In his essay "The Softball Was Always Hard", Harry Bruce says " I will tell the softball players that.the game they play is more tarted-up and sissy than the one I knew." My grandfathers tell stories similar to that of Mr. Bruce which allow me to understand the basis of his statements, however I do not agree with his argument. .
It appears to me that while the equipment used is not the same, the object of the game is. Personally, I do not understand why the author calls a person a "sissy" if they use a glove to catch a baseball. Why do players have to be criticized because they are using tools to prevent injuries and better their skills? .
In my experience with dance, we were given the option of buying various shoes. There were the classic shoes -which after an hour of dance left your feet covered with blisters- or more modern shoes -which enabled you to perform to your maximum ability. Often times, the younger students would buy the new slippers while teachers and older students would special order their slippers which were rarely even produced anymore because they did not offer nearly the same amount of benefits as the new slippers.
I think that Mr. Bruce is rather conservative and set in his ways. Simply because he had to walk six miles through the snow to get to school does not mean that the generation today has to follow in his footsteps. The same goes for sports. The fact that Harry Bruce had to get a fifteen-year-old to make him a bat and today you can purchase a bat that is the correct weight for you does not justify his actions of saying that youth today play a "tarted-up" version of softball. In my eyes the rules of the game have not changed, just the accessories that go along with it. .
Harriet continued her personal campaign, by working as a conductor and by making public speeches, until slavery was abolished throughout the United States. ... When Maryland offered a reward of $10,000 for his capture, he responed that if they would make it $20,000, he would bring himself in. ...
