Some years ago, when I played on the sixth grade football team, the fifth-grade football team was short a man. The fifth-grade coach asked me if I would play, even though he knew it was illegal. I was still in my pads from practice, and I said sure – if an adult said it was OK, it must have been OK.

I intercepted two passes, both of which I ran back for touchdowns. We killed them, and everyone congratulated me, but I felt kind of sleazy. I knew I had cheated. I was playing with smaller, lesser-skilled kids. I never again had much respect for the fifth-grade coach.

I have nothing against girls playing against boys. But, boys should not play on girls teams. It’s sort of the same thing.

A lot of people are up in arms over a Wisconsin court of appeals rejecting a lawsuit by a boy who wanted to compete on the high school girls gymnastics team. If girls can infringe on boys games – like Michelle Wie trying to play on the PGA Tour – then isn’t it reverse discrimination?

No, it’s just unfair.

In Wie’s case, it’s a little more complex: a lesser skilled player trying to compete against men clearly superior, in the supposed name of gender equity and being all you can be. She’s exploiting the underdog role. What’s unfair is that she’s turning the concept inside out, to the detriment of the integrity of the game.

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