Morning Gripe: Boys Don’t Trust Girls in Co-Ed Rec Sports

The title says it all: boys don’t trust girls.

I play in two co-ed adult rec leagues at the moment, kickball and softball. On both teams, guys don’t trust girls to make plays in the field. And, because the stakes are so high, these guys attempt to intercept and takeover any play in the field that may involve a girl catching or throwing. This infuriates me. There are positions for a reason–stay in yours, I’ll stay in mine, and make the darn play.

In left field, when I say “I got, i got, i got, i got,  got it,” it really means, “I got it.” So I took great offense when I sprinted forward, yelled “I got it” one hundred times in three seconds, got under the ball, readied my arms for the catch, and then saw two manly hands a foot above mine intercept the kickball and make the catch. I looked at him, stunned. He apologized. I said, “Whatever, man,” and hustled back to the dugout. Had I not just made a crowd-pleasing, ESPN Top-10 kickball plays  catch in the previous inning?

Earlier in the season I played catcher for my softball team. On a potential play at the plate, I planted myself in front of home plate ready for a throw home. Suddenly, in front of me stood our male pitcher, jumping up and down calling for the throw home. The ball didn’t come so I let it slide. The same. exact. thing. happened moments later. This time, I could not step aside. “Dude, I’m the catcher, you’re the pitcher. Let me catch. This is my base.”

Sorry to be a downer on a Friday morning–yay weekend–but, in the words of every Grey’s Anatomy character, “SERIOUSLY?”