Pirate Galaxy » We miss the fact that playing like a girl means

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was ready to see his second-ranked Tigers build momentum for the final regular-season push. He couldnt be happier with their performance against Syracuse.The Tigers (6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 9-0 for a second straight season, rolling over the Orange for a 54-0 shutout Saturday. Not even seeing Heisman Trophy contending quarterback Deshaun Watson leave the game with an injury in the first half could spoil Swinneys satisfaction over this one.For us, its just trying to stay on course and build some momentum, he said.That was not easy in October as Clemson needed fourth-quarter rallies to defeat No. 7 Louisville (42-36) and No. 22 Florida State (37-34) and sweated out a missed field goal by North Carolina State to escape that one in overtime, 24-17.Watson threw for two touchdowns, including a pretty, arcing 65-yard toss that hit Deon Cain in stride, and ran for a third in the blowout victory.Both Watson and Swinney said the bruised right shoulder was fine and would not prevent him from facing Pitt next week with a chance to clinch the ACC Atlantic Division.Watson finished with 169 yards passing and 39 rushing to keep the Tigers (6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 3 AP) on track for the ACC title game.November is championship time, Watson said . Its time to set a new standard and set a new tone.Watson, who had a bag of ice on his right shoulder, said he felt fine and couldve kept playing.Syracuse (4-5, 2-3) had hoped to catch Clemson napping after the Tigers dramatic, 37-34 win at Florida State last week. However, any upset chances left once Orange quarterback Eric Dungey was knocked out in the first quarter following a hard hit by linebacker Dorian ODaniel. Dungey, the ACC leader in passing yards and completions per game coming in, returned from the locker room in shorts and a ball cap as backups Austin Wilson and Zack Mahoney finished up.Orange coach Dino Babers said his training staff ruled Dungey out and he had no additional update about the quarterbacks condition or how soon he might return.I do think anytime you lose your starting quarterback in an offense thats designed to pass, its going to be a dramatic change, Babers said.Syracuse was held to 277 yards of offense, including just 172 yards passing -- their second fewest this season.Clemsons Cain had two TD catches and 125 yards on five receptions. He said this game -- Clemson scored 31 points with Watson sidelined -- showed how deep the Tigers are this season. Best is the standard and our standard doesnt change, Cain said. Weve got the best of the best out there all the time.It was Clemsons first ACC shutout since defeating Miami 58-0 last year and the first time Syracuse was held without points since a 56-0 loss to Georgia Tech in 2013.Tigers linebacker Ben Boulware said Syracuses offense was fast-paced and complex so to go out there and get a shutout, thats a difficult thing to do.THE TAKEAWAYSyracuse: The Orange had come off two straight wins, but Babers program is not yet ready to take down teams like Clemson.Clemson: With their toughest regular-season games over, the Tigers are rolling much like they did down the stretch a year ago. Thats a dangerous prospect for their potential ACC title game opponent or for other national title contenders.POLL IMPLICATIONSClemson: Its status quo for the Tigers, barring a major Saturday night surprise . Despite the easy win, Clemson likely wont jump No. 2 Michigan in the Top 25 rankings or No. 1 Alabama in the CFP poll next week -- unless the Crimson Tide stumble. Clemsons path to the end, though, is much less worrisome than its two higher ranked competitors, leaving the Tigers in prime pouncing position if anyone ahead loses.RECORD SETTERSyracuse receiver Amba Etta-Tawo had nine catches, setting the schools single-season record with 75 receptions. He topped Alec Lemons mark of 72 in 2012. Etta-Tawo came into the game leading the ACC in several categories, including total receiving yards and yards per game. Etta-Tawos older brother Etta Etta-Tawo was a rising Clemson defensive lineman whose career ended early in 2006 because of medical issues.UP NEXTSyracuse: The Orange face North Carolina State next Saturday, the first of two straight games at the Carrier Dome.Clemson: The Tigers play their final ACC regular-season home game with Pittsburgh, a team it has not faced since the Panthers joined the league before the 2013 football season. Shed Long Jersey . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. Mark Langston Jersey . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. https://www.cheapmariners.com/165k-brandon-brennan-jersey-mariners.html . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. Ricardo Sanchez Jersey . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Kyle Lewis Jersey . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Katie Ledeckys Olympic Games are off to a flying start: The 19-year-old swimmer took gold in her first individual event Sunday night. And she didnt just win -- she blew her competition out of the water, finishing with a nearly 5-second lead and breaking her own world record in the 400-meter freestyle.By holding world records in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle, Ledeckys dominance continues to be astounding. During Sunday nights broadcast, as Ledecky quickly pulled ahead of the pack, NBCs Rowdy Gaines proclaimed: A lot of people say she swims like a man. She doesnt swim like a man -- she swims like Katie Ledecky.Indeed, the tendency to compare women athletes to men seems to arise no matter what, in an attempt to contextualize female athletic achievement in the male terms we understand as default.This girl is doing respectable times for guys, 11-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte told USA Today. Olympic silver medalist Connor Jaeger took the comparison beyond her impressive times. Her stroke is like a mans stroke, he told the Washington Post. I mean that in a positive way. She swims like a man.Lochte, Jaeger and most people comparing Ledecky to male swimmers are trying to be nothing but praiseworthy. And the idea that she has a mans stroke isnt entirely hyperbolic. As espnWs?Philip Hersh explains, her coach tweaked her mechanics to employ techniques rarely used by female swimmers:And yet, its easy to see why many on social media reacted strongly to the idea of comparing Ledecky to a man in the first place. Ledecky uses a stroke traditionally ascribed to men, but theres nothing about the skills required to employ that stroke that are uniquely male. Strength and timing can be acquired, and history has shown us that both improved training and increased access to sports helps close the gap between men and women athletes.This is demonstrably true in swimming. In 2012, the Atlantics Robinson Meyer found that womens world-record times in the 100 free have improved at a greater pace than the mens times since 1905. Interestingly, he also compared mens and womens world records across events and found that women come closest to men in longer races, particularly the 1500.Thats noteworthy with regard to Ledecky because, while she holds the world record in the 1500 free, she wont have the chance to swim the event in Rio. The womens mile is glaringly absent from the Olympic program, which has featured the mens 1500 since 1908.The reasons are vague and unconvincing -- everything from a lack of global reach to a dearth of public interest. But while the 1500 requires more patience from viewers than shorter races with more immediate excitement, theres no explanation for why that same reasoning isnt applied to the men -- nor why it also doesnt hold true for the 10K open-water swim, which was introduced to the Olympics for both men and women in 2008. As for the global naature of the womens mile, since the 1500 was added to the FINA world championship program in 2001, the event has hailed medalists from 11 different countries.ddddddddddddThe International Olympic Committee has thus far rejected FINAs attempts to push for the womens 1500 in the Olympics, citing too many events on the schedule. Thats a very real concern, and has led the IOC to foolishly eliminate other essential events in the past. (Welcome back, baseball and softball.)Having men swim a 1500 while the women swim an 800 harkens back to a time of immense resistance to all womens events, particularly those endurance sports thought to be too physically strenuous for delicate female bodies. And while that might not be the intention, its not happening in a vacuum. Its happening in a sports climate that tells women tennis players they cant play five sets, that belittles womens basketball and soccer players for hypothetically not being able to compete with the men, that delegitimizes womens sports entirely when athletes like Serena Williams or the UConn basketball team are deemed too dominant -- dominance for which Ledecky receives praise when its framed in mens terms.Its a vestige of still seeing sports as inherently male space, and of mostly male fans and commentators unable or unwilling to consider female athletes by their merits alone. Forgetting that half of sports fans are women, the narrative takes shape around terms to which the prototypical mens fan can relate. But when women are derided when theyre not as strong or fast as the men, yet simultaneously scorned when they dominate other women, we miss the point of womens sports entirely. We miss the fact that playing like a girl means something entirely different today than it meant 50 years ago.Its important to remember that Ledecky, who is going for a medal Tuesday night in the 200 freestyle, doesnt swim like a man -- she swims like Katie Ledecky. Mone Davis indeed does throw my curveball like Clayton Kershaw and my fastball like Mone Davis. There isnt a ceiling on womens athletic achievement, and strong female athletes will continue to innovate and evolve their events in terms of womens sports, not mens, even if and when that means competing on the same level.Regardless of comparison, womens sports need to be celebrated and enjoyed on their own merits -- by men and women alike. Whether you watched Michael Jordan as a Knicks fan, Mariano Rivera as a Red Sox fan or Nadia Comaneci as an American, you were still watching greatness, even if you were on the other team.So savor the moments you get to watch Ledecky and Williams and Simone Biles. Theyre not redirecting female athletes into a supposedly superior, male space. Theyre reframing womens sports in terms of potential. ' ' '