The Weightroom
by M.C.
Male and Female university athletes clash over use of the weightroom


"It's just not fair," Sharon Thompson said as she stood before the
university's athletic director." Why should the female athletes have to suffer
because they're renovating the men's weightroom ? Afterall, we did agree to
share our weightroom with them." The university's star gymnast did have a
point. It certainly wasn't the fault of the women that they now had to share
their weightroom with the men; it would be several more months before the
men's weightroom would be ready for use. Most of the athletes had agreed to
share their workout hours - most, but not all. The football players - being
football players - felt otherwise. They believed they had carte blanche to use
the woman's weightroom whenever they liked; and being football players, none
of the women athletes wanted to challenge them about it; no one that is except
the spunky women gymnasts. Led by Sharon, an All - American and olympic
hopeful, they had a very good chance of winning the NCAA championships. They
weren't about to back down to a bunch of macho football players and jeopardize
their chances of success." Did you bring this issue up with the football
coach? " Dr. Ruth Benson , the university's new athletic director asked. " Yes
we did, but you know coach Eldridge, all he did was smirk and say,' boys will
be boys'. We wouldn't have come to you, Dr. Benson, unless there wasn't any
other alternative....except THAT one." The two women exchanged a knowing
glance. " We need the weightroom now, " Sharon continued. " It's the middle of
the gymnastics season. Those football players are in the off season anyway and
most of the time they're just sitting around bullshitting with each other and
drinking beer." Dr. Benson sighed; it was a problem she certainly didn't need
at this time. Working hard to turn the university's dismal athletic fortunes
around, the last thing she needed now was a contraversy over who gets to use
the weightroom. But, like it or not, a contraversy is what she had.

The issue was brought to a head by a front page article that appeared in the
student newspaper. Titled " The fight over the Weightroom ", the article
described the ongoing debate that was taking place between the male football
players and the women gymnasts over who gets to use the weightroom and when. A
photograph on the front page showed several very large lineman, juxtaposed
next to the much smaller women. The caption read - what else - " The Battle of
the Sexes." Suddenly, an issue that was confined to the athletic circles was
now spread all over the university; and beyond. If this were allowed to
continue unabated, it could very well sideline Dr. Benson's attempts to
attract talented female athletes to come to her school. Something would have
to be done about this, and soon." Very well Sharon, I 'll deal with this
problem," she said. " Have the girls on the gymnastics team meet me in front
of the weightroom tomorrow afternoon at 2 P.M. We'll settle this thing once
and for all...one way or another." Ruth gave Sharon a wink and Sharon smiled
back at her. "Very well, Dr. Benson.....we'll be there." Without further
comment, Sharon left Ruth's office.

Although she had invited only the six girls on the gymnastics team and six
representatives from the football team, word had gotten out. By the time Ruth
had arrived, at a quarter to two, the area around the weightroom was crowded
with people; athletes and students alike. It seemed as if the entire
university knew about it. Ruth would have prefered to have had this issue
settled privately - between only the gymnasts and the football players. But
now, circumstances beyond her control had prevented that. Like it or not, this
would be a public forum; open for all to see." Very well then, so be it ", she
said to herself.

Turning first to the football players Ruth addressed them. " I was led to
believe that a compromise had been worked out about when the weightroom would
be available to each group. Why has this become a problem?" Raymond Stevens,
the star quarterback responded, " the girls can use the weightroom whenever
they like...between the hours of mid-night and 6 a.m., we have no problem with
that." There was laughter heard throughout the gymnasium when he said that and
the football coach smiled. Ruth looked at Sharon and shrugged her shoulders as
if to say, " well, at least I tried." Turning back towards the athletes she
said," very well then, I see no other alternative to settleing this little
'spat' of ours; so this is what I've decided to do. Since you're not in
kindergarden we'll decide this in an adult manner. You're all young adults
capable of working things out for yourselves. Therefore, I want six
representatives of the football team and the six woman gymnasts to go into the
weightroom alone. I'm going to close the door behind you. I don't care what
methods you use or how long it takes but when you come out, I want this issue
solved !!!... is that clear ? "

Both the men and the women nodded. Ruth Benson was not one to be crossed. The
large and powerfully built woman had been an All - American track and field
star herself in her youth and a highly successful coach after she retired from
competition. Her teams always did very well and as the new athletic director,
she showed a lot of promise. The renovation of the men's weightroom had come
about as a result of her pushing - she felt the athletes deserved the very
best facilities in order to succeed. She was also successful in attracting top
notch high school athletes to enroll at the university. Ruth tried hard to
motivate the athletes.The more motivated the athletes were, the stronger their
desire to win - both on the athletic field and in life.This is why the furor
over the weightroom bothered her so much; it threatened to undermine all that
she was trying to accomplish. If not dealt with quickly and decisively it
could seriously damage her athletic program; and that she would simply not
allow to happen. Ruth had put far too much effort into this endevor to see it
all go down the drain because of the chauvinistic attitudes of some of the
less "enlightened" athletes. So, they would decide the amongst themselves; the
six women gymnasts and the six football players. Dr. Benson had hoped to avoid
this, but it seemed she had no other choice.

And so the six large, powerfully built football players, led by Raymond,
entered the weightroom. They were followed by the six much smaller women
gymnasts. Because they had been practicing their gymnastics, the women were
dressed in their pretty pink leotards. For some reason, which nobody besides
Ruth seemed to pay any attention to, each girl had in her hand an extra pair
of pink leotards. As Sharon entered the weightroom, she and Ruth exchanged a
cryptic smile. " Very well then ladies and gentlemen, I'll remind you again: I
don't care how you decide this weightroom issue - but when you come out of
here I want the issue decided...once and for all !!! " With that Ruth closed
the weightroom door leaving the twelve athletes inside; the six powerful
football players and the six little gymnasts.

For a few minutes everything was quiet inside. The crowd outside waited
quietly also, wondering what was happening in the weightroom. Off to one side,
coach Eldridge stood with several of his football players; they all had
arrogant smirks on their faces. Then, suddenly, coming from within everybody
heard "WHAM !, POW!, SMACK!, SLAM! Because the weightroom was nearly
soundproof, you couldn't hear any voices, but the ground began to vibrate like
an earthquake. " CRASH!, SLAM!, CRUNCH!" The students began to look at each
other with worried looks on their faces," what the hell was going on in there?
" Were they actually fighting over this? And, if so, what chance could six
small women have against six massive football players? Each man was at least
one hundred pounds heavier than each of the women; not to mention much, much
stronger. " PUNCH!, SOCK!, WHAM! " The coach and his football players began to
laugh. Only Ruth Benson seemed obvilious to what was happening. She calmly
looked at her clipboard, checking to see what else she had planned for the
day. " SMASH!, POW!, CRACK!, WHACK!. This went on for about ten minutes....
and then , THUD!, THUD!, THUD!, THUD!, THUD! THUD!!!... and then silence.

Another ten minutes of quiet followed. All the students looked anxiously at
each other but said nothing; you could literally hear a pin drop. Finally they
heard a knock coming from the inside of the weightroom door. Ruth opened it a
bit and out popped the pretty, smiling face of Sharon. " It's O.K. Dr. Benson
", she said," the issue has been decided. The football players can use the
weightroom whenever they want - between midnight and 6 a.m.." The door then
swung open...and all the students gasped; it was a sight none of them would
ever forget.One by one the pretty gymnasts came out of the weightroom...each
one dragging a battered and beaten football player behind her. Most of the
students broke out in spontaneous applause - they never did like the arrogant
attitude of the macho football players. Coach Eldridge and his players just
stood there, stunned, with their mouths wide open...speechless. To make
matters worse, each one of the football players had been stripped of his
clothes and were now dressed in the pink leotards. " We thought they'd look so
pretty in pink," Sharon explained afterwards, " it's a good thing these
leotards are elastic."

The girls dragged the battered football players out and placed them in a neat
line in front of the students. Then, they each put one foot on their chests
and flexed their muscles. The students loved it. The photographer for the
university newspaper used up all of her film; guess what appeared on the front
page the following day. Ruth smiled proudly at the women gymnasts." Well done
girls, you can take the rest of the day off...have fun." She winked at Sharon
who smiled back. The women then each picked up the men's legs (one in each
hand) and began to drag them out...towards their dormatory rooms. As they did
so, coach Eldridge looked aghast at Ruth...but could say nothing. " Girls will
be girls," she laughed as she walked past the stunned coach and his team. She
also added, " I suggest you encourage your players to use the weightroom from
midnight until 6 a.m....they appear to need it."

Students circulating the university that afternoon were treated to a strange
sight, six pretty women gymnasts walking through the campus dragging six
battered football players behind them; all of whom were dressed in pink
leotards. "Please let us go," Raymond pleaded to Sharon as she dragged him
along (the girls decided to go the long way - through the entire campus),"
you're humiliating us." Sharon laughed," Oh poor baby, were the little girls
too tough for the macho football players, tee, hee, hee . Well, we'll let you
go, but first we're going to have some fun with you guys so just relax and
enjoy the ride." When they arrived at their dormatory building, the girls
dragged the football players up three flights of stairs and into their rooms.
For the rest of that afternoon - and well into the night - all you could hear
coming from the third flood was the sound of girls giggling - and men moaning
and crying.

The weightroom was never an issue again.