Why can't I say a girl is big?

[blue]On a similar note, why can't I say a stupid kid is stupid? Or a sucky kid sucks?[/blue]

 

I can't tell if you're serious or not. But that's horrible advice.

 

For the sucky kid, I would just say he's "basketball-impaired."

 

Depending on if he's black or white, you can say that he is "unathletic" or "has a low on-court IQ."

 

"I give credit to the coaches for creating a great gameplan and my teammates for helping out on defense," said the center, who was so fat that at halftime she went to the concession stand and she ate all the food in the concession stand and they had to close the concession stand.

 

This thread reminds me of one of my favorite moments in the business. About 15 years ago, when I was covering Texas-Arlington, Southland Conference women's basketball was dominated by Stephen F. Austin, which won something like nine consecutive league championships. SFA had a huge -- and I mean HUGE -- center named Christie Smith. She was an absolute beast, took up tons of space and just shoved people around at will in the low post.

So one year, UTA wins a game in the conference tournament, and its next opponent is SFA. While interviewing UTA center Tanya Strong, I ask her about the next game being against the conference's "800-pound gorilla," meaning SFA, the dominant team. Looking a little puzzled, she says, in complete sincerity, "You mean Christie Smith?"

I almost lost it on the spot. I was this close to dissolving into a mass of giggling protoplasm.

 

Andy,

I was on a Southland beat then and remember her. Great story. Boy, do I miss the Stage.

 

Cal softball had a girl like 10 years ago who was just enormous -- couldn't play the field, not sure if she could truly run, always got pinch-ran for -- but every plate appearance was either an intentional walk or a home run. Kind of like Cecil Fielder, only to an exponential extreme.

I don't care what anyone says, sometimes you don't mess with a good thing.

Nelson's Career Statistics
Year G AB R H AVG 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB
2000 73 167 22 53 .317 5 0 14 42 87 32 0
2001 72 150 29 53 .353 7 0 19 52 93 15 0
2002 73 143 19 47 .329 6 0 9 39 108 16 0
2003 66 117 23 42 .359 0 0 13 35 107 21 0

117 at-bats, 107 walks her last year, 49 of them intentional. That's just dominance.

[img=http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/cal/sports/w-softbl/auto_action/a-Nelson2041603.jpg}

 

Cal softball had a girl last decade, Veronica Nelson, who was quite large -- not sure if she played the field, not sure if she could truly run, I know she usually got pinch-ran for after they walked her -- but every plate appearance seemed like it was either an intentional walk or a home run. Kind of like Cecil Fielder, only to an exponential extreme. She broke all kinds of conference records, maybe even national records.

I don't care what anyone says, sometimes you don't mess with a good thing. I love the 0-0-13 line for extra-base hits during her last season.

Nelson's Career Statistics
Year G AB R H AVG 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB
2000 73 167 22 53 .317 5 0 14 42 87 32 0
2001 72 150 29 53 .353 7 0 19 52 93 15 0
2002 73 143 19 47 .329 6 0 9 39 108 16 0
2003 66 117 23 42 .359 0 0 13 35 107 21 0

117 at-bats, 107 walks her last year, 49 of them intentional. That's just dominance.

 

I'm assuming this is preps...in which case I would be careful in word choice...find a descriptive for big that doesn't come across badly...powerful is a good choice.

I ran into this last year when I described a softball duel between a pair of heavyweight pitchers...meaning powerful, talented, hard-throwing pitchers. Got a call and e-mail from an irate parent saying I had shattered their kids self-image...I explained my word choice, but to little avail. Silly part, is that neither pitcher was large size-wise at all.

Still a sensitive age, especially with weight and girls, so it's okay to tread carefully.

By the way, I followed up with the girl after a game shortly after and she claimed to have no idea what I was talking about...parents!!!

 

I

The mom was right. Heavyweight was a poor description.

Really, what does that word mean in a softball context anyway, except that both were good or successful or perhaps powerful?


Why do you act like she's overly sensitive instead of acknowledging (as you seemed to at the start) that your word choice was poor?

 

Agree. Maybe you were trying to refer to a "heavyweight bout" as opposed to calling the pitchers heavyweight?