Marquette Tribune Writer Personifies Stereotype that Women Know Nothing About Sports

"Journalists" aren't the only ones who can write provocative titles. If you picked up a Tribune article today, you would have discovered an article entitled, "For the Love of the Game: Pro Sports Suck".

Let me make this clear, I know plenty of women who are very knowledgeable about sports. In fact, our shows two most loyal listeners are women, and I can name four or five of my friends who could hold an intelligent debate about sports off the top of my head. All of them are, despite the fact that they are spread across the country, are bigger sports fans than many people who claim to follow sports here at Marquette, and I can say with confidence that they are far more knowledgeable than every single Vikings fan on Marquette's campus.

But for every one of my knowledgeable friends, there happens to be a person who writes a ridiculous article about how terrible professional sports are that reinforces the stereotype that women know nothing about sports. If you know nothing about sports, as this person clearly does, don't write about them! You don't see me writing about the sorry state of journalism at the Marquette Tribune. Why? Because I don't know enough to make valid claims.

If you want to argue that sports are too serious at some levels of the game, you might have a valid point. There are plenty of parents who take their son or daughter's grade school tee-ball or soccer game too seriously. But that isn't the point of the article. It goes on to call sports fans "lazy" and mocks us as making fools of ourselves during sporting events. It claims that sports should be about the joys of playing the game, not winning.

What horseshit. Talk to any varsity athlete, college athlete, or professional athlete, and they will tell you the thrill of winning is what drives them. The desire for success makes them want to get better. Not one successful player ever will tell you that winning is not the top priority. As the most successful coach of all time, Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything, it is the only thing."

Sports provides so many with entertainment, billions of dollars in economic activity, and is ingrained in the fabric of this country. Major League Baseball is this country's pastime, and it isn't even the most popular sport in America! Sporting events bring tens of thousands of strangers together for a common purpose, something that is unseen anywhere else in America. If people actually believed that winning isn't everything, the Pittsburgh Pirates would have the same attendance as the New York Yankees every game. But they don't, because there is no greater feeling for a fan than winning a game.

This journalist clearly has no idea what she is talking about. Professional sports don't suck, they are part of the fabric of America. So a note to the Marquette Tribune, please don't ever put an opinion article about how terrible sports are in the sports section again.

Sincerely,

Sports Fans Everywhere