The Women’s College World Series championship round kicked off last night in Oklahoma City with a 5-3 win for the Oklahoma Sooners against the Tennessee Vols. The best-two-of-three series between No. 1 Oklahoma and the No. 7 Tennessee will continue tonight with game two, with game three if necessary Wednesday night to determine the 2013 championship team.
The 12-inning nail-biter tested the women to the height or their endurance as they played the longest game in the championship round of the WCWC since 1984. The only runs scored were in the eleventh and twelfth innings. After the Vols scored three runs in the top of the eleventh, the Sooners answered in the bottom with three more when down to their last out and last strike. The Sooners closed out the game with another two runs in the bottom of the twelfth in the important first game of the series.
The excitement and hype surrounding these games and the rest of the WCWC has been high as these women battle for the top. It’s strange to think that a few short decades ago, women were fighting at the Congressional level for rights that are today obvious.
Title IX, the act that laid the foundation upon which women’s amateur and professional sports are built, was made law in 1972 and ensures that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in . . . any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” This assurance has had far-reaching influence in the sports world, as it guarantees women the same opportunities as men athletically as well as in other educational endeavors.
*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefenderTM products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.
