Reading Time: 9 minutes I hate to admit it because it sounds so reactionary in the 21st century, but I believe some male-to-female transgender athletes, without mitigating intervention, may have an unfair advantage in women’s sports. I say this knowing that trans female athletes are a tiny minority in sports. But this is not about fear of hordes of […]
Sports
Posted inLGBTQ
I’m a trans woman exhausted by the broken conversation around sports
Reading Time: 6 minutes As news broke of the British Triathlon decision to force trans women to compete against cis men in a cynically rebranded “Open” category, and British Rugby Union clubs gear up for a vote of their own, I find myself exhausted by a public conversation that is hopelessly broken yet will not go away. Because I’m […]
Posted inLGBTQ
The transgender swimming ban is not about sports
Reading Time: 6 minutes FINA, the international swimming federation, has banned trans women from competing in women’s categories for the sports it governs. Within days of this announcement, a raft of other sporting bodies had announced reviews of their policies for transgender inclusion, and the International Rugby League banned trans women from competition, pending “further research.” The decision has […]
Posted inParenting & Family
From father to son: Sport as a catalyst for wisdom
Reading Time: 3 minutes In college, I read Umberto Eco’s richly complex and insightful novel, Foucault’s Pendulum. A particular line jumped out at me at the time: “What we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments when they aren’t teaching us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” This stuck with me years after reading, […]
Posted inCulture
The ground ball statistic: Hidden glory grounded in the seemingly mundane
Reading Time: 5 minutes OnlySky · The ground ball statistic: Hidden glory grounded in the seemingly mundane Lacrosse fans from all over the world will tune in to watch the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship, featuring a Maryland team poised for history. But lacrosse aficionados will be attending to a facet of the game the neophyte will likely miss: ground […]
Posted inAnalysis
Church membership as a product in search of demand
Reading Time: 7 minutes Christianity itself became superfluous a while ago for a lot of Americans, and church leaders simply can’t deal with that fact. Well, most of them. Today, we’ll meet a Christian leader who has a better perspective on his religion’s decline.
Posted inPsychology
Sports are for losers: On unavoidable suffering and learning to flourish
Reading Time: 5 minutes The recent Olympic Games, the ensuing NCAA March Madness Tournaments, and all other competitions produce an exorbitant amount of one category of athlete: losers. All told, the 2022 Winter Olympic Games alone sent home more than 2,000 losers. Sports and competition itself is a uniquely unforgiving institution. It’s designed so a large majority of participants lose […]
Posted inCulture
In defense of fair-weather fans
Reading Time: 6 minutes OnlySky · In defense of fair weather fans | Jack Bowen The Fair-Weather Fan (FWF) is considered one of the most morally depraved individuals in (and out of) the sporting realm. They shift from team to team, demonstrating no sense of loyalty or allegiance, supporting whoever’s winning at the time, and ditching the loser they’d […]
Posted inCulture
Hey curling, it’s not you, it’s us: The silliness and seriousness of sports
Reading Time: 4 minutes OnlySky · Hey curling, it’s not you, it’s us | Jack Bowen One of my favorite diversions during the Winter Olympics involves tracking the popular opinion of curling…in the United States. The overriding conception seems to be that it’s just plain silly. A New York Post article deems curling the “weirdest” Olympic sport and a Google […]
Posted inCulture
No room at the inn for Djokovic: On rules, sports, and exceptions
Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s an old adage of a traveler seeking a room at an inn. The innkeeper informs him they’re booked for the evening. The traveler responds, “But if I were the king, would you be able to find a room for me?” “Well, yes,” the innkeeper responds, “but you are not the king.” “Agreed. But since […]