By AP
Tackle him. Tackle HIM! TACKLE HIM!! Run it again!
The sounds on playfields throughout Texas in late summer and fall as football coaches yell and scream at little boys. Tackle football as in full contact tackle football, it hurts football, not soccer.
Soccer is a good, fun and safe sport for boys and girls. Girls can compete with boys in soccer. Feminists love it. This is because soccer is an upper body passive sport. Boys don’t develop nor require upper body muscles in soccer. Soccer is an invasive species not in the tradition of North American sports which require upper body muscle strength and coordination such as baseball, basketball, hockey and football.
I moved to Texas a few years ago from Michigan. Everybody told us about how big football is in Texas yet not one could explain why. As I sat on the sidelines watching my sons practice and play football, I began to make some observations and I would like to share a few of those. I also reached a some unique conclusions as to why football is so big in Texas. I realized the cruelest form of torture for a feminist would to be to force them to watch youth football in Texas seeing little boys grow into tough masculine young men.
Anthropologists believe the rituals of a society affirm and reinforce the values of that society. Football is a ritual which reflects Texan culture and American values.
Football is big in Texas because Texans believe football reflects the values of competition, risk and winning. The pioneer, cowboy and wildcatter spirit is alive and well in Texas. Texans believe these are good things. There is fierce and sometimes insane competition to win in Texas football culture. I never saw high school coach scandals in Michigan involving recruiting violations, falsifying grades for eligibility and pay for play. Football culture competition extends beyond the game as school bands and cheerleading in Texas is fiercely competitive. This competitive spirit is reflected in the business climate. There are few unions in Texas because it limits competition in the job market. Is it any wonder Texas at one point produced over half of the new jobs in the perpetual recession compared to the other forty-nine states? There is so much construction and economic expansion in Texas I was amazed to see heavy construction television commercial spots selling backhoes and bulldozers during the recent bowl games.
Texas youth football is a cultural shock for many little boys, even those in Texas. Most boys today have been taught to be good girls from women teachers in day care and public schools. Most boys only know women teachers and are surprised men can teach except adult men tend to shout at them. Feminists teachers discourage fierce competition preferring a nurturing, gentle, everybody wins, avoid risk, we’re all the same attitude. Little boys quickly learn football is competitive zero sum game and the other boy across the line is in no mood to be nurturing. Your job is to be mean and tough to beat the other guy. It’s not personal, it’s just a competitive game. To the horror of feminists, there are no support groups for boys who fumble the football.
There is physical risk in playing tackle football. Feminists hate risk and football because it reeks of masculinity. They will eventually destroy football on the coasts applying the safety card. The safety card is an easy sell to an ever increasing effeminate population. Millennium parents have passively accepted restrictions forbidding playing on terrifying monkey bars, horrific games of tag, dangerous football and unfair dodge ball in public schools in the interest of safety. Feminist leaders will make decisions on risk, not parents or individuals. They will enforce their decisions through governmental regulations and it’s evil twin, liability ligation. Expect many schools to be defendants in future lawsuits regarding any football injury however minor. They will drive insurance rates up trying to make the cost of a football program financially prohibitive for schools and private leagues.
Two years ago I was watching a game between the University of Michigan and Western Michigan when a thunderstorm broke out. There was severe lightning so the feminized officials at the University Michigan cancelled the game. There was identical weather at South Bend, but Notre Dame and South Florida finished their game. For 132 years, Michigan never cancelled a football game until 2011. The fans sitting in the Big House are some of the most intelligent people in the world who could have made their own decision to endure the weather conditions. Using the safety argument, feminists cancelled the game rationalizing they could be sued if someone were injured by lighting. Safety first. Besides, men have such silly football traditions such as playing in the rain and mud. (Bo Schembechler must be spinning in his grave.)
Football is big in Texas because Texans believe developing character and masculinity in boys. The future for boys is an important value in Texans. Texans want to leave a better world for their sons and grandsons. In all the years I watched youth football in Texas, I never a saw single girl play the game. I’m sure some do but only at the younger levels. Despite all the wonders of Title IX, to the best of my knowledge, there are no women playing at football at Texas, Baylor or Texas A&M much less in the National Football League.
Unlike most states, Texans form many private leagues and the public schools offer young boys the opportunity to play tackle football beginning in junior high school. In the other states, most public schools only offer football programs at the high school level. As a result, Texas boys have greater opportunities to play tackle football compared to other states. Boys in Texas are immersed in football culture, in their schools, their families and on television. In other states, families gather at weddings and funerals. In Texas, families gather at football games. When I moved here from the North, I couldn’t believe junior high schools were playing under the lights during school nights. Nor could I believe the large number of private grade school youth football leagues. Many boys in Texas begin playing organized football in Kindergarten. On my son’s fourth grade team, out of thirty players, only one may eventually make it to a high school football team, if’s he lucky because of the intense competition.
Football is a rough sport and there is always the risk of injury. The risk of injury is less so at the youth level compared to junior high or high school ball. There is risk so what is the benefit? At the youth level it is the development of masculine character that can last a lifetime. It was a bonding experience for fathers and sons For the boys the boys on our team who had single mothers, youth football may have been their most important exposure to masculine values. Even one season of tackle football for a ten year old can make a difference in their life.
When I saw boys putting on pads for the first time they were afraid and extremely reluctant to block or tackle anyone. Again it’s culture shock. Little boys today have been taught all their young lives to be good girls, sit still, be quiet, be passive and docile. Don’t take a risk, you might get hurt. You’re not allowed to hit anyone. Some boys are taught that any form of masculine aggression is pure evil.
The head coach of my son when he was in the fourth grade had experience coaching high school football but it was his first time with elementary school boys and his language was a little salty. He was shocked at their lack of aggression and hitting during various blood sport drills. At the end of practice, he screamed at the boys, “You guys hit like a bunch of pussies!” The boys looked around at each other in confusion and befuddlement. I’m not sure if they knew exactly what a pussy was, but whatever it was, it was clear they sure as hell didn’t want to be one. The next practice pads were popping. Some of the Millennium parents were horrified at his language and he apologized but did get his point across.
Football teaches boys controlled aggression and risk taking. To paraphrase George Orwell, “Good people sleep at night because rough men stand ready to do violent acts on their behalf and defend their rights.” Controlled aggression to someday protect their families, homes, state and country. Texas typically provides the greatest number of military recruits to defend the United States. The Texas population has a high gun ownership percentage. One of the state’s finest university, Texas A&M, was founded as a military institution. When people think of rough cowboys, they think of Texas. These boys may become policemen, firemen, or serve their country in the armed services. The world is always a dangerous place.
Football is the ultimate and most complicated, exciting team sport requiring absolute coordination, unison and synchronization of every player on the team at the exact same time. As I observed my son’s fourth grade team practice, I was amazed at their focused team discipline as they lined up and fired off on snap counts. I speculated if they could only show this much concentration and enthusiasm in school they would all become Rhodes Scholars. It’s a shame women teachers don’t know how to inspire and motivate little boys like the male volunteer coaches.
Football is big in Texas because Texans have a disposition for violence. There is an urban legend in the late 1930’s the German Nazis sent observers to Texas to analyze American culture. They attended a Rodeo. Then they witnessed a football game between Texas and Texas A&M. Horrified, they cabled to Berlin that if this is what these people do for recreation, these are the last people in the world we want to fight a future war against. They sent a famous cable, “Don’t mess with Texas.”
It was my sons who led me to understand why football is big in Texas.
My sons were studying the Inca culture and they were amazed. Pizarro, with army of only two hundred men, conquered the Inca Empire, which had a population of six million people. Cortes, with an army of six hundred men, conquered the Aztec Empire of five million people. Two armies of less than a thousand men conquered eleven million people! My sons asked, “how could this be possible?” Keep in mind a typical Texas boy will kill about two hundred thousand bad guys and/or zombies each year while playing violent video games.
Historians teach that these civilizations had never seen horses, guns or armor. They were intimidated by European technology. In other words, these civilizations surrendered because they were afraid of horses and boom-boom. I then realized historians don’t understand Texas football. I explained to my sons the answer to their question was in San Antonio.
Prior to the sixteenth century, people were oppressed and subjugated to tyrannical royal rule under the belief kings and emperors derived their authority from “divine powers.” As added insurance, weapons to fight for any possible freedom were severely restricted. Royal rulers could be quickly interchanged, be it Spanish, English, French, Inca or Aztec. From this cultural perspective, the Spanish were not in any way superior to the Inca or Aztec. If Pizarro and Cortes switched places with the local emperors in Europe, the people in Europe would also fall into quick submission. People were taught to obey royal authority.
In contrast, at San Antonio in 1835, two hundred fifty very rough, armed and aggressive Texans fought a heavily armed Mexican Army of five thousand soldiers. The Texans at the Alamo, unlike the cultures of the sixteenth century, believed human rights and freedom were derived directly from God to an individual. They brought to Texas the spirit and ideas of the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the Texans refused to surrender. The competitive Texans at the Alamo believed freedom was worth fighting and dying for.
The main reason football is big in Texas is because football represents a subconscious love of freedom. The spirit of the Alamo and the fight for Texan independence is ingrained into the cultural consciousness of little boys all over Texas, who in turn will teach their sons about football. There is a certain attitude among Texans when it comes to individual liberty and human rights I’ve never observed anywhere else in the United States.
Honestly, I never heard a youth Texas football coach talk about the Alamo. I did hear them teach values of the Alamo such as hard work, honor, persistence, teamwork and being unafraid to play the game while taking risks. I heard them tell little boys to be aggressive and tough. I heard them tell little boys who felt pain to suck it up and get out there and play over the pain. I heard them yell at little boys when they made a mistake, but also tell them it was okay and to learn from it. I heard them scream at little boys to never give up on a play until the whistle blows and never quit or surrender their spirit no matter what the score of the game may be. Little boys who play youth football in Texas grow up to be young men are aren’t afraid of confrontation. They grow up to be men who aren’t afraid to defend freedom. Freedom is a big deal in Texas. So is football.
