While reading David Holt’s column from Monday’s issue of The Hatchet (“A little from column `A,’ a little from column `B’,” p. 13), we were disturbed by his expressed desire that the GW women’s soccer team continue their losing streak: “Come on, women’s soccer team. 0-l9…We can do it!”
What surprised us was not the lack of support for this GW team, although that too is disturbing. Rather, we were taken aback by the condescending tone prevalent in the article’s opening paragraphs.
Based on the content of this column, Holt would seemingly rather be handed material for humorous headlines than be challenged to write stories that evoke emotion from readers amidst an otherwise blas? season, because “that’s when headlines really get fun.” Were the women’s soccer team to win their next seven games and bring their season mark to .500, Holt might be in trouble. As he says, “a 5-5 team doesn’t get me excited.” Is this because it poses a challenge to him as a writer?
Holt states that he has “often thought that the two most interesting things for a sports writer to cover are the awesome teams and the God-awful ones.” Of course he has. The fact of the matter is that any fool can write a story covering a team that finishes its season undefeated. The grandeur of such an act, as it exists in the American psyche, creates drama for readers with little need for assistance from the author. Likewise, any smart ass can write a scathing headline condemning a team that does not perform well. This latter pastime takes even less talent than the former. While Americans love a winner, they really dislike losers.
What Holt has failed to recognize is that at the collegiate level, outstanding performances are not always rewarded with wins. This fact is proven by the 1-0 loss suffered by the women’s soccer team to the 17th-ranked University of Georgia after two overtime periods. This is not to say that sports writers at The Hatchet should be giving pats on the back and As for effort. On the crew, as it is on every other team at GW, winning is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, our race results have not always matched our goals. Under these circumstances, being congratulated for a “noble effort” serves only to add insult to injury. This is because as competitive athletes we are very demanding of ourselves and refuse to accept poor performances.
Similarly, as intelligent and mature readers of The Hatchet, we are disappointed to see the sophomoric chastising of fellow athletes in place of thoughtful analysis. Some of Holt’s past articles indicate his talent as a writer, but Monday’s article was truly a poor performance. Perhaps Holt should come to expect the same consistent level of excellence from himself that those he writes about demand from themselves.
-The writers are co-captains of the GW men’s crew team.
