Opening Week

Or should I have gone with opening weak?  Well, here I go again, sounding like some crotchety old guy.  But, hey, it's true.  When I was a kid, baseball opening day was a big deal.  Now it's all a mishmash of a week, competing with the NBA and March Madness.  Okay, rant done.

The last couple of years I've marked opening day with a baseball card from the mediocre ranks of ballplayers.  The sort of guy who had a decent career.  A few good years, a few bad years, and a number of years floating around the admirable middle.  Anyway, I didn't have time to go looking for a cheap card, so instead, a collection of girl's softball photos from sunny southern California.

Dated "Sept 66" these images got me  wondering.  When did girls make the transition from being Tomboys, something to grow out of, to women athletes, a way of life?  In L.A., it looks like that transition was already started in 1966.  In my hometown, in rural western Pennsylvania, things were different.  Sports was important  for boys, but not for girls.   We had Pony League for football, Little League for baseball;  Intramural teams in grade school for boys, high school football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, track and field, gymnastics, and cross country.  But for girls...I can't remember anything other than volleyball and cheer leading.  My hometown was pretty conservative, but it wasn't that different from the other small towns in the area.  Thank you Title 9.