Quite a few Rice students participate in the hallowed tradition that is college powderpuff. When you show up to Rice as freshmen girl, by the end of O-Week you probably hear your fair share of: "YOU SHOULD PLAY POWDERPUFF" and "OMG POWDERPUFF IS THE BEST THING EVER." And after hours of convincing you that "it doesn't matter if you're athletic or not" and "you don't even need to know how football works" and "we'll teach you everything you need to know," you'll follow a group of rabidly excited upperclassmen out to the IM fields for your first practice.
Every position takes its own kind of skill and training to be sure, but there is something uniquely terrifying about being thrust into O-line as a freshman. While the defense and receivers are cautioned against painful finger jams, someone will undoubtedly bring up that one time your team's o-lineman broke her nose or received a concussion. Everyone quickly hushes that person. You're not sure what you've gotten yourself into.
Of course the coaches and captains will spend a long time explaining technique and how to properly block so that you minimize the potential for injury, but all you'll really hear is:
But you soon get it down, and learn that blocking is not actually that terrifying. Plus, you like that you don't have to catch passes. You're really bad at that. You're even feeling pretty good about yourself until your first game comes along. Then you get to the field and your first match-up looks like this:
It also doesn't help that the opposing team is holding up signs that say "CONCUSS HER" on their sideline.
Eventually though, you begin to feel satisfied when you hit a good block. You learn to embrace the bruises. Instead of freaking out about them, you comment on them when they turn a particularly cool color. You don't get worried about those sideline signs anymore: no one's gonna concuss you, not even close. You got 'dis. You're in beast mode.
