the trees – women purred.
Thanks for the background info on texas, Keyster! A particularly informative comment, supplementing a very informative and thought-provoking article.
Antz wrote:
“I don’t know who you are or where you are, but I know that everything you see around you was invented in the United States. ”
No.
I see trains, cars, TVs, computers, jet engines, tarmacced roads, rockets, democracy, freedoms laid down in law, police forces, beer,…..to name but a few. None of which were invented in the US.
The industrial revolution started in Britain, which gave us what we have today. It kick started the chain of innovation that has continued today. The Greeks did the whole democracy thing well before any of us.
Scotland has more than its fair share of inventors.
Many people attribute the Germans to developing the modern rocket, but it was an Englishman who came up with the know how.
Bascially, when it comes to the invention of the modern world, the colonies have a lot of catching up to do.
Small Sweden also can claim a lot of important inventions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_inventions
@Lavazza
That is an impressive list of Swedish inventions; I count no less than forty seven names, and yet not one of those Swedish Inventors is female. How can this be? Am I really to suppose that even now Swedish men are oppressing Swedish women? – keeping them out of the labs even though their illegitinate children are in state-paid for Day Care. Is there no end to the lengths The Patriachy will go to keep women down, because if this is true of The Feminist Republic of Sweden , what must it be like elsewhere.
As someone who has as yet to invent anything, I too am clearly also being oppressed.
* Soccer is a good, fun and safe sport for boys and girls. Girls can compete with boys in soccer. Feminists love it. This is because soccer is an upper body passive sport. Boys don’t develop nor require upper body muscles in soccer.
You’ve obviously never watched “Soccer” played in the rest of the world. This is so spectacularly wrong. If you’ve never seen the shoulder charge tackles and general mayhem in a penalty area then you aren’t a in position to make a statement like that.
In the UK for instance Football (or Soccer) is most definitely a male game – and exactly zero women have broken through in any meaningful way. For a couple of reasons – they have neither the strength nor the skill to do so.
“I don’t think that is the cause (though it could be a contributor). In some countries I’ve visited, Japan, Germany, Iran, et al, even decades ago, the boys would have been just as apprehensive about tackling another boy, as those cultures didn’t inculcate their young with such a ridiculous machismo like they do here in the States. So I’m not sure not having a natural desire to tackle another boy is anything to be really worried about. I’d worry more about a general lack of initiative.”
Machismo is a response to the growing female power. As society makes it easier for women, men feel the need to show their masculinity in extreme ways.
Playing HS football didn’t teach me shit. Looking back it was a big waste of time.
Instead of practicing 3 hours a day, I wish I would have done or thought something original. I wasted time, energy, and passion on something fake. So did my family and friends. There was always some bull shit obligation to the team. Practices, weight training, football camps, whatever…
We were little attention whores reacting to scraps of praise from the coaches and community. It was a giant exercise in conformity.
HS football makes you look and feel alpha but it is pretend. It is a controlled environment. In truth some fucker is always force feeding you blue pills.
(Incidentally coaches are generally betas who work out. A red pill coach, who actually taught boys to be men, would be run out of town.)
Slacker,
Ahhhh, yes, the truth about al lthat bullshit, at LAST.
I’m sorry you got suckered into that bullshit, my dad knew all about it and kept me from it and I am grateful to him for that.
@Lavazza
Indeed. Sweden also does well in music.
UK inventions also include:
World Wide Web, iMac, aluminum and titanium PowerBook G4, MacBook, unibody MacBook Pro, iPod and iPhone, wind-up radios, bagless vacuum cleaner, cats eyes, vertical take and land aircraft….
And a few more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_inventions_and_discoveries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_inventions_and_discoveries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_inventions_and_discoveries
But still incomplete lists.