BENJAMIN YOUNG
Staff Writer
Apparently I am an awful writer. I do not say this as a ploy to seem cute and witty. I do not say this to pick up some self-depreciating humor points. Sure, writers often joke about being bad writers to seem approachable to the ordinary man or woman.
I mean, if I were to use contractions, bad grammar and misspelled words, there is chance that there would be people out there who appreciate it. Being that Pepperdine has quite a few Texans on campus, I would bank on that number being quite large. Calm down – I’m from Texas, too.
Maybe that is why what happened to me Wednesday morning impacted me so much. I was called out as an awful writer by a fellow Texan.
Unless the offense is unforgivable, or unless your name is Lyndon Baines Johnson, Texans are not people who generally call out their own. We stick together. Or, maybe we used to stick together. It appears that times have changed.
Let me replay the conversation for you. I was sitting in the gym at approximately 9:55 a.m. A basketball player with whom I have been casual friends for a couple of years walked up to me. Here is what went down:
Me: Hey man. What’s going on?
Him: You’re a (expletive) awful writer.
Me: What?
Him: I read that (expletive) you wrote for Sports last week about my team. You’re an awful writer.
Me: Wait, man!
Him: No! Don’t touch me. You suck.
But alas, it was too late. He stormed away. A friendship possibly in ruins, I tried to remember what I said last week about basketball. Oh yeah. That whole thing about being terrible … Oh well.
As soon as they start winning some games, I am sure all of us skeptics will come back into the fold. So that’s the ultimatum – win games, we’ll shut up. It’s quite simple.
But this exchange with said athlete was not the highlight of my sports week. Watching the women’s volleyball team dominate two matches this weekend was excellent. I’m predicting a top-10 final polls finish for the lady Waves. They are a young team with some great new talent – especially everyone’s favorite freshman, Ms. Julie Rubenstein. What is that you say? What would Sean Rooney play like as a girl? Hmm …
And hats off to the water polo team as well. They whipped everyone this weekend. My national championship prediction is still looking good with them.
In closing, it appears the bonds that bind Texans are not as strong as they used to be. But then, a little criticism here and there could be a good thing for the most hyped-up sport at Pepperdine. And remember to go support all sports. The attendance over this weekend for the volleyball team hitting clinic was quite sparse. But I am confident that will change as more people realize how great this team is. And with that, I’m out. Go support your teams this week.
09-08-2005
