On the TunneySide of Sports October 4, 2021 #868 Up next… Looking into ‘LFG’
As a writer, I continue to look for new stories. So, when I saw the above three letters (LFG) I did some research to discover their meaning. There’s more than one. In gaming, LFG is widely used in chat form for online communication with the meaning “looking for group” to indicate that a user or subscriber is seeking to join an already established group. In text messaging, LFG probably indicates impatience or enthusiasm on the part of the sender to start doing something. The “F” is a word that I will omit here, but we certainly hear it all too often.
Tom Brady, quarterback of the NFL champion Tampa Bay Bucs, has used LFG in “firing-up” his teammates. Megan Rapinoe has used LFG with the United States Women’s National Soccer Team, who clinched victory in the 2019 World Cup. While I would argue that both Brady and Rapinoe could have used a more acceptable adjective to spark enthusiasm, the use of that “F” word is (unfortunately) more popular in today’s youthful vocabulary. Right or wrong, it does get attention.
After that 2019 World Cup, the hue and cry was “equal pay!” “equal pay!” “equal pay!” not only from Rapinoe and other women on that T*E*A*M, but from voices heard round-the-world. The U.S. World Cup team headed by Rapinoe has won four World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals thereby being the most accomplished and successful team in the history of international sports. It is reported that players on the women’s team earn 89 cents on the dollar compared to the $1 earned by the men’s team. Plus, the men’s team players earn almost double in bonuses. “Not fair” is a cry from the women.
I would argue for the women but change the “F” word to “F A I R” as in fair pay for the women’s team, win or lose — but not equal. I have often believed: “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.” While some may argue that the size of women’s and men’s soccer fields, and soccer balls as well as number of players on each are the same, it still doesn’t make them equal. The level of play and intensity is different. That’s not to say there is less intensity in the women’s game, it’s just different. Not so incidentally, the U.S. Open tennis played in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York, last month awarded both the women’s and men’s champions each $2.5 million for their wins!
Will you log in with your thoughts about equal pay?
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