The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! Let it be known that Tennessee is the greatest state in this country, and aside from big-ass bugs and the humidity from May through August, it’s paradise, baby!
I love this state, I love Tennessee sports, I love Southern heritage and I love my home. It’s that simple. A simple life makes me a simple man and I am simply satisfied with that.
So what shall we discuss this issue? I promised a memorable installment this month, and I plan on delivering with two topics that can be entwined into one: The Olympics and transgender athletes. You sure you want to do this, Train Daddy? Seems like a dangerous subject. . . .
I have discussed trans athletes somewhat in the past when relevant, and after these Olympics I am making it relevant again. I believe that soon, transgender athletes will begin popping up in the NCAA and future Olympic Games. The NCAA and IOC actually embrace the idea allowing athletes to compete with whatever gender suits their fancy, and many advocates praise the idea.
I will also break down events from Pyeongchang and celebrate the victories of Team USA.
In South Korea we didn’t see any transgender athletes compete, but the coming 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan more than likely will include multiple transgender athletes competing.
It remains a controversial subject, with the number-one question being: do transgender athletes have an advantage?
The anger is more directed towards transgender women who decide to compete with naturally born females. Most people ignore transgender men in sports. Why is this?
The makeup of a man and woman can’t be compared; men have the advantages of power, strength, muscle mass and stamina. It’s a fact. You can’t tell me lowering the testosterone levels of a trans woman suddenly makes her fair competition.
Why do you even care, Train Daddy? Honestly, that’s a simple answer. I care because I am passionate about the integrity of sports and its record books. Allow former men to compete with women and we destroy the integrity of it all. Most of you won’t wake up until a transgender athlete dominates the field. Say a trans woman wins gold in the Olympics. Millions of people will then say “how was this allowed?” And I will say I told you so!
What about transgender rights? There is an answer to making this fair for all, though some won’t like it. The only way to create an honest playing field is to not have men’s or women’s leagues. Instead we have no-gender leagues in which the fastest and strongest athletes play. It’s that simple!
You know as well as I do there would be a lack of women in professional sports in that case. Transgender supporters and feminists want equality, right? I rest my case! There is a reason we keep men and women separate in sports, and having transgender women competing with natural-born females will never be fair.
What’s sad is that, like every other social issue, if you oppose this you’re somehow a bigot in the eyes of many rather than a human being who is rationally defending the integrity of sports.
U-S-A!, U-S-A!, U-S-A!
Now, let’s shine a light on the men and women who represented Team USA in the 2018 Olympics.
To be honest, Team USA was not your typically dominant Team USA, notching its lowest medal count in 20 years. The United States finished fourth overall with 23 total medals; Norway smashed the competition with a leading 39 medals.
Team USA did have 35 athletes just fall short of the podium with fourth- through sixth-place finishes. Team USA should be proud (aside from a handful of jackass athletes like Shani Davis and Gus Kenworthy) that the USA athletes showed poise.
Let’s take a look at the amazing women who represented Team USA. Chloe Kim has probably spawned a new generation of little USA snowboarders. The 17-year-old dominated the half-pipe, winning gold and, in between runs, using Twitter to jokingly complain about being hungry. Jamie Anderson also respectably won two snowboarding medals.
My vote for favorite act goes to Team USA Women’s Hockey, chopping up Team Canada like bacon in a dramatic shootout! They brought home the gold and were my favorite performance of the games. Lindsey Vonn showed the world that despite her age she had just a tad bit left in the tank, winning bronze and becoming the oldest Alpine skier ever to medal.
My dream girl from the Olympics won two medals—Mikaela Shiffrin, beautiful and classy—winning gold in the giant slalom and silver in Alpine combined. We also had the women’s cross-country team win its first-ever medal, and it was gold. The women’s bobsled team won silver, and the women’s team pursuit in speed skating captured a bronze medal. I tip my hat—well done, ladies, you represented America with class.
What about the men, my brothers! I have to start with my favorite, “The Flying Tomato”! Shaun White showed us he may very well be the greatest Winter Olympian in American history, stealing gold on his final run and showing the young snowboarders he is still king of the half-pipe.
US luger Chris Mazdzer was a long shot to even compete, yet with the run of his life he secured the first-ever medal for Team USA in the luge. I loved the fact that his girlfriend and sisters were in the crowd wearing bikinis and cheering despite sub-zero wind chills.
How can you not love 17-year-old Red Gerard? This stupid teenager stayed up too late watching Netflix, overslept, lost his coat, miraculously won a gold medal and then, in pure astonishment, said “holy f*ck” on live TV. Silly teenagers!
Curling, curling, curling! What else is there to say, Team USA, underdogs, knocking off the powerhouse Swedish team to win gold! You are as fascinated as I am with those sweeping brooms.
David Wise won gold and Alex Ferreira won silver in the stupid sport that is half-pipe skiing. Really, it’s like slow man’s snowboarding. John-Henry Krueger’s silver win in the men’s 1,000 meter speed skating was impressive due to the lack of American success in that sport. Krueger is just happy he won’t be remembered as that kid who got swine flu; he was forced to withdraw four years ago due to the sickness.
I also tip my hat to you, gentlemen—you represented America with class.
OLYMPIC FAILS
Not all the men acted with class, however. Two athletes deserve to be shamed here! Let’s start with Shani Davis, a speed-skating legend. Rather than having a happy Olympic sendoff, he makes a fool of himself.
Prior to the opening ceremonies, Team USA always votes on who will receive the awesome honor of being the flag bearer. Athletes decide, and the vote was a deadlock tie between Davis and Erin Hamlin. It’s an honor just to be nominated, right? Team USA rules state that in case of a tie, a coin flip will decide the winner, Davis lost, and of course the coin was a racist!
He went to Twitter and called out Team USA, claiming that because he is a successful African-American there had to be racism involved. Davis had little support and was forced to spend his entire Olympics hiding from the media. What a fool, and what an embarrassing way for Team USA to begin the Olympics.
Okay, one more man to shame: Gus! This man made more news for kissing his boyfriend on live TV and shaming South Koreans for eating dog meat than he did skiing. But that’s not the reason for my beef; it’s because he slammed Ivanka Trump. Gus used a profanity-laced tweet to bash Ivanka and ask why she was even attending the closing ceremonies, as if she had no right to be there. With Gus Kenworthy’s dreadful performance, the real question is: what were you doing in South Korea?
So that’s my Olympic wrap-up. Aside from a few bumps in the road, all went well. I guess it’s time for the world to remember that North Korea is North Korea. Playing nice seemed nice, but Kim Jong-un still wants to blow everyone up—don’t forget that!
TRANSGENDER DISCUSSION
So let’s wrap this thing up with the remainder of my transgender discussion. Jillian Bearden and Rachel McKinnon have much in common. They are cyclists with plans to make the 2020 Olympics, and both are transgender women.
But that’s where the comparisons end and the argument on what is and isn’t fair begins. Bearden agrees with the IOC that naturally occurring testosterone gives trans athletes an advantage over natural-born females, and that trans athletes who compete with unlimited levels of testosterone are equivalent to dopers and cheaters.
McKinnon believes that view violates human rights and that transgender women should have no testing. Two transgender athletes, two different opinions!
Watch out for New Zealander Laurel Hubbard as well. Laurel has been dominating weightlifting in New Zealand. The 39-year-old transgender woman lived the first 35 years of her life as a man and now is competing and winning at the highest levels as a woman. Hubbard will compete in the Australian Commonwealth games this April and is on track to compete in the 2020 Olympics.
My last story: Texas High School wrestler Mack Beggs just won a second Texas state title this year. Mack, who is undefeated in two years of wrestling, is a transgender boy who is taking steroids to transition. The kicker is Mack is still wrestling the girls while taking regular doses of testosterone. Texas law requires Mack to wrestle the gender on her birth certificate, but is allowed to legally take testosterone because it is prescribed through a physician. The effects of the testosterone are obvious; Mack is bigger and stronger than all her opponents. Mack was booed after winning the title this month as parents of the other girls claim it is very unfair to all these other girls who are obviously not taking testosterone. But what can we do?
I truly have no animosity towards transgender people. I live by the code: treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself. I try and show respect to every stranger I meet, no matter the differences between us. But I am very passionate about the integrity of sports, and I feel it will get worse before people wake up and say “hey, this isn’t fair!”
Train’s out the station. Choo-choo!
