Unintentional Comedy: The Most Bizarre Injuries in Sports

By David Yourgrau

Throughout my life sports has offered me with the widest range of emotions, from pure euphoria, to complete disappointment, to hysterical amusement. Women have their movie stars and pop stars, and guys, we have our pro athletes. Athletes much like movie stars and pop stars live in this ideal universe where they get paid millions of dollars to do things that many people do for free. We emulate and honor them. We follow their professional and personal lives. However unlike the cookie cutter images and lives attributed to many of these actors and singers, athletes offer us with truly genuine and authentic characters. With these characters come their flawed behaviors. The world of sports never ceases to be a source of entertainment. The spectacular plays by physical specimens who are masters of their craft. But athletes are not bred and molded to be suited for the limelight such as Hollywood celebrities. While personality plays a crucial role in the world of the celebrities’, athletes are thrust into the limelight simply because of their athletic ability. Often time’s athletes are unprepared for their newly received fame and fortune. Also, because sports are often played with raw and pure emotion we get to witness some of the most outlandish acts where an athlete simply seems to abandon all reason. It is because of this that the world of professional sports offers us with some of the most real and interesting characters and stories. Some of the most bizarre stories of these athletes occur in the accounts of their injuries. We often get fooled to believing that every injury in sports has some reasonable and legitimate explanation. However much like our own lives, athletes too experience incidents that are beyond explanation and are sometimes merely victims of bizarre circumstances. But unlike our own lives their misfortunes are documented and publicized. Here is my list of the top ten strangest and most comical injuries in recent sport’s history.

10. Rickey Henderson:
Former baseball great Rickey Henderson was forced to miss three games, due to injury, during the 1993 Major League Baseball season while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. Henderson’s injury was frostbite, which he acquired in August. Henderson was icing his foot with an ice pack at his home and fell asleep without removing the ice pack. Although it is quite understandable to see how this happened the idea of someone acquiring frostbite during one of the hottest months during the year is ridiculous.

9. Marty Cordova:
Former baseball player Marty Cordova injured himself by burning his face when he fell asleep in a tanning bed in 2002. At the time Cordova was playing for the Baltimore Orioles and he was forced to miss the following day’s game due to this injury. Doctors even suggested that Cordova should avoid being exposed to the sun for next couple of days. I already am completely opposed to the idea of guys going tanning. However when one also considers the fact that Cordova’s job entails him to be outside in the sunshine everyday it makes this injury even more ridiculous. Why would he feel the need to go tanning when he spends most of his days outside in the sun?

8. Vince Coleman:
Coleman’s injury may be the most unfortunate of any on this list. This former baseball player was a star outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. During the third game of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, Coleman was run over by the tarp machine that was being operated by the Busch Stadium maintenance crew. Coleman’s legs were trapped under the machine for thirty seconds before the maintenance crew was able to free him. Coleman suffered a bone chip in his knee and bruises on his legs which forced him to be removed from the field by a stretcher. The injury forced Coleman to miss the remainder of the post season. However Coleman was still able to find humor in this unfortunate event as he commented to his teammates that "that tarp was a real man-eater." Fortunately for us Coleman was able to recover from this injury and continue playing baseball and did not seek beginning a career in comedy.

7. Sammy Sosa:
To many, baseball great Sammy Sosa is viewed as indestructible. He has hit over 600 home-runs and is viewed by many as one of the greatest power hitters of all time. However the greatest threat to Sosa may not be that 90 mile an hour fastball being thrown directly towards him. Instead Sosa’s greatest fear may just be those tiny and treacherous dust particles known as pollen. Sosa has never missed a game after getting hit by a baseball however in 2004 while playing for the Chicago Cubs Sosa was forced to miss a game against the San Diego Padres due to straining his back after sneezing. When Sosa first entered the Cubs clubhouse before the game he sneezed twice and was forced to support himself by holding onto a chair because of the back pain caused by these two sneezes. Sosa was then forced to spend the rest of the afternoon in the training room receiving treatment for his back, while his team played the Padres. In an interview with the Associated Press Sosa recognized the absurdity of this injury. "It would have been better if I had hit off the wall or we have a fight or something, but this ... you know what I mean? What can you do? Some things in life you cannot control. This is strange that it happened." To add to this bizarre story doctors ordered Sosa to avoid pepper, pollen and ragweed for the rest of the season.


6. Adrian McPherson:
Apparently defensive players are not the only ones trying to hurt Saint’s backup quarterback Adrian McPherson. During the halftime of a game against the Tennessee Titans on August 13th, 2006 in Tennessee, McPherson was run over by a golf cart being driven by Titan’s mascot T-Rac while warming up on the sideline. After being hit McPherson stayed on the ground for several minutes due to injury and, in my opinion, shock. McPherson suffered a mild knee injury and did not return to the Saint’s sideline for the second half of the game. If T-Rac’s intentions were in fact to aid the Titans in defeating the Saints he should have picked a different target. McPherson was not scheduled to play that day and was not even considered a factor in the game.


5. Ken Griffey Junior:
Current Cincinnati Reds’ outfielder Ken Griffey Junior once missed a game while playing for the Seattle Mariners because of a pinched testicle. In a stroke of irony the injury was caused by a protective cup that was too tight. It is not that an injury to the genitals is extremely rare in itself. Griffey’s injury is so strange because it was self inflicted and was caused by an object that is suppose to serve the completely opposite purpose.

4. Eddie Griffin:
Former basketball player Eddie Griffin was involved in a car accident in 2006. However the cause of the accident was that Griffin was masturbating and watching a pornographic D.V.D. while driving. Griffin smashed his car into a parked SUV in the parking lot of a grocery store in Minneapolis. So not only was Griffin masturbating while driving but he also managed to get into an accident with a parked car. The accident most likely ended the activity that Griffin was participating in. The personal complaint filed against Griffin adds to the utter ridiculousness of the situation. It states that Griffin was “not paying attention to the direction of travel ahead of him due in part to the fact he was watching a pornographic DVD which was displayed on a mounted in-dash DVD player, located near the steering column, in his Escalade video”. Griffin ended up pleading guilty to inattentive driving and was ordered to pay a fine and court fees that totaled to $375. Hopefully Griffin also learned that some actions are meant to be done in the privacy of one’s own home.

3. Glenallen Hill:
Former baseball player Glenallen Hill missed a game for his team the Toronto Blue Jay against the Seattle Mariners in 1990 because he cut his foot on glass while sleepwalking. Hill suffered cuts on his toes and elbows that were severe enough to force Hill to go to the hospital and to be temporarily placed on crutches. The strange part was that Hill’s sleep walking was caused by him “trying to escape imaginary spiders in a nightmare”. Hill himself explained in an article in the New York Times that he has “a phobia about spiders” and ''In the nightmare, I was trying to get away from spiders.'' Arachnophobia in itself is strange enough. However when it causes a grown man to get injured due to it because he is sleepwalking around his house in the fear that imaginary spiders are chasing him, it is being brought to a whole different level.

2. Gus Frerotte:
The biggest danger to Frerotte may be his enthusiasm. The NFL’s Minnesota Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte, like Gramatica, has also learned the harms of celebrating too much. While he was playing quarterback for the Washing Redskins in a game against the New York Giants in 1997 he was forced to miss the second half of the game after “head-butting a padded wall in the end zone in celebration after scoring on a one-yard run late in the first half”. Young athletes should note that this is what happens when one’s testosterone level reaches the point beyond one being able to function. After scoring the touchdown Frerotte sprinted towards the corner of the stadium and spiked the ball against the wall. Then he decided it would be a good idea to spike his own head against the wall too. When Frerotte returned to his team sideline and began to remove his helmet team doctors noticed that Frerotte was wincing. During halftime he was time Frerotte was taken into the locker room for x-rays, which were negative. However as a precaution Frerotte was taken to a nearby hospital for further testing. CAT scans taken at the hospital came out negative, however Frerotte was still forced to leave the hospital wearing a neck brace. This served as proof of Frerotte’s embarrassing injury. As a quarterback who has played most of his career as a backup, this is not what Frerotte should be doing when he finally receives playing time.


1. Bill Gramatica:
Former NFL kicker Bill Gramatica may have possibly suffered the most ridiculous and comical injury in the history of sports. While playing for the Arizona Cardinals in 2001 Gramatica tore his ACL and his medial meniscus in a game against the New York Giants. Gramatica was celebrating a meaningless first quarter field goal by jumping up and down when he landed awkwardly on his non-kicking leg. The kick in no way warranted such a celebration. It was completely unnecessary. To add even more to the situation the injury was so serious that it required reconstructive surgery. Many were skeptical as to whether Gramatica would even be able to recovery well enough from the injury to continue his career in the NFL. The injury ultimately forced Gramatica to miss the rest of the season. However he was able to recover well enough to play in the NFL the following season. If there is such a thing as karma it certainly showed its face in this instance.


From selfishness to stupidity to just plain bad luck athletes never fail to be entertaining. Gramatica certainly had to be number one on this list. No other injury on this list required such foolishness and dim-wittedness than Gramatica’s. There is nothing more amusing than unintentional comedy and professional sports never lack to provide us with such. Injuries such as those listed above show another reason, beyond the competition and athleticism, why I am so fascinated by the world of sports. Sports figures are raw and authentic. Reality often offers us with some of the greatest comedy and entertainment without even attempting to do so. Sports allow us to view such realities and the flaws and mishaps that make life so interesting and entertaining.

"I've Got A New Way To Dance!"

By Roger Lee




After a long day of school, kids would enter the freshly scrubbed shimmering floors of their favorite studio. The floors were soon shimmering with sweat as it flew off the faces of young dancers working hard to perfect their technique. “5-6-7-8!” yelled the well-loved instructor. They served as a parental figure for the hundreds of students enrolled at their studio. The waist-high ballet bar came alive as kids tried to emulate the instructor’s grace and precision. The room was filled with the sweet sounds of classical music and concentration coming from the wannabe ballerinas. There would be a few young men hiding in the back, dreading to dance in tights for fear that their friends would find out. Little did they know that their friends would die to be in a class filled with such promising young ladies.

These dedicated young dancers devoted nearly six days a week to the rigorous stylings of ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. They traveled far and wide to get to their dance studios. Cars jammed up I-95 and city streets as families rushed their kids to dance class in the early evening traffic. While they raced to the popular dance studios, my parents were driving me to art school. The quiet Philadelphia streets were home to many historic art schools. On Saturday mornings I’d go to Fleischer Art Memorial for their free Saturday morning classes. I received undivided attention from my passionate art instructors while saving a ton of money. On the contrary, dance students were spending tons of money as they signed up for Saturday morning classes.

After years of training, costumes, and recitals, the “studio dancer” graduated and left behind a legacy while the art student was expected to spread their colorful creativity to the world. Although the art and dance student seemed worlds apart, both shared a love for creativity and discipline in their respective fields. While the dancers were learning ballet technique I was painting my heart out. While they were performing in recitals and showcases I was proudly presenting my art work on display. While they were perfecting years of technique and training I was putting the finishing touches on my portfolio. But as I grew in my art training, I also developed a love and appreciation for dance. I took a new and exciting road to the world of dance, a road far different from that of the studio dancer. It was as if I hit a detour and had to form my own path to reach dance.

Who knew that many years of art training would lead me on the path towards dance? I had no idea that my creativity could be expressed on paper and through my body. Thinking back to the yesteryears of grade school, I vividly remember career day. Our teacher would ask what we wanted to be when we grew up. In a room full of potential doctors, scientists, and archeologists, I was the brave soul that stated “I want to be an artist!” It was all laid out in the plans. I was blessed with parents who supported the arts and noticed my knack for drawing at a young age. They sent me to art school and supported me one-hundred percent. My art career was becoming more than just a pipe dream, but it was turning into a full fledge reality. I was taking the necessary steps towards my creative career goal. Then out of no where I was wisped off into the dance world without warning. Dance came at a random time in my life when I wasn’t expecting it.

The dance bug bit ten years ago during my grandmother’s 50th birthday celebration. I was wearing a tuxedo and feeling uncomfortable hanging around so many adults. When my mom told me to loosen up, she took me from my seat and said “dance with me!” I was nervous because I had never danced before. Sure I had danced along to my favorite music videos in the privacy of my bedroom, but that was a lot different than dancing in public. My mom led me in a simple two step and I began to catch the rhythm. Before I knew it my nervousness had passed and I was in the center of the dance floor dancing by myself. This led to people cheering and throwing money at me. I couldn’t believe the reaction I got. The thrill of dancing before an audience made me see that dance wasn’t entirely out of my reach. But I saw this as mere partying. I was imitating Michael Jackson and other dance greats who owned the MTV scene. I didn't consider myself a dancer by any means.

However, my parents saw me as a dancer from that day forward. Once my parents noticed a specific interest or potential in me and my brother, they ran with it. One morning my mom was watching FOX morning news and saw that they were looking for 12 teenaged dancers to make up their Good Day Philadelphia hip-hop dance team. She decided to take me to the audition that Saturday morning to give it a shot. “It’s worth a try,” I recall her saying. I also remember taking off from my weekly art class just to try out for this TV show I barely even watched.

My nervousness and objections did not stop my mom from taking me to the audition. After waiting in a long registration line, I went inside and couldn’t believe my eyes. There were studio dancers everywhere. They practiced their pirouettes, splits, and leg extensions. They came by the dozen, meeting up with their “studio mates” and rekindling old dance school friendships. I stuck out like a soar thumb…I was obviously the “artist” wearing a creative self-made outfit. I was the artist pretending to be a dancer. I felt entirely out of my league while imitating the painful stretches that the ballerinas made look effortless. I felt out of my league when listening to conversations of the dancers’ previous training and recitals. I really felt out of my element when the choreographer ran through the short combination that seemed to last an eternity. I had no confidence and it showed on my flushed face. I was sweating and exhausted after auditioning with five dancers in my group. We were one group out of 50 to audition in the first round.

By the end of the first round the studio dancers had leaped over to the call board to see if they had survived the first cut. Tears began to flow like the Niagara Falls as the dancers learned their fate. After consoling a few heartbroken dancers I knew that my time was near. I scanned the board and couldn’t believe my eyes… I had made it into the top 50 and was in the final round of the day! I thought there was some type of mistake. Trained ballerinas, tappers, jazzers, and even hip-hop studio dancers were being sent home in place of me. This gave me a much needed boost in confidence to finish out the audition. I was ready to go until the new routine was taught and the judging began at warp speed. I wasn’t prepared and ran to tell my mom that I couldn’t do it. She replied, “We came all this way! Pray and try your best. While the Lord works on it you need to get yourself together!” I smiled and took a deep breath as my group was called.

I took the stage and gave it everything I had. While I fumbled through the second half of the choreography, I smiled and performed for the judges. I pulled out all the stops, envisioning myself dancing at my grandmom’s party a few years back. I imagined that the judging table was my bedroom where I danced like there was no tomorrow. Before I knew it the round was over and the final cuts were being made. After the longest deliberation hour of my life the judges had finally reached a decision. “And introducing the FOX GDP Hip-Hop Dance Team…” I smiled as the first seven names were called and the parents shouted with tears of joy. I also smiled because I was proud of myself for coming this far. I knew that I had tried my best while overcoming my fear of auditions. I was already thinking of more auditions I could go for, ones that I could actually pass when suddenly...“Number 91, Roger Lee!” was called. Time stood still as I walked up to join my new dance team members. My mom was beaming with joy and I was in a state of utter disbelief. I had passed my first dance audition and was a dancer for the FOX broadcast company! This was a dream come true…A dream I never knew that I had.

Since that fateful day, I remained with FOX for two full seasons. I became co-captain of the dance company, performed on live television and danced at countless venues across the tri-state area. All the while I kept up with my Saturday art classes until auditioning for Philadelphia’s High School for Creative and Performing Arts. I was admitted as an art major where I received all the art training I needed. But on my way to the art studio, I couldn’t help but sneak a peak down to the dance studio. I watched and learned from some of the best dancers I have ever met. I became involved in the hip-hop dance scene. My peers welcomed me and did not judge me for missing out on the life of a studio dancer. They embraced my creativity and love for hip-hop. I joined a hip-hop dance squad and became an official dance minor. It was as if I was living a double life. I was sneaking down to the dance studio and running back upstairs to the art department. I had a newfound love for dance that I shared with my art.

This double life of dance and art finally reached a climax as I applied for the prestigious Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. My high school encouraged students to submit an application in one or two art areas. I sent in my portfolio with confidence. I sent in my dance audition video worried that the competition would smother my attempt at dance forms outside of hip-hop. “At least I can rely on my art,” I said as I mailed my applications.

Two months later I received two letters from the Governor’s School. One was a rejection notice from the art department and one was an acceptance letter into the dance department. I was shocked at what I was seeing. Aside from an acceptance into the prestigious program, I saw my years of art taking a back seat to my “premature” dancing!



That summer I attended the program in Erie Pennsylvania and fell in love with dance. It was at Governor’s School that I learned the true meaning of dance and studied forms other than hip-hop. As a modern dance major I gained an appreciation for the hardworking studio dancers. I also appreciated the path that God had granted me towards discovering dance. It was a path outside of the traditional dance studio.

Not many dancers started out auditioning for television programs and summer intensives, but I did. It eventually took me to the same location as the studio dancer. We all became dancers in our own right. If I had just followed the cookie-cutter path of the studio dancer, I would never have discovered dance on an extreme personal level. I wouldn’t have had time to practice my art on Saturday mornings. I would never be the painting dancer that I am today. I am blessed to have a visual art side and dance side that work together to form one very creative side. Finding dance later in life allowed me to explore art earlier in life. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Too Good to be True?

Posts By: Brandon Kamin, Roger Lee, & David Yourgrau

Do college students truly understand the politics that separate Obama and Clinton? Or has Obama been able to gain the support of college students simply on personal appeal?

Pennsylvania college students will especially play a vital role in determining the Democratic Party’s candidate at the Pennsylvania Primary on April 22, 2008. A recent poll taken in December 2007 shows that 43% of college students support Senator Barack Obama of Illinois while only 23% support Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. While many analysts and political scientists are unable to justify and explain the large discrepancy in support, Bill Woodman a professor of sociology at Iowa State University told The Politico that he believes that students have grown weary of the longtime political actors. “They seem more interested in character, a fresh view of the future… Many students feel that Hillary Clinton is not a change. She may be a woman but she is not a fresh face.” It is that inherent need for change that has allowed Obama to gain so much support from college students.

Although it would be a massive generalization to equate this attitude to all college students who support Obama, it is very prevalent trend. Tony Aquilino a junior at Ursinus College, who plans on voting for Obama, said that “no basis for this vote but from what I remember I heard I liked. Plus I’ve heard he’s good”. Other students seem to be portraying similar naïveté. As one student who requested to remain nameless said when asked about why he likes Obama more than Hillary, “He looks younger and his speeches aren’t traditional. Plus he acts like he wants us involved. I don’t really get that feeling from her”.

There clearly is a non-political element of appeal for Obama and it may just be the youth’s lack of understanding towards politics that helps Obama garner so much support from them. As Tuggelin Yourgrau president of the film company Powderhouse Productions said “Obama represents a change against the established way of doing things…youth voters are attracted to candidates who shake up the establishment. He is especially going to attract many young people who are bright-eyed idealists. They see Hillary as too much of a power person. She’s been around too long”.

Politicians, such as Obama who are labeled as idealists are often accused of following policies that are in themselves good ideas but are politically unrealistic. College students, who are often uneducated in politics are more attached to the ideas and principles that Obama preaches rather than their actually practicality. As one blogger stated, “Part of Obama's appeal is a promise to transcend the conflicts which roil American politics, but this actually suggests a disturbing naiveté”. While this blogger obviously sees fault with college students’ endorsement of Obama’s idealistic policies, Yourgrau thinks otherwise. “I love it that college students are embracing idealistic ideas. College students are almost always the ones to expand the lines of social and political possibilities that the old time politicians have drawn”.

Doctor May Ail Republican Party

The fate of the Republican Party’s candidate, Senator John McCain, may rest squarely on the shoulders of a gynecologist. The Pennsylvania Primaries on April 22, 2008 will show Pennsylvania Republican voters how great of a thorn Ron Paul is in the side of John McCain.

Ron Paul a Texas Representative, gynecologist and member of the Republican Party has gained notoriety throughout the nation for his outspoken beliefs that go against the Republican party’s mantra, his enthusiastic supporters and his refusal to end his candidacy despite facing sure defeat.

Although Ron Paul will most certainly not receive enough votes to earn the Republican nomination once the primaries end he will most likely follow the likes of Ross Perot, Ralph Nader and run as a third party candidate. However as history has proven third party candidates generally effect only one party. Paul’s campaign is no different as it will only effect the Republican Party. Paul’s politics are classically conservative he is against increasing taxes and believes in strictly following the constitution.

Even his social policies such as being pro-life and against legalizing gay marriage are staple points of the conservative party; therefore, he only appeals to people who would have voted for Republican candidates if they had not voted for Paul. It is where Ron Paul strays from current conservative policies that makes him such a threat to Republican’s. Paul’s most notorious policy is his endorsement of an immediate evacuation from Iraq, which is completely opposite to the strategy that nearly every Republican in office has taken. Paul represents Republicans who tire of the direction their party has taken, which is most notably the courses of actions taken by the Bush Administration.

With Paul nearly having no chance at yielding enough votes to win the presidency he allows himself to be far more honest than other candidates who must worry to appease the general public. McCain on the other hand must make sure his policies appeal to the Conservative base, which means that his aims are very similar to that of the Bush administration. By offering alternatives to the Republican’s current policies he is in many ways reemphasizing its flaws. Such as when Paul was asked, during a GOP debate in Dearborn, Michigan, whether he was going to end his campaign he responded, “Not unless they're willing to end the war and bring our troops home, and not unless they're willing to look at the excessive spending. No, I'm not going to support them if they continue down the path that has taken our party down the tubes.”

Sorry Republicans, but like the primaries, your candidate wont be the only conservative on the ballot. As one conservative blogger stated, “Ron Paul is a great guy and I agree with much of what he says , but in order to best serve the interests of the Constitution it is important that he not run against the main republican candidate as an independent. He will siphon to many votes and cause to much grief.”

Endorsing the Future

Follow the leader…

If you are an Ursinus student that is a follower of John Edwards, pay attention because his endorsement is critical for the Democratic nomination and the future of whom will face off against John McCain, Republican nominee, for the next President of the United States.

With John Edwards now out of the race for the Democratic primaries, the decision of who to endorse will be a crucial element to both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton’s campaigns.

Although Edwards’ decision is very much so up in the air as to who he will endorse, if Edwards decides to go ahead and support Clinton and gear his followers towards her campaign, he would be going against his word throughout his entire campaign trail and prove to be quite hypocritical.

Directly calling Clinton out in a speech last summer in New Hampshire, Edwards accused Clinton of being a “corporate Democrat willing to benefit from the crooked politics of Washington.”

Tuggelin Yourgrau, President of Powder House Productions, feels that “Edwards addresses the needs of poor Americans and pushes the idea of putting them on the agenda.

Edwards is one whom has the support of the “undecided working class families and progressive liberals,” followed Yourgrau.

Say Edwards finally makes up his mind and chooses a candidate to endorse…

Well, what do I get out it?

With what is probably in bold writing in his contract with the nominee, this essential question may very well be pondered in the mind of John Edwards upon agreeing to help endorse another for the Democratic nomination.

What can the remaining nominees offer John Edwards for his endorsement?

John Edwards could possibly decide to support the man who he approvingly claims to be advocating change, but if for some reason he decides to bring his followers to the Clinton campaign to achieve a political role such as Attorney General for the Democratic administration or an opportunity to getting a step closer towards becoming a member of the Supreme Court, Edwards would be nothing more than a politician upholds the reputation of one who will say and do anything to achieve what is in his own best interest and disregarding the citizens who have supported him throughout his campaign.

With O’Bama standing for a major change and Clinton being one who, according to Edwards, in a debate before his infamous New Hampshire speech last summer, is “aligned with the forces of status quo dead-set on blocking change in Washington,” it may seem preposterous to see Edwards endorse Clinton but it may very well happen.

Either way, Edwards will be comfortable when endorsing the candidate his chooses to endorse.
Students should realize that even if Edwards decides to support Clinton, he will have no problem arguing that Clinton would be a better president than John McCain, in the case that Hilary Clinton receives the Democratic Nominee because of where they fall on the political spectrum.

Bottom line, Obama and Clinton need to start becoming very friendly with Mr. Edwards.

Can a male-driven government handle a female president?

Men have dominated politics since its creation.


It is hard to ignore the current male influence in American politics. With the primary election underway, it is possible that a female Democrat could take the crown as our next president. Are we as a society ready for this kind of change?

“Well I feel that we are ready for a female president,” said Philadelphia native Peter Serratore.


“Hilary is fully equipped to be our president. She’s very intelligent, clear, expressive, and confronts the right issues in our world today,” stated the rising college junior. As much as he would like to see a female running the white house, this student is not so sure that America feels the same way. “Though I would love to have her be elected, I feel there may not be a female president for some odd years.”

Ursinus graduate Duncan Ramsey agreed that America may not be ready for such a drastic political change. “In a whole, no there would not be enough interest for a female president,” argued the graduate. But the question remains, just when will America be ready for such a change?

“I don’t think U.S. citizens are ready for a female president. I’m not sure if we ever will be ready for such a change even though women are becoming more present in politics. But the U.S. will never be ready for such an adjustment until the situation is thrust upon them,” argued college sophomore Rachel Azar.

Some would argue that America is all for change and inclusiveness, so of course we would be okay with a female president…but this would be living in a fairytale world. Everyone is not supportive of change in our country. This in part has stifled our political growth as a country. However, Duncan Ramsey argued, “I think the real question is who are we more ready for, a female president or a black president?” He added that if a female or an African-American won the election it would definitely force America to change.

“Not right now,” said Ursinus senior Tara Pearson. “We may be ready, but I’m not sure we have the right female for the job as of now.”


However, other students feel that having any woman as president is a step in the right direction. An anonymous junior argued that “Women know how to express themselves while thinking about the effect and outcome of things. We do things on instinct, that gut feeling and if you get a real woman who knows how to make decisions, things would work out just fine,” she laughed.

“But just how fine would things work out?” asked sophomore Michael Chovanes. He shared a similar belief to sophomore Ashley McComeskey who said, “Basically women aren’t viewed as strongly as men are.” She continued, “We might not be taken seriously. If a female cries on camera, that is a huge sign of weakness in my opinion. I don’t think the U.S. can afford to look weak right now,” said McComeskey.