In our church parenting classes, we have been reading two books, "The Wonder of Boys", and "The Wonder of Girls", by Michael Gurian. His theory is that boys' and girls' behaviour and attitudes are going to be somewhat different, since the brains are hardwired differently; and all the recent societal pressure to make everyone the same is doomed to failure. It's been interesting and perhaps when this board gets really boring in August I might expound here a little on how this theory is helping me be a better official.

However, for today, I want to share a little incident that happened this weekend that illustrates the author's perspective.

Girls' varsity, very competitive tourney, not always the best basketball, but fast and intense. A-team player (16-, or 17- year old girl) approaches me right after a throw-in and says, "Can she have her foot on the black line?" I assumed she was talking about the throw-in, and said, "Yes, on an inbound." But the ball was in play so I didnt get a very adequate explanation in. At the next free-throw, A1 (who had asked the question) stepped into the bottom spot on the lane. As others were lining up, I stepped over and said, "On the in-bound out-of-bound question, think of it this way." She said, "Oh, when I asked about the black line, I meant this one..." and she pointed to the low block. "See?" she asked and looked at the block opposite her on the lane. B1 (who was across and next up from the bottom) had her toes right at the block and her heel up and hanging over -- you all know how they do that. I know this is technically illegal, but I have never seen it called, or called it myself. I said, "Yes, that's legal." A1 said, "Oh, well I don't know why she does it anyway." I said, "I don't either, but lots of girls do." Now B1 looks up and says, "Oh, I do it because it gets me closer to the basket." B2, next to A1 says, "Yeah, it really helps a lot." A2, on the lowest spot, opposite A1, says, "But you're not doing it!" B2 says, "I don't do my stance until the second shot." A1 says, "I'm still closer than you, though..."

and then this discussion ensued, between both teams, about the various stances and their advantages and disadvantages, and it continued right up until the second shot was in the air.

Boys would NEVER do that!

[Edited by rainmaker on Jun 25th, 2002 at 10:50 AM]

It always cracks me up when a girl commits a foul with a hard slap on the wrist and then says, "oh, I'm sorry!" I've never seen a boy do that.

Z

You see a lot of this in Track. On something like the 800 when they are packed in, you really want to watch the boys, especially on the curves for elbows, pushing, etc.

You want to watch the girls for the same stuff, but you always hear, sorry, excuse me, etc, through out the whole curve. With the guys, all you here is grunting.

[Edited by Brian Watson on Jun 25th, 2002 at 11:19 AM]

Juulie, did you think to ask them about the advantages and disadvantages of yelling "Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball! Ball!"? :D

Chuck

Juulie,

My sister-in-law was adamant about raising her daugther and son in identical manners so that they would not develop according to the classic stereotypes. Both had the same mixture of toys, including dolls and basketballs, etc.

She gave up when her son was around three. Sure, he played with the dolls. But whereas his sister took good care of the dolls, he found they made excellent toy guns...

Viva la difference!

I haven't heard as much of that this year. The one variation that popped up this year that kind of amused me was a girl who had a very low voice who, on defense, would jump up and down in front of the person she was guarding, and yell, "BAAALLLLL!!" "BBBAAAAALLLLL" It was a long, slow yell, with a long pause between each one. She sounded like a foghorn warning about the rocks.

When boys play with dolls, they're not dolls - they're "action figures."

Sure -- an inflatable "action figure" ;)

ROFLMBAO

("B" stands for "BIG")

I'm shocked this one hasn't come up in this thread:

Most guys I know don't feel bad about feeling females, either.

[Going to sit in the corner now.]

Ah, what a difference that "S" makes!!

Very true.

Reminds me of the Alan Sherman song "One Hippopotami."

Also, the B.C. comic strip relating to the difference between "I'd like some beef jerky." and "I'd like some beef, jerky." :p

The only Alan Sherman stuff I know is "Hello, Muddah. Hello Faddah." and "You went the wrong way, Ol' King Louie". Those were Alan Sherman, right?

Chuck

You are correct, good sir.

The best Allan Sherman is "Peter and the Commissar" Very, very hard to find but worth it's weight in gold, especially the part with the "Swan Lake Blues"