WHY BABE DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS IS THE GREATEST ATHLETE EVER

And I’m not talking about the greatest women athlete. I’m talking the greatest athlete ever - man or woman.

Mildred Didrikson (1911-1956) came from a place called Beaumont, Texas. As a little girl, Mildred hit five home runs in a baseball game, which gave her the nickname she’d be known as for the rest of her life. It goes without saying, she was named after Babe Ruth.

In high school, Babe played in a wide variety of sports (the only sport she didn’t play was football - because the coach wouldn’t let her play). She exelled in basketball, as the Beaumont team never lost a game when she played.

After high school, she played on a semi-pro team in Dallas, leading them to two national championships. While in Dallas, Babe also showcased her athletic prowess in swimming and diving. But it was track and field where Babe hit her true mark.

In the 1932 Olympic try-outs in Evanston, Illinois, Babe was the sole member of the Dallas team, but in three hours won five events out of eight, tied another, setting three world records, and scoring 30 points for Dallas. The second-place team, which had 22 members, scored fewer. It will be forever known as the greatest individual achievement in track and field history.

Later that year, she competed in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Babe set three world records in her three events, but had to settle for two gold and one silver in the javelin, 80-meter hurdles, and the high jump. Babe is the the only athlete to ever medal in throwing, running and jumping events in the same Olympics.

After the games, Babe was a national celebrity. To capitalize on her fame, she starred in many different sports, finally settling on golf.

In 1938, Babe was paired in a PGA tournament with wrestler George Zaharias. Though she has always been rumored to have been a lesbian (there is no proof) Babe and George hit it off, marrying within a year. George became Babe’s manager for the rest of her career.

Throughout the 1940s, Babe Zaharias dominated women’s golf. In 1947, she became the first American golfer to win the British Women’s Open. It would be one of ten majors Babe would win throughout her career.

After forming the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1949, the Associated Press voted Babe the Greatest Female Athlete of the First Half of the Twentieth Century. The AP would name her Women Athlete of the Year six times (more than even the men).

In 1953, Babe was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Deciding not to let that get to her, Babe came back to the golf course, and in 1954, won the Women’s U.S. Open by a record 12 strokes.

The cancer, however, did not go away, and she died in 1956 at the age of 45. But before that, Babe Didrikson Zaharias had paved the way for countless female athletes in future generations to follow in her footsteps.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

While playing for her high school basketball team, Babe once scored 106 in a single game.

Though she is known for playing baseball, basketball, track, and golf, Babe is noted for other sports as well. They include archery, bass, billiards, boxing, roller skating tennis, and many more.

It is also interesting to note that Babe excelled in bowling as well. Her best game was a 237.

LET THE WOMEN PERFORM

You know, if it was tennis or any other sport that women participate in, this wouldn’t be a problem.

But women’s skiing will not be on the Olympic program in 2010 due to the old stereotypes that continue to haunt women. And it’s a shame because they can jump just as far as the men, and the equipment they wear can protect them as much as it does with the men.

It is nonsense that they have to be shut out of Vancouver in 2010. I mean, there have been women in professional baseball (and more recently, not during World War II), there are women racing in the Indy 500, there are many female athletes making it big in professional sports. Why can’t certain athletes from certain sports be allowed to participate in the Olympics?

It all goes down to one word. Ignorance. The men are tyrant pigs when it comes to sexism. They want it to be women in the kitchen making meals. They want it to be women in the bedroom having sex. This is disgusting. Because women deserve better.

JOHN MCCAIN DOESN’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO REALLY BE AN AMERICAN

He’s never had to live poor. He’s never had to live without health insurance. Nor has he had to live in in ghettos, and he’s never had to settle for cat and dog food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So how can he look at the grinless faces of young children and senior citizens in America, and say “I understand what you’ve had to go through.”? He can’t. He’s a millionaire. He’s got health insurance. He feasts on steak and mashed potatoes and wine. He’s got it made. Set for life. And he’s running for president without the health care ideas that are not as sufficient as that of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Wasn’t Jane Fonda right? John McCain is a hypocrite. And to prove it, the hospitality he recieved as a POW in Vietnam was much better than the treatment others get here in America. If you’ve watched Michael Moore’s movie Sicko, there was a seven-year old little girl who died of a cardiac arrest after having a temperature of 104, and nobody came to help her. This is just one example of many cases of human cruelty on the part of the medical profession here in America. The captors at the “Hanoi Hilton” did treat McCain for his injuries. So don’t tell me that John McCain, a product of the Bush Administration, will enable people to get the health care they so desperately need, yet cannot afford.

A “third term in the White House”? Barack Obama was right on that. If Bush drove America to the ground, McCain will be sure to keep it there. Right at the bottom.

You just watch.