So Cari and I were discussing this with Anne outside JJ's last night after we had bid adieu to the rest of the bloggers. We were talking about how guys (not any guys in particular) seem to think that because we're girls that we somehow know less then they do about sports. Now from the time i was very young I was raised on hockey if there was a Sabres game it was on my living room TV and no one was allowed to change the channel. In my family my mom and my brother love it as does my grandmother, my dad watches it but doesn't get emotionally invested like the other members of my family.
But still I've been going to hockey games since I was little and now my family splits season tickets with my uncle so I go to at least 20 games a year and watch all the other games on TV. I know the hand motions for penalties and I know all the players, I've had guys behind me at the games ask what a certain call means or what icing is or off-sides is I am in no way a PUCK BUNNY. Most guys assume that because I like hockey I'm in it for the men and while yes the good looking players are an added bonus the fact that I like hockey has very little to do with that fact. I like hockey for its intensity and its ability to make me forget about everything except grown men pushing a disc of galvanized rubber around a big sheet of ice while occasionally getting it into a big netted contraption which means that team gets a point.
While Mark Mancari was up from Portland there were two guys sitting behind my mom and me discussing him. They were saying that they knew he had the fastest shot in the AHL but they weren't sure how fast it actually was, being me I turned around and told him matter of factly that the slapshot registered at 102.8 mph which was .4 mph less then Zdeno Chara. The guy looked at me like I had grown three heads and said "wow you know a lot about hockey for a girl." And there they are the magic words I would have been fine if he had just said that I knew a lot about hockey but then he had to go and add the words 'for a girl' I hate that stereotype and that's exactly what it is a stereotype that because I have boobs and ovaries that I somehow should know less about sports then they do.
So guys if you ever meet me anywhere and want to know anything about hockey please for the love of all that is holy don't add the words 'for a girl' on the end of a sentence. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure that any of my fellow girl bloggers would appreciate it if you would refrain from using the words 'for a girl' and 'Puck Bunny' in their presence.
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We were talking about how guys (not any guys in particular) seem to think that because we're girls that we somehow know less then they do about sports.
YES. I remember when I was in high school, I would be sitting and listening to a group of guys talking about hockey or something and they'd say something completely wrong...and I would bite my tongue to correct them. But then I'd have to say something and I would, and then they would just look at me as if I was a moron who had no idea what I was talking about and then they'd continue talking. Ugh.
But I remember senior year I had a really cool Economics teacher who LOVED hockey and one day he and I spent the class talking about it and he just looked at me and was like, "...You know, most guys I talk to don't know as much about hockey as you do." That felt really good to hear someone say that haha.
I just remember the guys who I went to school with thought I was just some puck bunny who didn't know anything but ~loved~ the players because they are all ~so cute~, but I could have some real nice conversations about hockey with my teachers. I'd be walking in the hall and one of my teachers would be like, "Hey! Did you see the game last night?!" or something like that.
But then I'd have to say something and I would, and then they would just look at me as if I was a moron who had no idea what I was talking about and then they'd continue talking.
I guess we offend their delicate sensibilities and disrupt their view of the world when we say something intelligent about sports or when we're right and their wrong.
Hey, I'm guilty about being harsh on female bloggers. However, the ones I'm hard on are the ones that pick one player because he's hot and pretend that he's good, or the ones that point out the obvious, after watching the postgame show.
I think you guys do a fine job.
Hey, I'm guilty about being harsh on female bloggers. However, the ones I'm hard on are the ones that pick one player because he's hot and pretend that he's good, or the ones that point out the obvious, after watching the postgame show.
I think you guys do a fine job.
I think you guys do a fine job.
Thanks we try not to sound puck bunnyish all the time but sometimes it sneaks out without our permission.
I think you guys do a fine job.
Thank you, Derek!!
And Amen, Caroline!!
And thanks for writing this Kim, because God knows that if I did, I'd never be able to show my face anywhere anymore.
And thanks for writing this Kim, because God knows that if I did, I'd never be able to show my face anywhere anymore.
You're welcome, I tried to remain very PC about the whole thing and not go off ranting and raving like a lunatic, I think I did quite well.
I think that sometimes men just think that no women could possibly know as much dare I say more than they could about such a manly sport.
Amen sister it's annoying and whoever I date and/or marry better realize that I'm not going to dumb myself down in the sports category just to stroke his ego.
It's pretty sad when my own sister acts as if I don't pay attention to stats. Like, in the summer before last season, we were in North Dakota and visiting my brother-in-law's family. My brother-in-law's dad is completely against Thomas Vanek and hates him, and he asked me something about how many points he had the season previous, and my sister goes 'She doesn't care about statistics. It's just for the looks.' I was stunned. I was about to go over a bunch of stats but then didn't.
Unfortunately, it's not only guys who think of some of us girls as puckbunnies...it can be our own kind, too. ):
I swear, every time all of my dad's friends are watching a hockey game and I say something intelligent, they give me the weirdest looks. Last year when I mentioned something about one team losing and the Sabres needing a win to get into the eighth seed, one guy went, "How did you figure that out?"
I think we've shown guys in the blogosphere we know what's up. I wish I could say the same for the real world. :P
I just prove to them I know what I'm talking about. I'm taking a sports mgmt. class this semester so it will be interesting... ha. The prof. is a guy too.
good post. I have been fortunate to have friends who appreciate my hockey knowledge.
When I was in high school I was friends with a bunch of guys and we'd sit around talking about hockey and wrastlin. LOL yeah we would actually talk about WCW (that was better than the WWF(E) in my book. and of course it wasn't real but it was funny!) Anyway they knew that I knew what was going on so it was all good.
I have of course experienced the "you're just in it for the cute guys" phenom, and for some reason it seems to happen more often online. But I've found that in forums when I don't say that I'm a female, just discuss hockey, people don't realize until it comes up. Funny, that.
It's even worse when you WORK for a hockey team. I used to get all kinds of crap about it until people actually TALKED to me and realized that, hey, I like HOCKEY for the hockey. Trust me, I wouldn't be working 80 hour weeks for shit pay just to check on some hot guys when I could do that much easier and cheaper in other ways.
Such is the life of a female hockey fan. Just keep doing what you're doing and they will learn. Those that continue to take the stand that girls know nothing about hockey will always be that way. They aren't worth the bother.
:)
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