The great thing about sports is the eye test. You can see when a player is good, great, or next level. You can also tell if a player is all hype.
We love sports for the natural drama. No one needs to inject another storyline into a Game Seven, or a fourth quarter drive with the game on the line, or a put from 30 feet to win the Masters.
This is why I am now sour on the story of the first woman to play in a Power Five football game.
If you missed the story, Sarah Fuller is the goalie on the SEC champion women’s soccer team at Vanderbilt. On Saturday, she kicked for the men's’ football team. She squibbed a second half kickoff for about 30 yards.
Since then she has been celebrated as breaking the glass ceiling, being a trailblazer like Jackie Robinson, and scoring victory for equality in sports. She was also named co-SEC special teams player of the week.
None of that should be.
Fuller’s story is too cute. Not only did she walk on, Vandy said, she gave an inspiring speech at halftime about pulling for your team even when behind, and never giving-up.
Not even Disney would add that shlock to some inspiring sports tale.
And that’s the problem. Had this been a story of a woman getting a shot, fine. Cool. Most men in American, most sports fans couldn’t care less. But the minute this became a celebration it started to stink of over-wokeness. The specifics of how Fuller got her shot are starting to unravel, and it doesn’t look good.
Here’s the thing, sports are great because they are about performance. Not where you come from, or who your parents are. No about growing-up rich, or poor. Sports are not even about being a good person, there are plenty of garbage humans who were great athletes.
This story about Sara Fuller is everything that is wrong with sports in 2020. It is manufactured to satisfy Twitter or scared CEOs. It has nothing to do with the game, or talent, or performance.
Photo Credit: Vanderbilt Twitter