What sports are all about
Published 3:23 pm Wednesday, June 3, 2009
If all sports championships were like the Women’s College World Series, we’d want to be in the front row for every game.
It wasn’t just the way the University of Washington captured its first NCAA softball title on Tuesday, edging the University of Florida 3-2 to sweep the best-of-three series. The Huskies’ skill, speed, power, grit and determination were impressive enough, but it was the overwhelming passion with which they and their opponents played the game that was truly inspiring.
Smiles, cheers and group hugs were all plentiful. So were tears. These premier athletes were clearly playing for the love and glory of the game and their teams — a refreshing break from the inflated egos of other sports.
(A moment’s digression, if you’ll indulge us: In a sport that’s just about perfect, why does college softball have a mercy rule? If a team is ahead by eight or more runs after five innings, the game is declared over — even though a normal game is supposed to last seven innings. These athletes are adults. Yet this rule treats them like children.)
UW fans who tuned in to watch college softball for the first time were treated to the best big-time sports has to offer. Tension. Drama. Mental discipline. Physical stamina. Agony. Ecstasy. Tight teamwork. Individual greatness.
The latter was epitomized by the UW’s All-Everything Danielle Lawrie, who pitched every inning of all six games the Huskies played in the World Series, and hit a grand slam home run Sunday to propel her team into the finals. And she’s not done yet: The national player of the year, who took last year off to play in the Olympics for the Canadian National Team, will be back next year for her senior season. Can you say repeat?
This is, after all, a program that’s no stranger to this level of play. It’s only been in existence since 1993, when it practiced and played home games at a park in Bellevue, but this was its ninth appearance in the Women’s College World Series. It had taken the runnerup spot twice before, the first in 1996, when current coach Heather Tarr was a Husky player.
It should be noted that these aren’t the only Huskies on a championship roll this school year. The women’s cross-country team won the NCAA championship last fall.
At a school known for football (well, it used to be … ), women rule the athletic department these days.
You go, Dawgs.
