orona.qxd
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It is “important for any fan–man or woman, age utterly aside–to recognize greatness in athletes both male and female.” But Ted Cock’s point (I tweak his name for reasons ornithological rather than sexual) bores home well before that platitudinous disclaimer: Watching women’s soccer was “more pleasant than men’s soccer in part because they were women at play” [July 10]. The birds, he allows, trip his aesthetic trigger. Of course, he wouldn’t have noticed that Mia Hamm “is a beautiful woman” had People not told him–but her “intense gaze” (and the sight of that “intense little sad-eyed brunet”?) may bring him back next year for the women’s World Cup. Then, perhaps, the “more intense competition” will help fans overcome their “strange…reluctan[ce] to pour abuse on the players”–fuel that boys, apparently, “rechannel” to supplement their testicular output. Then, perhaps–when the players’ “high-pitched voices…sound[ing] like circling chimney swifts” have been drowned out by porcine grunts echoing happy hour at Hooters–adult males will be able to attend girls’ games without reminding all and always that they are “soccer dads.” Oh, the humiliations they endure for their daughters!
Mabel Orona
