Rough game, tough players

Professor Patrick Henry Winston ’65, SM ’67, PhD ’70

A day or two ago, after dinner with a student group, I was heading back to my car when I noticed that the lights were full on at Steinbrenner Stadium, so I decided to wander over and see what was going on.

It was rugby. When I played football in high school, I liked the idea of a helmet and a lot of pads, so I've never quite understood how anyone can be tough enough to play a serious contact sport without them.

Also, back in high school, I thought that girls/women were delicate and boys/men were not. The boys played football and the girls played a form of basketball with special rules, presumably to keep them from overexerting themselves.

Times have changed. This was women's rugby, and there was nothing delicate about the play.

Pretty soon I was hooked. The game was terrifically exciting to watch, with lots of movement, fierce tackles, and plays seemingly stopped only to get going again with a skillful lateral pass.

It occurred to me to be glad that Title IX and shifting social attitudes ensure that girls and women have more equal access to the physical and educational benefits of sports.

Anyway, with the Red Sox season over, and the prospects of the Patriots still unclear, it was good to have a team to root for and be proud of. The MIT women, who happen to be defending national champions, crushed Wentworth 43-19.