A League of Their Own The title to this piece immediately evokes a sense of superiority, placing the hitherto unknown

entity in a place of respect. However, this is quickly countered by the personal dialogue of Cassandra, Stein s wife. The derisive attitude towards women who watch sports is compounded by the use of questions and the pointed ignorance of New Jersey Whatevers. The accusatory tone of Cassandra is relieved slightly by Stein s own humorous agreement with the name. The tone quickly shifts again with Stein making pointed arguments against Cassandra s sheltered view. Parallelism is used to emphasize their difference in opinions; the phrase makes Cassandra more

angry than me watching sports is women watching sports creates a direct comparison between Stein and women everywhere. His ideas are stated as fact, creating a sense of certainty that the indirect arguments from Cassandra lack. Stein moves on to make women with ideas like Cassandra seem condescending, placing himself and his sympathetic readers at a seemingly lower platform. The words elitist, urban, sheltered are quickly followed up by examples of Harvard and questions of dignity. This seeming arrogance is brought down a notch by Stein s choice to spell the speaker s words as gu-u-u-u-y stuff, adding ignorance to the drawl. He further creates a barrier between his readers and the women by citing the Paris Review, implying the much more reasonable status of Time. Stein reinstates the humorous tone by contrasting a citation of statistical data with a reference to Victoria s Secret underwear. By commenting that his point may have been weakened by the reference, Stein swings the reader s sympathies firmly on his side again. The qualification of dating Mick Jagger as historically male behavior, right up there with drinking, acting, and smoking, Stein reminds the reader of the illogicality of Cassandra s argument while staying firmly on the satirical side. Stereotypical images of women are shattered by Stein s next section, as he intentionally speaks to a fantasy league called the OMG Girls. The name evokes images of airheaded attitudes and levity. This idea is quickly contrasted to the image of women keeping stats and exchanging taunts. Stein specifically mentions a woman who was a cheerleader, and now a writer for ESPN, further destroying the disparity that seemed to exist. By splitting up her quote, the emphasis on I d be divorced is even stronger. Cassandra s point seems entirely impossible. Stein finishes with the egostistic humor that so often characterizes his column. His inarguable sexual attractiveness serves to lighten the mood before driving home his point. The chauvinistic idea that women watch football to meet guys has been entirely demolished by Stein s argument. His final jab at Cassandra, talking about meeting women, leaves no doubt as to the certainty of his statements.