Having babies hurts; there is no doubt about it. I've watched it happen and could hardly stand it myself...I guess that's why I was told to "sit there and don't move." Having had an abdominal surgery, I can relate somewhat to those women who have endured a C-section delivery. Yeah, it hurts, and it takes a heck of a long time to get over it. However, in the case of childbirth, there is a wonderful reward at the end, at least until the child becomes a treenager. Thus, the pain is bearable (pun intended) in this case.
Not so for "manly" pain. Not only must one endure the agony, he has to listen to the snickers or outright guffaws of anyone standing nearby when that "low blow" happens. It certainly happens often enough that we don't forget the excruciating pain and waves of instant nausea that accompany such a shot; but, would you (meaning guys) endure that in order to further science? I witnessed just such a sacrifice the other day on a television program titled "Sport Science." Honest.
While everyone knows that the pulse rises with exercise, reseachers wondered if it could be made to rise to much higher levels if a subject was doing nothing but standing still?
The point of the experiment was to determine whether or not a man's pulse would rise to unreasonable levels when faced with the imminent prospect of being hit in the groin, in this case, with a tennis ball moving at 60 m.p.h. Again, let me emphasize: I AM NOT KIDDING!

There were three readings taken of the test subject's pulse:
1. standing upright in a normal situation; our test subject's pulse was about 90, I believe.
2. standing upright behind an unbreakable glass panel while the experimenters lined up the ball-throwing apparatus so it would hit the exact "spot" needed for the experiment. As the experimenter marked various spots with yellow tape, the subject's pulse rose to 145 b.p.m.
3. standing upright, getting hit "right where it counts" with a tennis ball, followed by rolling in agony on the floor for several minutes as the pulse climbed to an almost unbelievable 185 b.p.m.

To the incredible delight of the experimenters, this was scientific proof that a pulse could be raised to unbelievable levels WITHOUT EXERCISE! (Of course, anyone who's just had the crap scared out of him or her could have told them that, but NO, they had to hit a guy in the nads to prove it.
Fortunately, a medic was on hand to provide an ice bag, and the test subject was able to somewhat "walk it off" though no details were given as to his condition over the next few days.
I'll say right here and now that I did not laugh or even snicker. I have too much empathy for that; however, any guy dumb enough to stand there for THAT probably deserves to get laughed at.
That type of reality TV is simply too real for me. "Sport Science," indeed. (Sunday, 9 p.m. FSN)