Changes to tradition!

Not playing IU and UNC was a bombshell to many and ruffled some feathers, but not me. A week has passed and it seems most have accepted the fact and life has gone on. We will have a new rival in Missouri. I may be wrong, but I see that game as a good rival perhaps better than any we currently have in basketball. They aren’t going anywhere either so that will be a yearly home and home game and it will be a good one.

I look forward to playing games in other areas for recruiting purposes. Places like Chicago, NYC, LA, Vegas, Phoenix and Dallas to name a few.

I would also like for us to drop UL and pick up another school that has better recruiting implications for us as well. Perhaps I am in the minority of that one, but that is how I feel.

Another topic today in the Herald Leader was transfers by coaches and players. I sometimes like Mark Story and sometimes I don’t, but today I like him.

I came away with an agreement that players should have to sit out a year to remove the yearly shuffle that would surely occur if players could play immediately for a new school. I do agree that players should be allowed to transfer to any school of their choice without restraint by their former school.

Schools spend a lot of money recruiting players and they invest a lot of time and effort to develop those players so there needs to be a little hold back with transfers, but they should have free reign to go wherever they desire.

Players are immature and make rash decision where they want to attend. Many athletes choose a school because they are a fan of the school rather than what will be the best choice for them. Many times they will choose a school because of past tradition which is a good indicator of the schools commitment to their sport, but they don’t really delve into the coach as much. Ah, the coach, yes when they get to campus they find the coach lied to them or they find he really can’t develop players very well.

Tubby comes to mind in that regard (Mark mentioned him). Great guy, talked a good game, gave constant accolades to players in post game interviews, etc., but player development not so much.

I just wonder where Randolph Morris would be playing today if Cal had been given the opportunity to coach him. I bet he wouldn’t be in China! Imagine Rondo playing for Cal, wow!

The coach then is really the best reason for a player to pick a school rather than the school itself. When an athlete has a school with tradition and a great teacher-motivator like Cal and UK to pick from it is no wonder success is a given. Also, no wonder Cal was so excited to come to UK. He knew what he could do and with the facilities, tradition and fan base at UK he knew success was imminent.

After that it is up to the player to do his part. He has to be able to take criticism along with the good. He has to be able to withstand or grow into the onslaught of expectations by all including the fans. If they can’t perform on stage then a transfer is in their best interest and also the schools best interest.

Coaches leaving a school for another is another thing, though, because it is their living at stake. However, the school invests time and money to recruit them. The school also invests resources, and institutional integrity with their hire. That coach owes the university something for their faith in them. A coach shouldn’t be just allowed to walk away leaving the school holding the bag for all that whether he was good for the school or not. Perhaps there should be an insurance instrument for all parties concerned when it comes to coaches and schools. Donnie Tyndall left Morehead State to coach another school. You couldn’t blame Donnie, but Morehead had just stepped up a notch or two in the eyes of recruits and boom he leaves for greener pastures so what about Morehead State and their fortunes!?

The move gave Shawn Woods a chance to move up, but now Mississippi Valley State will definitely be starting over. I don’t know the answer, but coaches moving have more to to with disruption than a single player transfer. Therefore, I feel something needs to be done in that regard.

Closer to home for us is most of us were happy to see Cal come to UK, but perhaps we can now better understand the acrimony at Memphis because Cal left them.

One day UK and the BBN will be facing a new hire again!  As for me, I started dreading the day Cal would leave the day he was hired.  I did, really, just like the day coach Hall retired, because I knew even though many didn’t like him he would be very, very difficult to replace.  I was right because it gave us Sutton and shame until Rick came along.  Rick left us abruptly and Tubby took over his recruits giving us a championship and then down we go.

I remember Rick Stansburg saying something like ‘we don’t fear KY anymore’.  That said a lot and then we get BCG.   Well now we have Cal and we are on top of the world.  Yes, on top of the world, but one day Cal will be gone and I dread it!

“I’m The Better Player”!

During the Iowa State vs UK game Royce White could be seen mouthing the words ‘I’m the better player’ for the whole world to see.  It was the wrong words to say for more than one reason.

First of all he isn’t, period! Yes he is a great player with a load of talent and a large motor propelled by at least 270 pounds of muscle.  I give him all that and he did play well, but get real Royce come drafting time with the NBA your name will be called after other players on the UK team.  I ask the question if you are so great then why did your team have double digit losses during the season?  Something can be said about coaching and overall talent level on your team, but let us leave the best player proclamation to others.  That in itself said a lot to me.  It said to me I am glad you didn’t bring that attitude to come play for UK.  That statement also got you pretty much shut down for the rest of the game didn’t it big fella?

Now for best player mantra!  UK has a team of best players and they showed it collectively yesterday.  I will give Terrence Jones accolades for the game.  He didn’t score as many points as he usually does, but he was able to pull down 13 rebounds against you big guy.  He made life tough for you and it would have been worse if the terrible refs didn’t swallow their whistles the entire game when you were involved.  If the refs had called all those touch fouls or phantom fouls on you they called on TJ or Doron you would have been out of the game in the first 10 minutes.

To rant a little more about the officiating it was obvious Cal was having a difficult time not charging the floor on many occasions  during most of the game.  The relentless booing by the crowd was another telling sign of poor officiating.   On the other hand the reason for technical called on States coach was a smoke screen by him trying to intimidate the refs.  Why you ask, well it was because a real ‘whoppin’ was in the works and there was nothing he nor ‘I’m the better player’ White could do about it?

All game long UK was held, pushed, shoved, beat upon, tripped and verbally abused and the stripes let it happen until the game was practically out-of-hand. Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t have a great game scoring the ball, but that was because of the aforementioned sentence.  I am still burning inside those refs let that happen all game long.  To his credit he kept his cool.

Now for the reality of the game: UK was ready for that game.  They brought their A game with them.  They executed their plan almost flawlessly.  A few decent calls UK’s way and the game would have been over by halftime.

Miller was something special yesterday.  We have been waiting for that game for his entire career.  Oh yeah, he has had a bunch of really great games, audacious dunks, beautiful sticks from three and at the elbow not to mention those no-matter-who-you-are-guarding-me tear drop shots we have become accustomed to, he was a man yesterday.  It was clear that he had decided to make his presence known as soon as he entered the game.  There was no such thing as letting the game come to him.  The game was on and he guarded, deflected, harassed, blocked and scored at will.  It didn’t matter where he was when he decided to score he did.  Prior to yesterday when he willfully decided to show his immense talents his offense often suffered, but not yesterday.

Miller was a game changer so I say to Mr. White, Miller was better than you. Can’t say enough about the rest of the team either.  All of them had great games.  Davis just alters games, but unnoticed is the altering of shots other team members cause.  Immense talent on this UK team and if they are to lose it will be because of injury, poor shooting or bad officiating or perhaps all three.

The UK team are singular in purpose and it showed yesterday.  Gone (at least for that game) was any arrogance or sell will, but rather, they played as a team. Couple great players playing team ball with a super coach spells a lot of wins.

Did I mention wins, oh yeah, there can be four more to go for this season?  No I am not about to jinx them by predicting wins, but one thing we can be assured of is that the players will bring it and coach will be coaching his best.

As for the best player tag goes I think Mr. Royce White brought attention to some other players on the floor who just continued to play their game.  For that I am thankful and have I said to the UK players I have enjoyed your talents beyond measure, but your character shines even above that!

Thanks guys and go Cat’s!

Its The Big One Jimmi

YahooSoprts is reporting the Syracuse knowingly failed to adhere to its internal drug policy while playing ineligible players. It looks like this goes back as far as 2001 and might include the 2002-2003 championship team.

Naturally Jimmi B had nothing to say and the school used the old we self reported it to the ncaa line.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ys-syracuse_basketball_investigation_drug_violation_030512

 

 

 

 

My Old Kentucky Home

Senior nights are always sentimental moments for every institution of higher learning and it should be. After all the students attend their institution of choice to receive a degree to help them navigate the waters of life. But, you know there are some places that are just more special than others partly because of the attention drawn to the particular school.

Kentucky is one of those if not THE one of those. Obviously, I don’t follow all schools and what they do, but aside from that Kentucky is just special and always has been. The state itself was a place so special for scenic beauty and as a hunting paradise Indian tribes wouldn’t allow settlements anywhere in the state. Additionally, the state has achieved notoriety over the years for such songs as My Old Kentucky Home which will tug at anyone’s sentimental heart strings no matter where they call home.

On top of that there are millions of Kentuckians spread all over America who left KY for whatever reason, but still call Kentucky home. They mark the day of the Kentucky Derby and make sure they watch partly because of the respect for the Derby. Horses such as Secretariat and other Triple Crown winners are brought to mind during Derby week. The beauty of Churchill Downs during the Derby with all colors on display is one reason. The colorful ways the ladies dress with all the attention to their hat’s make one want to be a part of the pageantry even if we can’t be there in person and all of it culminated with the singing of the song My Old Kentucky Home.

It is a special song that only the Star Spangled Banner and America The Beautiful trump. Even those two are what they are because of what they represent, but everyone is sentimentally affected by My Old Kentucky Home no matter their walk in life.

The song reminds us of warmth, love, adulation, a place to kick our shoes off, let our hair down, relaxation and other attributes of a special home. The song reminds us of the finer parts of our childhood, our father and mother, siblings, and childhood friends. It is a special reminder to those of us who grew up roaming the fields, hills, hollows, swinging on grapevines across the creeks, listening to the whippoorwill, watching the stars so bright and beautiful on a clear night so still a sound could not be heard. Oh yeah, and not to forget the picnics and the special one that made our hearts beat faster.

The song is so special you never forget it. It is also so special that other basketball coaches felt the song gave a recruiting advantage to UK the NCAA banned showing it on national TV. What a bummer for millions of people many of whom are not Kentuckians. What a cancer jealousy is and what a cancer the powers that be are in the NCAA. Shame on all of them!

That brings me to senior night for the 2012 graduating seniors. Thursday evening will once again see a couple of seniors saying goodbye. It will once again be a special night that could only be better if we could see Bill Keightly sitting in his chair at the Kentucky bench while Happy Chandler belts out the words to My Old Kentucky Home in the special way only he could do.

Eloy has been a team first player and came to UK as a very raw talent. I don’t know why he hadn’t progressed further before Cal got hold of him. If he could have played more this year perhaps he would have improved considerably more.

He has improved a lot from last year. I doubt Cal told the truth about NBA scouts asking about him, but he is close to 7′ and is pretty quick. It is a shame Cal doesn’t get him for another year, but perhaps he can play for a foreign team and make an NBA roster later. Eloy I wish you well in life and I really wish that we could have cheered a lot more for you.

Miller is going to be hard to replace. He has been an enigma at times leaving all of us to ask what happened to Darius. He even earned the nickname Disapperius, but oh have pity on the opponent when he decided to bring it.

Every team has visions of a player like him. Here he is on a team that is so loaded with talent and he is as good as they are, but for the team he doesn’t start. Imagine being as talented as he is and also be able to keep his ego in check and still be able to come in and do what he does. Whatever needs to be done he does it. I will forever remember those two awesome dunks he has made this year. The sky high one handed slam with authority just froze everyone in time with big eyes and mouth open saying WOW! The 2nd one that just posterized the dude under the basket.

Even more than his talent, though, is the person who has shown nothing but great character. Darius has seen a lot in his 4 years at UK. He wears #1 for his high school achievements in basketball at Mason County and he is #1 in my book too. I cheer just as loudly for every player that wears UK blue no matter where they are from, but it sure is nice to have someone like him to reside in KY.

We have our past favorites that give us fond memories when we think of them and now we will have another one shortly to add to the growing list in Darius Miller. It is my hope that athletically he gives us a re-run of last years tournament excellence, however; if his past is an indication of his future he will be a superstar in life.

Good fortune to you Darius and Eloy and as the old saying goes, “it’ been real”!

Drop a Triple Double on them Oscar

Oscar Robinson is suing the NCAA for allowing his likeness to be used without his permission or compensation. You heard it first from BigBlueRules who heard it first from Larry Vaught. Oscar Robinson is a much bigger name than the former UCLA player Ed O’Bannon who is suing the NCAA for using his likeness without permission or paying him.

This story on yahoo sports says that former UCLA Bruins star Kareem Abdul Jabbar recently filed suit against the NCAA in California state court based on the same trading cards featuring Robertson.

Its only a matter of time before one of these lawsuits are won. Of course then there will be the appeal followed by a higher appeal to the supreme court and mean while some congressman will get involved for the publicity.

I figured this a while back based on 850 athletes in the sports program at Kentucky and paying them $100 a month for 9 months. It comes out to $1,020,000 a year. I’m sure that ESPN can come up with $12,000,000 more a year to pay the SEC by just adding a couple more commercials a game and during the championship game.

What I think is we meaning the top 7 or 8 conferences should break away from the NCAA and form a new entity that will allow paying players. The small conferences can stay in the NCAA or go to the NAIA. Then the players will be professional players and Enes can play.

Of course once we start paying athletes then there will end up being a players union sooner or later and new headaches. Speaking of which I’m getting a headache thinking about this. Anyone got a beer?

Me Love You Long Time NCAA

Growing up in the late 50′s my favorite day was Saturday. Bowling followed by watching a serial, cartoon and a sci-fi movie followed by baseball was like watching the Cat’s win on Saturday now. Those sci-fi or as its changed now to syfy led me on a lifelong quest to read every sci-fi book I could find. Sadly for every hardcore sci-fi book published today there is probably a dozen fantasy books published.

What does sci-fi have to do with sports? A whole bunch according to my nimble fingers. When the NCAA first arrived on the scene it was a hardcore sci-fi kind of an organization with athletes fighting gigantic space battles and worlds being casually destroyed while the NCAA simply existed. Today the NCAA pretends to be the Arisians, having created their lensman like heroes the compliance rules to battle the Eddorians and protect the student athlete.

In reality the NCAA is more of a fantasy kind of organization who battles the Eddorians with pixie dust but no consistent philosophy on protecting student athletes other than their me love you long time when it comes to $$$$.

The NCAA suspends A J Green for for games for selling a jersey but allows Georgia to make money for selling jerseys everyone knows represent him. Thats what we all can call me love you long time student athlete.

We spent the summer watching conferences trying to realign and become super conferences when instead they should have been working to break away from the NCAA and realign their conferences under new management.

There nothing new in what I’m saying but it seems to me the best way to provide student athletes who play for the haves rather than the have not’s a few bucks a month. Basing my thoughts on providing a athlete $200 a month times 400 athletes playing sports times 12 months it comes out to less than $1,000,000 a year. Thats $12,000,000 a year for the SEC. Add one more timeout to a game and ESPN would have no problem with paying 12M more in a contract to pay players and we could get another beer without missing any of the game.

As that great philosopher and coach Jerry Tarkanian said once, “me love you long time NCAA, and thanks for the money.”

Myles Brand Dies

NCAA president Myles Brand died Wednesday after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

He became the first university president to run college sports’ largest governing body, and worked to change the perception that wins supersede academics in college athletics.

Love him for his interest in educating student athletes or hate him for his inability to see that the NCAA handed down sanctions in a timely and even handed manner he will be missed by many but not all.

While doing a search on Brands career I came across this. Heres a view on Brand thats not to positive but considering what its about and who its coming from he probably didn’t worry about it to much.

http://www.misconduct.org/4.htm

http://www.misconduct.org/4a.htm

Now that I got that out of the way its time to get the pooper-scooper out and and say it sounds to me that its nothing but doggie doodoo and seeing as how many times peoples religion were mentioned its religious bigotry at its internet best.

Funny isn’t it that its so easy to slander a decent man like Brand or use a firebrand like Knight as an example to do it.

Wheres Martin Luther when you need him?

Wheres Martin Luther when you need him to help reform the Athletic church?

Some place along the line the NCAA has reached the conclusion that they own college sports instead of administering college sports. Nothing shows it better than what happened to Memphis recently and what didn’t happen to Duke or what hasn’t happened to USC.

Occasionally they get something right like they did when the allowed Matt Pilgrim to play immediately for Oklahoma St. More often they get it wrong like they did with a bunch of players from Hawaii. Due to a error in not registering software schools in the state use to add kids to the clearing houses list by several high schools one or more classes weren’t submitted in a timely manner to the clearing house for a number of boys and girls. When the schools realized this they attempted to register the software and straighten the classes out with the NCAA but by that time the NCAA wouldn’t accept the classes.

So lets see the high schools made a mistake and tried to rectify it to the best of their ability. The clearing house refused to accept that and do what the colleges did by realizing it wasn’t the kids fault and accept the classes. It left a bunch of boys and girls with the choice of either going the JC route, paying for a year of college or sitting out a year of sports.

If the NCAA wasn’t so secretive aka the lawsuit against Fla. St and the NCAA there would be no problem finding other cases where kids suffer because of the NCAA’s general inflexibility.

How do you solve a problem like this. Its simple to sports fans you force the NCAA to reform. The biggest problem isn’t going to be getting the NCAA to reform its going to be getting college presidents to get together and do what was done a few years ago The CFA forced the NCAA’s hand on television rights when they had every major and mid-major school except for the PAC 19 and Big 10 schools ready to form a new organization to replace the NCAA. Now the schools are making money hand over foot so whats the percentage in upsetting the money cart.

The NCAA is very good at trying to convincing the average fan that collegiate athletics is nothing more than an extracurricular service being provided to enhance the lives of nerdish students who barely remember to go to practice. As a result, the NCAA earns more during its post-season than the NFL and the NBA earn in their respective playoffs, including the Super Bowl.

So the next time you hear the NCAA say the student athlete comes first don’t believe it. What comes first is money, then the NCAA’s reputation, then certain schools and coaches and finally you find the student athlete at the bottom of the pile.

The Two Faces Of The NCAA

The NCAA approved a policy Thursday that would ban states, such as Delaware, from hosting championship events if they allow fans to bet on single games.

Chancellors and presidents from all three NCAA divisions approved the measure, saying it applies to “any session of an NCAA championship,” though it does not apply to states that allow parlay betting, lottery tickets, pull tabs and sports pools.

The move came one day after a federal judge denied a request by professional sports leagues and the NCAA to halt Delaware’s planned sports betting lottery until a legal challenge is resolved.

Officially, the NCAA opposes all forms of sports wagering that threaten the integrity of its games or jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the athletic community.

Anyone who has ever been to Vegas when March Madness starts knows that sports betting is not a passing fad its a full blown tsunami that the NCAA is pretending isn’t there.
I can see where the NCAA is coming from on their attempt to control betting but seriously though doesn’t using jeopardizing the welfare of student-athletes reek just a little of hiprocracy coming from an organization that feels giving an athlete a few bucks on top of the free education from the millions that their schools make off their hard work and skills hurts college sports.

Wouldn’t it make just as much sense to give a athlete enough money to take the girlfriend out for a movie and dinner once a month or so. Seems like that would take the pressure off players throwing games.

Student-athletes are often expected to pay expenses related to admission, enrollment, housing, meal plans, parking permits, and more. There are incredible restrictions on employment, and you have to be wary of the boosters. You’re subjected to year-round drug testing, You have to deal with curfews. You can’t be paid for teaching your sport in a fee-for-lesson basis (but the math whiz on scholarship can make dough tutoring one-on-one). You have physical expectations placed upon yourself year round and oh yeah, you have to study and go to class too.

The NCAA has been playing the game for years and has it down to a science. They say that players are given a full ride and thats just not true. The National College Players Association (NCPA), formerly known as the Collegiate Athletes Coalition (CAC), released results of another significant study revealing the estimated shortfall between college athletes’ full scholarships and the actual cost of attendance at each Division I university.

The NCPA asserts that, by and large, universities have been deceiving recruits, many of whom are under the age of 18 and from disadvantaged backgrounds, into unknowingly being responsible for paying thousands of dollars while on “full” athletic scholarship.

The fact is, coaches fill high school recruits’ heads with promises of free rides and full scholarships, when in fact no such things exist. The NCAA designs full scholarships to fall short of the advertised price tag of a school, leaving recruits scrambling to make ends meet.

Complete NCPA study results and additional studies are available on the NCPA web site:http://www.ncpanow.org

So come on now Eve quit trying to talk the student-athlete into taking a bite of the apple and eat it yourself

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Is Title IX Hurting Mens Sports

Two for one day here at BigBlueRules. People have posted good looking girls, good looking mules and even Burt Reynolds in the forums but this is fairly new for us. We are putting up pictures of good looking girls on the front page to try and keep up with sex appeal of other blogs and we are giving you something to think about at the same time. This is a family site outside of a semi nude Burt Reynolds in the forums and I hope your following where I’m leading you.

Although Title IX was originally intended to help with education its become very important to something it wasn’t intended for womens sports. Here is some information to ponder while considering if Title IX is hurting mens sports or benefiting the country in general.

According to the latest data available from the NCAA there are 492 more women’s programs than men’s in Division I. There are scholarships available for women (32,656) and (20,206) for men.

The findings of a first-of-a-kind study of NCAA participation and scholarship data conducted by the College Sports Council (CSC) shows that in NCAA Division I “gender symmetric sports” (teams where both male and female athletes participate), female students are accorded far more opportunities than male students to compete and earn scholarships. As a result, the CSC is calling on the NCAA to equalize scholarship limits.

Findings of the study, the first of its kind to compare scholarship opportunities for men and women in NCAA Division I using the organization’s own data, include.

At the NCAA Division I level, there are far more women’s teams (2,653) than men’s teams (2,097). The study found the greatest gender disparities in favor of women in the sports of Volleyball (313 to 21) and Soccer (300 to 195).

Overall in “gender symmetric” sports, there are far more scholarships available for women (32,656) than for men (20,206). But those numbers don’t consider football in their data and instead compare sports that are available to both men and women.

Leaving football out provides a slanted view of scholarship opportunities. Football takes 85 men’s scholarships for each FBS team and 63 scholarships for each FCS team. That’s 10,200 scholarships available for 120 FBS schools and 7,749 scholarships available for 123 FCS schools (including five schools that were provisional in 2008).

Even in one of the only sports where there are more men’s teams, golf (285 to 228), there are still more athletic scholarships available for women (1,368 to 1,282.5).

In every “gender symmetric” sport with the exception of gymnastics, men face longer odds against getting a scholarship than women. By far, the most difficult athletic scholarship to obtain at the Division I level is in men’s volleyball, where there are 489 high school athletes for every full NCAA scholarship. Similar long odds exist for men competing in Track and Field/Cross-Country (221 to 1), Soccer and Water Polo (196 to 1) and Tennis (136 to 1).

Over the past twenty years, men have lost about a team each year while women have gained 3 each year. That pace has accelerated in recent years with men losing about a team and a half each year while women gain six annually.

Before Title IX. Things were different. The primary physical activities for girls were cheerleading and square-dancing. Only 1 in 27 girls played high school sports. There were virtually no college scholarships for female athletes. And female college athletes received only two percent of overall athletic budgets.

Since Title IX. There’s been real growth in the number of women who participate in sports, receive scholarships, and benefit from increased budgets. There are more opportunities to compete at elite levels through competitions like the Olympics, World Championships and professional leagues. Even more importantly, we know that playing sports makes women healthier. They’re less likely to smoke, drink, use drugs and experience unwanted pregnancies. Studies also link sports participation to reduced incidences of breast cancer and osteoporosis later in life. These health benefits for women and society alone should be reason to keep Title IX strong.

Why Title IX is still critical. The general perception is that girls now have equal opportunities in all areas of athletics. But that’s just not true.

In 2006 -2007 there were 3 million girls participating in high school athletics. They made up 41% of high school athletes, even though they represent more than 49% of the high school student population.

In 2005-2006 there were 171,000 women participating in college athletics. Women represent only 42% of college athletes, even thogh they represent over 50% of the college student population nationwide.

Each year male athletes receive over $136 million more than female athletes in college athletic scholarships at NCAA member institutions.

Women in Division I colleges are over 50% of the student body, but receive only 32% of athletic recruiting dollars and 37% of the total money spent on athletics.

In 2008, only 43% of coaches of women’s teams were women. In 1972, the number was over 90 percent.

They practice hard, and they have coaches – but is cheerleading a sport?
It probably depends on whose definition you’re using.

No doubt, most cheerleaders would tell you it’s a sport – just like gymnastics. But according to federal law, an activity can’t be considered a sport unless competition is its main goal.

And while many cheerleading squads participate in competitions, some say their primary function is supporting other athletic teams.

So here’s the interesting twist: It’s the law – specifically Title IX – that’s causing some colleges to call cheerleading a sport. Why? It’s a less expensive way of complying.

Take a look at Quinnipiac University. The Connecticut school decided to cut its women’s volleyball team this spring in an effort to save money. But controversy erupted when it proposed replacing the team by elevating cheerleading to a varsity sport.

Hard to blame the school, from a dollars and cents point of view:

Last season, Quinnipiac’s volleyball team had a budget of more than $70,000 for 11 players – that works out to $6,300 per team member.

The cheerleading squad’s budget was around $50,000 for 40 participants – about $1,250 per person.

So it still comes back to the question: Is cheerleading a sport? Or maybe, as in the case of Quinnipiac University, are schools willing to call it a sport just so they can get rid of costlier women’s teams?

From Catlanta in the forums on Title IX.

For starts, Title IX is settled federal law and for seconds, way too much of a political hot potato for Congress to change. I was not a fan of Title IX and felt that many male athletes were treated unfairly in the first few years of its implementation.

However, and this is a big however, since the advent of Title IX, medal counts for women from U.S. universities have skyrocketed in Olympic competitions. If the SEC had been a country, they would have placed something like fifth in total medals, and many of them were earned by women athletes. One SEC school, Auburn University, had 18 medals (7 of which were earned by women swimmers) and would have tied for 14th in the world, with Canada and Spain.

Title IX is making a giant positive impact on Team USA and, therefore, probably won’t be going away anytime soon, so might as well make the best of it.

So is Title IX hurting mens sports or benefiting the nation?

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