COLUMN: Intramural rules need a revamp
Want a challenge?
Try being a guy in USU co-ed intramural basketball. The intramural staff has made some regulations that diminish a man’s role on the court:
• Inside the 3-point line, a guy’s shot is one point; beyond the arc it’s two. Girls play by the traditional rules – their shots count for two and from downtown they get the normal three.
• Guys can’t shoot from inside the key.
• Only two guys can play at one time.
• Guys can’t guard girls.
Don’t get me wrong – I love intramurals. I commend Ben Wolford and his staff for all the excellent work they do, but the rules seem like reverse discrimination. In a typical co-ed intramural game, a guy will probably rack up more assists than points – that is, if assists were recorded. A man’s main role, according to how the games are structured, is to be the play-maker – dishing it off to the girls, whose shots count for double what guys’ register.
It’s practically useless for a guy to shoot inside the arc. One point – big whoop. That doesn’t do much in the whole scheme of things.
In one game, my team and the opposing squad were trading off 3-pointers. Problem was, the guys on our team were making the treys, but the girls of our opponent were the ones knocking them down from downtown. We were matching our opponent’s performance, yet sinking farther into the hole – that’s un-American, for crying out loud!
If a team has a girl 5-foot-10 or taller who can dominate in the paint, the game’s over before it has even begun. That one girl will score half the team’s points, or more.
Once I forgot about the guys-can’t-guard-girls rule and let instinct take over, blocking an opposing girl’s shot in the process. Little did I know that my actions were just like goaltending – the shot counted.
Now, there is one positive in these wacky rules. The regulations sure teach males a little discipline, even if they take from the men the chance to execute the bread and butter of basketball – the lay-up, or any chance for a put-back off a missed shot, for that matter.
In a day and age when feminism is alive and well (anyone taken a women’s studies class or Media Smarts?), the intramural staff has decided to do something decidedly anti-feminist. It is in effect demoralizing women.
I’m a believer that women can do everything a man can – sometimes, they can do it better. Does raising children come to mind? Or doing the splits? Or being just a little bit more sensitive?
Women out there playing intramurals should demand equal treatment.
The most fun I had playing intramurals this season was when the other team forfeited, we mixed squads, then played traditional basketball without all the silly intramural rules. I was actually able to guard a girl – and I even blocked a few girls’ shots.
Co-ed intramurals should revert back to how Tevye, from “Fiddler on the Roof,” would want it.
Tradition! Tradition!
Reuben Wadsworth can be reached at reubwads@cc.usu.edu