Female Athletes Play Fair And Keep Things In Perspective. How I Loathe Them

This occurred Saturday, but women's softball news tends to travel slowly, if at all. In an amazing display of sportsmanship, some Central Washington University players helped a Western Oregon opponent round the bases to complete a home run after the batter had injured her knee. This also once happened to me in college, by the way. But that story is a lot less heartwarming due to my drunken demands to also be carried to a Jack-In-The-Box drive-thru.

Senior Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University had just hit the first homer of her career, but broke down like Barbaro upon reaching first.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single. Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count — an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

An inspiring tale indeed, but not quite enough to dent my cynical exterior. I'd need to see Prince Fielder being carried around the bases by Carlos Zambrano for that to happen.

'Unbelievable' Sportsmanship In Softball Game [MSNBC]