Comments on: Betty & Veronica Double Digest #180

By: James Schee

James Schee — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:27:59 +0000

Read the first and second parts of this today. Gotta say it was just startling to see goody, goody Archie characters acting so awful to one of their own, especially to Betty!

I mean if it was just Reggie I could understand, as hey that’s what he’s there for in the series. Even Moose I can sort of nod at, because he’s never been known to be so brainy. Heck even Veronica you could say was a nod to her more catty past.

Yet Dilton?? Chuck?? Jughead? Wow….

By: Hsifeng

Hsifeng — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:03:53 +0000

Speaking of switching sports... Gene Towba of Plainview, Long Island Says in "Letters to the Editor," NY Daily News, Thursday, June 17th 2010, 4:00 AM: "First, my kid chose fútbol over football. Now, he wants to play lead vuvuzela in the school band."

By: James Schee

James Schee — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:48:07 +0000

No problem, while I am far from athletically gifted. I have played softball (and before it Tee-ball) as well as baseball in youth leagues growing up. Plus my dad and I would usually make at least 2 trips a year to see the MLB Houston Astros when I was growing up. (it was so weird to be in a building that could house the entire population of my town 15 times over)

So baseball’s something I’ve always been interested in. One of my favorite Avengers stories is one where the teams play a baseball game in the Astrodome.:)

Oh and I thought you’d like that quote.:)

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:37:02 +0000

Thanks for the links! I appreciate reading more on this story. I especially like the quote from the NY Times article: “The so-called bat and ball sport offered girls at most high schools, softball, is played with a larger ball on a smaller diamond. ‘It’s like saying Ping-Pong and tennis are the same sport,’ Marti Sementelli said.”

By: James Schee

James Schee — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:59:53 +0000

Stigma was really just that softball is really thought of as a girls sport, and baseball is a boys one.

Though goals can also be different as well. A high school baseball can be drafted by a major league baseball club if they are thought good enough. While softball is generally looking/hoping for scholarships, I know a couple of young women who got these.

Oddly the #1 draft pick in MLB’s draft this year was someone whose parents let him drop out of high school and get his GED. At 16 he played one year in some amateur baseball league before being drafter at age 17. (may sound ridiculous, but he’s likely to be signed for millions)

There are apparently a lot of girls here in the US who try out for their high school baseball teams though here’s a good article from last year on it
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/sports/baseball/01baseball.html

Plus in Japan one team actually rafted a 16 year old female pitcher 2 years ago, she’s in the minors but may one day make her debut for their major league club:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/19/japan-baseball

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:36:47 +0000

I was hoping someone would explain the differences in the sport to me further, thanks. What do you mean by “stigma”?

And yeah, since boys’ sports are taken more seriously, still, in most cases, I could see Betty aiming higher, but that aspect hasn’t been mentioned in the story so far. They’ve stayed away from institutional sexism — Riverdale is shown to support both boys’ and girls’ sports — and the legal question, although I suspect that’s coming up.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:46:38 +0000

There are some other differences in baseball and softball beyond size of ball.

Number of players on field, distances, strategy and then there is a certain stigma related to both.

I could sort of see Betty wanting to challenge her skills in sort of the same way Anna Sorensten wanted to to in the PGA.