"TOM BRADY SHOULD DECIDE IF HE WANTS TO TAKE HIS DRESS OFF OR JUST STAY A GIRL"

So, this is the intelligent quote that came out of the mouth of one of the sports talking heads after the Pats beat the Ravens yesterday. Apparently a lot of people were extremely unhappy with a questionable personal foul called against a Raven's defensive player for hitting Tom Brady, the Patriot's quarterback at the knees early in the game. The call gave the Pats a much needed first down, keeping a drive alive that eventually led to a touchdown.

As you might recall, Brady had a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the first game last year when he was hit in the knees. Since then, the NFL has instituted new rules to protect the careers of players making it a personal foul to hit them in that very vulnerable area. The Raven's unhappiness stemmed from the minimal amount of contact that took place eliciting the foul. As it happened, Brady immediately pointed at the offending player so the ref could see what had happened. Of course, players pointing out fouls rarely, if ever influence the ref's calls. In this case, the official was right on top of the play and immediately threw out his flag.

I don't want to comment on the issue of whether the refs were right or not. There's is a thankless job and no matter what decision they make, half the people are always unhappy with their "bad calls." What I do want to briefly chat about is this comment, on national TV by a so-called "football expert, "Tom Brady should decide if he wants to take his dress off or just stay a girl."

Now, to be fair to this far from politically correct individual who actually said these embarrassing tidbits of machismo, (he probably doesn't have the sense to be embarrassed) and will go unnamed, I'm probably misquoting him....but not by much!

I may be thick here, but I don't get the implication of his remarks. Are we to believe that Tom Brady is weak...a baby.... a softee? Is that what this guy meant by his gender derogatory comments? Girls are the weaker sex and "real men" take hits, are tough and strong and don't run to the refs for protection?

This is the kind of insensitive idiocy that leads high school football coaches to humiliate their players by calling them "girls" when they screw up and push them through gassers in 94 degree weather without allowing them to drink water so they can make them "tough."

Whether consciously intended or not, these kinds of dumb remarks unconsciously perpetuate a negative attitude in boys and men towards women. They communicate that being female is a position of weakness and disgrace. Forget about whether this was a bad call by the ref or not. To me, this comment was the REALLY BAD call!