Call Me A Sissy ...But You Are Insane To Catch In The Major Leagues And Not Wear A Cup (Bonus... Twins Catcher Christian Vasquez Gets Hit Square In The Nuts)
I know there are certain things you aren't supposed to admit as a man. They open you up for ridicule. They make you seem weak. Like for example if I admitted that the end of My Girl makes me cry, it would come off as weak and soft.( It's a good thing I never blogged that or admitted that in the past ) ...
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If you wear certain colors it can be perceived as soft etc. Drive a car, eat something, dress certain ways etc ... everyone is looking to label a man soft or weak, or much worse words that usually describe female reproductive organs. Somewhere along the line, people decided wearing a cup in sports was "soft". Now I played football all the way through college. Enjoy the least effective spin move known to man below...
And in that locker room, and in high school (even though it was required by the league) guys just abandoned wearing cups. I heard it all, it made you soft, they were uncomfortable, unnecessary, slowed you down… yada yada yada. Not me pal … I valued a shot in the family jewels to hurt less or hurt not at all way more than I valued being called soft, or slight discomfort. (By the way once the whistle blew you never even felt you were wearing it). I chose protection every time, and I wouldn't have chose any other way.
Now you may say that's well and good in D3 where the athletes are "smaller, slower, weaker" , the opposite of a ad campaign for sneakers or athletic brands "bigger, faster, stronger." So the guys I played with or against could get away without wearing a cup, to which I would say fine that's your opinion. You know where they aren't slow, weak or small? The Big leagues. You know where baseball go pretty damn fast? The big leagues. Which brings me back to my original headline. Anyone who catches in the majors and doesn't wear a cup is crazy. That ball is hit too hard, that ball moves too fast, and there are way too many freak occurrences and bounces that these maniacs can go catch a game and not protect their nuts. They are certified insane. There's absolutely no way the discomfort, or the movement restrictions are worth the pain Christian Vasquez just went through.
Since it's a day of protests, I may have to find myself a picket line of people who want to protect their nuts and not be shamed for it.
Normalize wearing cups. Normalize protecting your safety. Stop calling us sissies.