Well the NPF season has been over for a week and I'm still sad that it's over lol! In fact, I spent yesterday evening watching the game that Danielle Lawrie pitched during the Title 9 celebration. It was without a doubt my favorite game of the season! Danielle was completely dominate! I love to watch her pitch when she is in that zone. She was completely in the zone but completely relaxed! She was all smiles and having such a good time! All the Pride girls were! I believe that was the last game this season that Danielle, Jenn, and Ashley all got the start at the same time! I also loved that game because Niki got her first and only RBI of the season! The smile on her face was priceless! The grand slam that Jamee Juarez hit was amazing as well! The whole game was just great! There weren't alot of the big names in this game but the lesser known ladies sure put on a show of their own!
I think these type of games are the ones you want to take all in and remember because all though some of the core ladies will stay, there will be others who won't. The team changes just a little bit every season and I don't think next season will be any different. This team was special. They were not only incredible group of talented women but there was a great chemistry between them all! It was fun to watch! But anyway bottom line is I'm glad that ESPN3 still has that game on there for me to watch! I've watched it 3 times now and enjoyed it every time!
I know the people around me don't understand my love and passion for softball. I know it annoys them and they hope it's just a passing thing and that eventually it'll go away, same thing with soccer. I don't know that I even fully understand it honestly. I've never been an athletic person. I'm slow, ungraceful, and just not an athlete. I accepted that along time ago. I wanted to be as a kid though! I really really did! But these women are extremely gifted athletes and they should be able to play the sport they love! So sorry to disappoint but this isn't going to just disappear! I love softball and I love the women who play the game and the people who coach it! I don't need your approval or for you to understand!! You can say what you want and you can have an attitude about it all you want but I am who I am and I have a love and passion for what I have a love and passion for! You can either deal with it and accept it or leave and don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you lol!
While I'm on my soap box of things that annoy me, I have one more! I personally think part of the reason women's sports struggle so much in this society is because women are viewed in such a sexual way. Most women don't understand the importance of women's sports I don't think. Most men only watch women's sports because they like to look at them! I'll use softball as an example because I know it best. Don't get me wrong here, I'm just a little bit shorter then Jenn Salling(about an inch I think) and I would love to have her body and look like her! I've noticed that she is gorgeous and sexy(how could you miss it? lol)! But that isn't the main reason I like Jenn. Jenn is an incredible athlete! She is without a doubt one of the best SS in the world! She is an incredible leader and teammate! She is passionate about softball and about her team! Those are the things that Jenn wants you to remember about her and that is what is missing! Sometimes I feel like these athletes are viewed as models putting on a show and not athletes, especially athletes like Jenn, Danielle, Caitlin Lowe as well as Caitlin Lever, Taryne Mowatt, and several others. Until women are viewed as something more than a set of boobs and a butt, women's sports will continue to struggle. I think this also plays into alot of athletes hiding their sexuality and I think that's wrong. I think they should be able to say I am Jane Doe, I am an Olympian, a national champion, I am an All-American, I broke these records, I graduated from college because of the sport I play, I am a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, an aunt, a friend, and I am gay and I am proud of every one of those things! I'm not saying they should have to come out but they should feel comfortable doing so. I think there is a future generation of young women who could benefit greatly from seeing women like them come out and live life proud of who they are. It's kind of funny because there are a few who think they are hiding it really well that they are gay and in a relationship with a woman but they aren't. If you follow them for any amount of time the pieces fall together very quickly. Recently Megan Rapinoe came out as gay publically and honestly I thought she'd already come out. Lauren Lappin and Vicky Galindo game out before the 2008 Olympics(Lauren is gay and Vicky is bi). I think when women can be 100% comfortable with who they are, sports will benefit! To me this all just goes hand in hand. Everything is so sexualized in this country, why can't this one thing just be a group of incredibly taletned women playing the sport they adore? Why is men felt the need to complain that the beach volleyball players were covering up too much when they didn't wear their biknis? Why did some idiot from I don't rememer where feel it was okay to judge the female swimmers not on their incredible abilities but on their "lack of boobs"? Here is a new flash for you all you men, not all women live to please you! Not all women care if you think we look beautiful! Those women who step on the field, the court, the sand, or into the water aren't thinking about how sexually appealing they look to you! They are thinking about the battle they are about to enter! So before you think about how they look, please take a minute to also marvel at their abilites! Take a minute to appreciate the hardwork these women have put in since they were kids to reach the place they are and know that is what they are most proud of! Don't get me wrong guys, not saying you can't or shouldn't look! Just saying don't lose sight of what is important and what those women are doing out there!
I'm itching for some softball LOL! The Japanese league is going again! Shokki got 2 wins this weekend and Danielle pitched 10 great innings! I can't believe they've been back in Japan almost a week already!
Well that is all I have for now! Go Pride! Go Shokki! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! FTG!
