Quote of the Day

Beware of little expenses.
A small leak will sink a great ship.



Benjamin Franklin

Quote of the Day

As poetic as it might seem to think so,
nothing good comes of victimization.



Robert Sabbag

Quote of the Day

You learn a lot about people when
you play games with them.



Laura Moncur

Quote of the Day

No matter how busy you may think you are,
you must find time for reading, or surrender
yourself to self-chosen ignorance.



Confucius

Swimming Canada

See what's going on north of the border at Swimming Canada.

Their top butterfly swimmer used to be Jennifer Button.

Weakly Demotivator

Quote of the Day

The income tax is a twentieth-century socialist
experiment that has failed. Before the income tax
was imposed on us just eighty years ago,
government had no claim to our income. Only
sales, excise, and tariff taxes were allowed.



Dr. Alan Lee Keyes

Quote of the Day

Never tell a man you can read him
through and through; most people
prefer to be thought enigmas.



Marchioness Townshend

Austin-Bound

Quote of the Day

Baseball players are smarter than football
players. How often do you see a baseball
team penalized for too many men on the field?



James Alan "Jim" Bouton

Quote of the Day

The brain is a three-pound mass you can
hold in your hand that can conceive of a
universe a hundred billion light years across.



Dr. Marian C. Diamond

Quote of the Day

Always be nice to people on the
way up, because you'll meet the
same people on the way down.



Wilson "Bill" Mizner

Why call it a three-part test...

...when you're pressured to only use one?

The Obama administration is playing politics with Title IX. I guess they're tying to lock up the Title IX attorney vote for the next election...might want to remind them they're losing the wrestler and swimmer vote, though...

Proportionality (prong 1) is destroying men's opportunities. The OCR knows it. They've recommended that schools use surveys (prong 3). So, why are we still debating this?

From the Office of Civil Rights:

...OCR uses the three-part test to determine whether an institution is providing nondiscriminatory athletic participation opportunities in compliance with the Title IX regulation. The test provides the following three compliance options:

1. Whether intercollegiate level participation opportunities for male and female students are provided in numbers substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments; or

2. Where the members of one sex have been and are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, whether the institution can show a history and continuing practice of program expansion which is demonstrably responsive to the developing interests and abilities of the members of that sex; or

3. Where the members of one sex are underrepresented among intercollegiate athletes, and the institution cannot show a history and continuing practice of program expansion, as described above, whether it can be demonstrated that the interests and abilities of the members of that sex have been fully and effectively accommodated by the present program.

Why waste the ink to print parts two and three if the government won't support their use?

The latest from OCR:

Unlike the 2005 Additional Clarification, the letter makes clear that OCR considers multiple indicators in evaluating compliance with Part Three and will not accept an institution’s reliance on a survey alone, regardless of the response rate, to determine compliance.

Suppose 100% of the students respond to a survey, and 100% of respondents want to save the men's swim team at a given school.

Think that matters?

It doesn't!

The OCR won't support the school if it cannot show that its gender numbers in athletics mirror those in the undergrad populations.

I guess it's a lesson that teaches college students about the real world:

Your representatives don't represent you - they represent the special interests that helped them grab power and keep it.

Quote of the Day

Be less curious about people
and more curious about ideas.



Marie Skłodowska Curie

Back to War

Remember that report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights a couple of weeks ago? That non-partisan report recommended surveys to prove Title IX compliance rather than using proportionality.

No? Catch up here.

Seems the Obama administration is doing exactly the opposite of what the commission suggested and will instead step up their witch hunt as they search for schools out of compliance.

Look for many more men's athletics teams to bite the dust over the next three years as the liberal lawyers have a field day with this one.

Got the heads up via Saving Sports.

Read about it in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a law professor and senior director for advocacy with the Women's Sports Foundation, said female participation in sports is the most effective remedy against obesity and leads to more education and better employment prospects.

"That's why all of this is so important," she said.

No, Nancy, that's not why this is so important.

Now, with the full support of the jackasses in Washington, D.C., folks like Hogshead-Makar can continue to win judgements throughout the land. All they need to do is find one disgruntled coach/athlete in an otherwise happy athletic department and away they'll go.

It's for the money - that's why all of this is so important...

Quote of the Day

I had no trouble communicating. The
players just didn't like what I had to say.



Frank Robinson

Weakly Demotivator

The Swimmers Circle

Looks like there's something for everyone at The Swimmers Circle. Visit the site here.

The current track of TheSwimmersCircle is to continue it’s expansion and addition of quality content. Though we will not be able to create all of the content needed, we will ask the entire swimming community to assist in our vision. We will not turn down anyone that is willing to help contribute to the full coverage of swimming.

Should you be interested in contributing to our efforts please contact Andy Scherer.

Quality content? Guess that leaves me out...

Quote of the Day

Every new beginning comes fromsome other beginning's end.



Seneca

Quote of the Day

Man and Woman are two locked caskets,
of which each contains the key to the other.



Karen von Blixen-Finecke, a.k.a. Isak Dinesen

Quote of the Day

Meetings are indispensable when
you don't want to do anything.



John Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith

Quote of the Day

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities

as you do at conclusions.



Benjamin Franklin

Quote of the Day

Today you are You, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is Youer that You.



Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss

Quote of the Day

If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not
together...there is something you must always
remember. You are braver than you believe,
stronger than you seem, and smarter than
you think. But the most important thing is,
even if we're apart...I'll always be with you.



Alan Alexander "A.A." Milne

Quote of the Day

You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if
you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be
heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes.



Walter M. Schirra, Sr.

Weakly Demotivator

College Swimming

Check out the videos at College Swimming's YouTube channel here.

Quote of the Day

Levity is the lubricant of a crisis. We resort
to jokes, pranks, and good-natured kidding
to relieve tension, stress, and boredom.



Walter Marty "Wally" Schirra, Jr.

Quote of the Day

Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.



Malcolm Stevenson Forbes

Quote of the Day

Destiny is no matter of chance,

it is a matter of choice.

It is not a thing to be waited for,
it is a thing to be achieved.



William Jennings Bryan

Quote of the Day

Why do I have to be an example for your kid?
You be an example for your own kid.



Pack Robert "Bob" Gibson

Quote of the Day

I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.



Vincent Willem van Gogh

Quote of the Day (thanks MS)

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words;
it's expressed in the choices one makes. In
the long run we shape our lives and we
shape ourselves. The process never
ends until we die. And the choices we
make are ultimately our responsibility.



Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

Weakly Demotivator

Channel Swimming Association

Now that the water's warming up, y'all are getting ready for open water swimming, right? For those of you planning an English Channel swim, this site's for you.

Channel Swimming Association

Quote of the Day

Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt.

Only by being open to change will you have a

true opportunity to get the most from your talent.



Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr.

Protests at UC Davis

While they're not yet sure who's getting the ax, student-athletes at UC Davis are making it known that they won't be going quietly. Read more and watch the video here. Slide show is here.
Will swimming be demoted to club status?

About a dozen factors will be considered, including gender equity and compliance with Title IX regulations, conference affiliation and budgetary considerations, Warzecka said.

The school has 15 protected sports – six men's teams and nine women's teams – that will not be cut because of their Big West Conference affiliation, Warzecka said. Those include men's basketball, baseball, soccer, outdoor track, cross country and golf.

Also safe are women's basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, outdoor track, cross country, golf, tennis and water polo, he said.

The football team was reviewed "and at this point we feel it's a tradition at UC Davis and one of the cornerstones of the university's athletic program." Warzecka said.

Warzecka doesn't think fundraising will solve the money problems:

The student athletes said they will finance their own teams through donations. "We need a chance to raise our own money," said swimmer and water polo player Heidi Kucera.

But Warzecka said short-term fundraising "just continues the program in a precarious way year after year without any permanent allocation of resources."

If a team's fundraising falls short and it doesn't come up with enough money to pay its own way, "we start getting into a deficit situation once again," he said, and the remaining sports could suffer.

Quote of the Day

If men were angels, no
government would be necessary.



James Madison

Victory?

Could this be the end of gender quotas in college athletics? If so, it's about time!!!

A civil rights commission report released yesterday suggests that using surveys is the way to go.

Read the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report here. Read an article from Inside Education here.

In a letter prefacing the report addressed to President Obama and Congressional leaders (each of whom are responsible for appointing four commissioners; most are Bush-era appointees), the commission chair Gerald A. Reynolds wrote that the survey was “the best method for attaining prong three compliance because it provides a reliable and rigorous method of ascertaining student interest in athletics.”

Melendez and Yaki countered that the survey "is far from rigorous and suffers from many substantive and methodological flaws," which they detailed in their rebuttal.

Heading off criticism about persistent gender disparities, the report suggests that "since female students are fully capable of expressing interest in athletics, or lack thereof, advocates for particular views on Title IX compliance should not devalue or dismiss their perspectives."

The commission also recommends that regulations be revised "to explicitly take into account the interest of both sexes rather than just the interest of the underrepresented sex." It adds: "This would help to restore Title IX to its original goal of providing equal opportunity for individuals of both sexes."

Expect plenty of howling from the "Don't bother us with the facts, this is how we feel!" crowd...

Quote of the Day

What it lies in our power to do,
it lies in our power not to do.



Aristotle

Quote of the Day

He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.



Charles Robert Redford, Jr.