Quote of the Day

The greatest justice in life is that

your vision and looks tend

to go simultaneously.

Kevin Norwood Bacon

Quote of the Day

I've always said that money corrupts,

whether it's men's or women's athletics.

Dr. Donna Lopiano

Spinning Out of Control

In addition to being an expert on Title IX, Erin Buzuvis is also a top-notch "spinner".  Read more here.

The law definitely struggles with an image problem, because when universities do have to cap or curtail men's opportunities, there's this sort of easy story that, "Well, it’s because of Title IX that we had to do this." While I believe that is a misleading statement, it is a story that gets told.

Enlighten us then, Erin. Why, when budget cuts are made, do men's sports like wrestling, gymnastics, swimming, track, etc. take the hits?

Quote of the Day

Ah, summer, what power you have

to make us suffer and like it.

Russell Wayne Baker

Quote of the Day

Patriotism is supporting your country all the

time, and your government when it deserves it.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain

Coach Button

Leon's first head coaching gig.  Looks to be a busy summer with coaching, training for triathlon, and - of course - fishin'!

Quote of the Day

When I was a boy I was told that

anybody could become president.

Now I'm beginning to believe it.

Clarence Seward Darrow

Quote of the Day

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in

the memory as the wish to forget it.

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

Quote of the Day

If I create from the heart,

nearly everything works;

if from the head,

almost nothing.

Marc Chagall

Quote of the Day

There's always some kind of blacklist

throughout history.  But the difference

is, in America they usually let you live.

Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr.

Quote of the Day

Life is pleasant.  Death is peaceful.

It's the transition that's troublesome.

Isaak Yudovich Ozimov, a.k.a. Issac Asimov

Quote of the Day

Nothing can be so amusingly arrogant

as a young man who has just discovered

an old idea and thinks it is his own.

Sydney J. Harris

Quote of the Day

If there's anything unsettling to the stomach,

it's watching actors on television

talk about their personal lives.

Marlon Brando, Jr.

Quote of the Day

There is no monument dedicated

to the memory of a committee.

Dr. Lester J. Pourciau

Quote of the Day

I despise the pleasure of pleasing

people that I despise.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Quote of the Day

I don't care if I'm beautiful;  I

don't care what I am on the outside.

It isn't about the outside.

LaDonna Adrian Gaines, a.k.a. Donna Summer

Quote of the Day

Writing is the only profession where

no one considers you ridiculous

if you earn no money.

Pierre-Jules Renard

Quote of the Day

Every crowd has a silver lining.

Phineas Taylor "P.T." Barnum

Quote of the Day

He was a self-made man who owed

his lack of success to nobody.

Joseph Heller

First is the Worst

Second is the best.  Third is the one with the hairy chest.  Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Back to the title of the post.

In an attempt to "scoop" the swimming media, Braden Keith took a job posting and created a headline that makes him front-runner for Jackass of the Year honors.

He has since changed "Assistant Coach Jim Henry Out at Texas" to "Jim Henry in Open Competition for Texas Assistant Job".

Keith owes Jim an apology, but don't hold your breath waiting on that...

Quote of the Day

Life can only be understood backwards;

but it must be lived forwards.

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard

Quote of the Day

Perhaps one has to be very old before one

learns to be amused rather than shocked.

Robert Browning

Quote of the Day

Everybody for fifty years has tried to get us to be

a bigger company...and I always like to remain

small, so that I feel like I'm a part of it every day.

Carroll Hall Shelby

Quote of the Day

It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.

Eric Hoffer

40th Anniversary: An Opposing Viewpoint

No, not the Rangers' 40th anniversary.  Remember Title IX?

While most recent pieces on Title IX have touted progress for women in athletics, few have mentioned the decline in men's sports.

Doug Robinson points out the unintended consequences of proportionality here.

Universities have been running scared ever since and become remarkably creative in the process. They've scrambled to even up the numbers because a) football has 100 or so players on the roster and there isn't a women's football team, and b) there isn't as much interest in athletics among females.

Hundreds of men's programs have been cut to even the percentages of women vs. men in participation. According to one report, between 1981 and 1999, universities eliminated 171 men's wrestling teams, 84 men's tennis teams, 56 men's gymnastics teams, 27 men's track teams and 25 men's swimming teams. For every female athlete gained, 3.6 men were lost.

Ready for the more frightening news?  Radicals spouting off on Title IX continue to tell the world "We still have a long way to go!"

I guess they won't be happy until they've wiped out a few hundred more men's programs...

Quote of the Day

I had the right to remain silent...

but I didn't have the ability.

Ronald "Ron" White

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Parent Letter

Many of you have already seen this.  In case you haven't, it's a letter from St. Louis Cardinal manager Mike Matheny to his Little League parents.  Read it here.

Closes with this:

I know that right now you are asking yourself if this is what you want to get yourself into and I understand that for some of you it may not be the right fit. I also think that there is a great opportunity for these boys to grow together and learn some lessons that will go beyond their baseball experience. Let me know as soon as possible whether or not this is a commitment that you and your son want to make.

Thanks,

Mike Matheny

Thanks, DJA!

Quote of the Day

The thing that doesn't fit is the
thing that's the most interesting.



Richard Phillips Feynman

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Quote of the Day

If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon
find yourself without it. Your life will be
impoverished. But if you invest in beauty,
it will remain with you all the days of your life.



Frank Lloyd Wright

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Quote of the Day

Though analogy is often misleading, it
is the least misleading thing we have.



Samuel Butler

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More Bad News

Sorry fans, but there's some downright miserable news out there.

We'll start off with a little Title IX piece.  UCLA celebrates the fourtieth anniversary:



 No mention of their dumping men's swimming, though.


On the subject of dumped men's programs, here's Cal Benz on Nebraska's men's swimming rules violations:



  Read an old article here.


Ready for a positive story on men's college swimming?  You won't find one here.

Butler is dealing with Title IX issues. Read more here. Don't worry about men's swimming being on the chopping block up there, though. They dumped men's swimming long ago.

Men's swimming was dropped at Rutgers a few years ago. Doesn't look like it saved them a whole lot of money, though. The university soaks students for a grand each year to prop up their bloated athletic department. Read more here.

Take your pick on which is the most damning statement about the Rutgers athletic department, based on a report by Bloomberg News this week examining spending in big-time sports:

a) Rutgers gave $28.5-million from the university budget and student fees, or almost $1,000 per student, to finance sports during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

b) The $19.4-million that Rutgers allocated to athletics from its general budget would have been enough to hire about 256 assistant professors or 132 full professors, based on salary figures provided by the university.

c) Fiscal 2011 included the first losing football season in six years. Ticket sales for all sports, led by football, plunged by $3.1-million; donations fell $1.5-million; and income from royalties and licensing declined $477,558.

How about d) all of the above ?

Looking for an escaped from all the bad news?  They say this new movie's pretty danged good:

Quote of the Day

The key to ultimate success is the
determination to progress day by day.



Edmar John Mednis

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Quote of the Day

Get your facts first, then you
can distort them as you please.



Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain

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Quote of the Day

I do have a political agenda. It's to
have as few regulations as possible.



James Danforth "Dan" Quayle

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Title IX for Dummies!

Sure wish they'd write that one!

The avalanche of Title IX 40th Birthday articles is upon us.  What few will contain is the truth about how screwed up this well-intentioned law has become.

Proportionality has DIRECTLY resulted in the elimination of thousands of athletic opportunities for young men.  Whether it was roster caps or the outright cutting of entire programs, proportionality has destroyed coaching and athletic careers across the nation.

College Swimming has posted a list of men's swimming programs dropped in the past few decades here.


Thanks for the heads up, HN!

Quote of the Day

Most of the energy of political work is
devoted to correcting the effects of
mismanagement of government.



Milton Friedman

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Quote of the Day

Making the simple complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple,
awesomely simple, that’s creativity.



Charles Mingus, Jr.

Quote of the Day

Up to now, American has not been a good milieu
for the rise of a mass movement. What starts
out here as a mass movement ends up as
a racket, a cult, or a corporation.



Eric Hoffer

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