Most Americans Not Fans Of College Or Professional Sports

 

The charts above are from a Pew Research Center survey -- done between August 7th and 27th of a nationwide sample of 11,945 adults, with a 1.4 point margin of error.

WNBA Attacks The Odious Texas Abortion Law

From MSNBC.com:

In a full-page ad in The New York Times on Sunday, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association denounced Texas’ new, strict anti-abortion law, along with other attacks on reproductive rights coming from conservative-led legislatures across the nation.

Time To End The Double Standard In Uniforms For Athletes

You may have already heard about the fine levels against the women's beach handball team for Norway. Instead if wearing the mandated bikini bottoms, they chose to wear shorts, and each player on the team was fined 150 euros (for a team total of 1500 euros) by the European Handball Federation.

Singer Pink said she would pay all the fines. Good for her. But why must the women wear bikini bottoms? The men play in shorts -- why can't the women? Are they trying to sell sex or a sport?

This is not the only sport requiring sexy uniforms for women, but not for men -- and it's time for it to stop in all sports.

I am an avid fan of both men's and women's sports, and I don't watch them because of the kind of uniforms they wear in either. I only care about how well the sport is being played, and who wins. I think most other sports fans are the same. Athletes should be allowed to wear any kind of uniform they want (as long as it doesn't give them an unfair advantage over the other athletes).

The following is from Ivanka Saric and Ina Fried at Axios.com:

Female Olympians in Tokyo are rejecting the uniforms that have long defined their sports, highlighting a double standard that exists how women dress in competition vs. men. 

Driving the news: During their qualifying round Sunday, Germany's women's gymnastics team wore full-length unitards, eschewing the conventional leg-barring leotards worn by most female gymnasts.

• Earlier this week Norway's women's beach handball team was fined for wearing shortsinstead of the required bikini bottoms during a match.

Between the lines: The German Gymnastics Federation said the new uniforms were meant to push back "against sexualization in gymnastics."

• “It's about what feels comfortable,” three-time Olympian Elisabeth Seitz told reporters in Tokyo. “We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear."
• The Norwegian Olympians highlighted the double standard for female athletes.
• "I don’t see why we can’t play in shorts,” said Norwegian player Martine Welfler. "With so much body shaming and stuff like that these days, you should be able to wear a little bit more when you play."
• Australian athletes voiced support for the Norweigians' move. "It is so much easier to focus on your performance... when you do not have to worry about whether your bikini bottom has ridden up in an unflattering way… or what angle a photographer might be able to capture you on,” Australian beach handball player Rose Boyd told The Feed.

State of play: Double standards between male and female athletes often come down to aesthetics and convention, rather than necessity.

• Male gymnasts typically compete in shorts or loose pants, while female gymnasts are typically seen sporting bikini-cut leotards, even as many prefer to train wearing shorts, notes the New York Times.
• While no rules bar female gymnasts from wearing long unitards in competition, they remain niche, often worn by athletes for religious reasons, per the Times.
• The International Handball Federation permits male beach handball players to wear shorts as long as four inches above their knees as long as they are "not too baggy," much like the ones the Norwegian women's team wore last week. 
• Yet the IHF requires women to wear bikini bottoms "with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg" that are no longer than four inches on the sides.

She's Denied An Olympic Berth Because Of Marijuana Use

Sha'Carri Richardson won the 100 meter race at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and she won it in convincing fashion. But she will not be able to compete in that event in the Olympics because she tested positive for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). 

I think this is unjust. I understand and support banning athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs. Using drugs to enhance a performance is cheating. But marijuana is NOT a performance-enhancing drug, and its use should not be used to deny any athlete an honor they have achieved. 

The following is part of an article on this at Yahoo Sports:

Sha’Carri Richardson, the 21-year-old sprinter expected to star at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, has been suspended and barred from running her signature race in Tokyo after testing positive for marijuana.

The drug has been decriminalized in most U.S. states, including in Oregon, where Richardson's positive test occurred. Many athletes use it for reasons both medicinal and recreational. The NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL no longer suspend players for it.

And yet, “all natural and synthetic cannabinoids,” including marijuana, remain prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, the International Olympic Committee-affiliated body that regulates drug use in global sport.

WADA deems THC, the primary psychoactive compound of marijuana, a “substance of abuse” on its 2021 prohibited list. All cannabis-based products except for cannabidiol, or CBD, are banned “in-competition.” That means that if THC is found in an athlete’s system on the day of an event, that athlete is subject to punishment.

Discussion over marijuana's inclusion on WADA's list of banned substances dates back two decades.

“People were worried about sport appearing to thumb its nose at criminal law," Dick Pound, the founder and first president of WADA, told Yahoo Sports on Friday.

So WADA lumped marijuana in with hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. And, said Pound, “it just sort of stayed there."

For a substance to make WADA’s prohibited list, it must satisfy at least two of the following three criteria, WADA says:

It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athlete;

It has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance;

It violates the spirit of sport . . .

Many scientists would push back on the stance that marijuana both “poses a health risk to athletes” and “has the potential to enhance performance.”

A 2018 paper co-authored by Alan Vernec, WADA’s medical director, concluded that "there is no evidence for cannabis use as a performance-enhancing drug."

Oliver Catlin, the son of anti-doping pioneer Don Catlin and co-founder of the Banned Substances Control Group, told Yahoo Sports: “I am not aware of any potential for marijuana to be performance enhancing or to be used as a masking agent.”

Dennis Jensen, an associate professor of kinesiology and physical education at McGill University, told Yahoo Sports the limited evidence that exists suggests that, if anything, marijuana decreases athletic performance. . . .

Why does marijuana remain on WADA’s prohibited substance list if it doesn’t appear to enhance performance beyond limiting pain and reducing anxiety? Pound, the WADA founder, and Catlin, the American anti-doping expert, argue that it shouldn’t be.

Catlin estimates the cash-strapped anti-doping industry squanders $1.3 million per year on marijuana-related cases.

“I would rather see that money spent on pursuing doping agents that can impact performance than on a drug that seems to be more about image management,” Catlin said.

The circumstances of Richardson’s case make her potential punishment especially harsh. The confident, charismatic sprinter had been hailed as a medal favorite in Tokyo and a potential breakout star. Her showdown with Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 100 meters final would be track and field’s most anticipated race of the Olympics.

Now that matchup is in doubt, an outcome that’s bad not only for Richardson but also for the sport.

Were Pound still active in WADA, he says he would push to remove marijuana from the banned list over the next five-to-10 years.

Said Pound: “We're in the business of preventing performance enhancement in sport, not getting involved in what may be medical conditions that really don't have anything to do with sport.”

When Will The Spectator Sports Return?

One of the things many Americans miss during this Coronavirus pandemic is spectator sports. Sports at all levels have ceased. It is just too dangerous -- both for the fans attending sporting events and for the participants themselves.

When will the sports come back? Here is what the Associated Press is reporting about that:

The Associated Press canvassed major sports around the world asking what the plan was to return to action. Most leagues gave aggressive and optimistic plans to start play within weeks, while fall sports said they plan to start on schedule. 

Key stakeholders confirmed, however, that they have less optimistic backup plans. Some of the options include, holding the basketball and hockey playoffs in September, kicking off college football in the spring of 2021 and holding votes to determine champions in some soccer leagues. 

Bull Riding: Professional Bull Riders returning to action next weekend in “closed, made-for-TV event” in Oklahoma. 

College Football: Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione says policymakers are looking at several models that include shortening the season or moving part or all of it to the spring.

Horse Racing: Kentucky Derby has been rescheduled to Sept. 5.

MLB: Plans include bringing all 30 teams to Arizona and playing through December, scheduling doubleheaders with seven-inning games and home run contests to settle games that would otherwise go into extra innings.

NASCAR: A tentative schedule given to teams shows the season resuming May 24 at the Coca-Cola 600, with midweek races and doubleheaders crammed in from June to August to complete the postponed events.

NBA: Medical experts have said there almost certainly won’t be any basketball until at least June. The league is reportedly considering a number of scenarios, including shortening some playoff series and playing them in arenas with no fans. 

NFL: Contingency plans reportedly include playing a shortened season, or playing games in front of empty or half-full stadiums. 

NHL: Plans include going directly to playoffs when play resumes, and possibly playing games at neutral sites. Teams have asked about arena availability through August. 

Olympics: Tokyo Games rescheduled to start July 23, 2021, though some organizers now saying there’s no guarantee COVID-19 will be controlled enough to hold the massive international event.

PGA Tour: Plans on returning week of June 11 in Fort Worth Texas, with tournament for no fans. Three of four majors have been rescheduled, starting with PGA in August. 

Soccer: English Premier League has optimistic plan in place to restart June 8. German Bundesliga plans to resume in May have been threatened by government ban on public gatherings through August. Scottish teams have been asked to vote on whether to cancel seasons, which means the champions would be the teams leading when play stopped. FIFA is facing challenges to extend seasons because many player contracts expire on June 30.

Tennis: With professional circuits on hold until at least July, Serena Williams’ coach says he’s starting an independent league to play matches in front of no fans starting May 16. Wimbledon has been canceled and French Open has been moved to Sept. 20.

The Most Popular Winter Olympic Sports To Watch Are . . .

The Winter Olympics is starting, and to celebrate that the Economist / YouGov Poll asked respondents to name their favorite sports in the Winter Olympics. Respondents could choose up to three sports, and the results are shown by percentage in the chart above. The survey was done between February 4th and 6th of a random national sample of 1,500 adults, and has a 3.3 point margin of error.

That figure skating is the most popular sport for viewers was no surprise, but the next three most popular did surprise me. It seems that ski jumping (31%), bobsled (29%), and snowboard (24%) were all more popular than ice hockey (21%). Nordic combined (a combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping) was the least popular at 1%.

I did think it was odd that regular track speed skating was left off the list.

Football Is Still The Most Popular Spectator Sport

Donald Trump bad-mouthed professional football because many of the players were kneeling to demonstrate for social justice. He even encouraged viewers to stop watching, and bragged about football losing spectators. But his efforts don't seem to have mattered much.

Football is still the most popular spectator sport in the United States -- and no other sport even comes close to the popularity of football. That is not just the opinion of the general public, but both genders, all age groups, and across the political spectrum.

The chart above reflects the results of the latest Gallup Poll on the subject -- done between December 4th and 11th of a random national sample of 1,049 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.

"The Greatest" Has Left Us - Muhammad Ali Dies

Muhammad Ali died on Friday in a Phoenix hospital. He was 74 years old. He did "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" in his boxing career -- and was undoubtably the greatest heavyweight fighter I've ever seen. But he was more. He was a man of conscience. He had his career interrupted, and was in danger of going to prison, for refusing to be inducted into the military during the Vietnam War. Fortunately, the Supreme Court ruled that he had a religious right to that refusal -- and that decision helped not only him but many others. As both a great boxer and a great human being, he will be missed.

The Popularity Of Professional Sports In The United States

These charts were made from a recent Public Policy Polling survey -- done between May 6th and 9th of a random national sample of 1,222 registered voters, with a 3.2 point margin of error.

I realize this is a departure from my usual posts about politics and economics, but I found it interesting. First, football is now more popular than baseball in this country. But even more interesting is the breakdown of male/female fans, and Democrat/Republican fans.

26% Of Americans Say God Picks Winner Of Sporting Events

The Super Bowl is coming up, so the Public Religion Research Institute did a survey of Americans (questioning 1,012 adults between January 14th and 18th, with a 3.6 point margin of error).

I found that survey to be very disturbing. It seems that more than a quarter of all Americans (26%) and all sports fans (27%) don't really believe that game (or other sporting events) is determined by those playing and coaching the game. They believe God has a hand in picking the winner of all sporting events -- evidently tipping the game outcome toward his favorite team.

That poses the question of just how this invisible sky god picks his winners. Does he have favorite teams (as most sports fans do)? Does he favor the team with the most god-believers on it? Does he measure the strength of those beliefs, and make sure the strongest believers win? Are the losers to understand they have been reprimanded by god?

The whole idea of this is ludicrous. Are we really to believe that god (if he/she even exists) is callous enough to let many thousands die each day (starvation, war, natural disaster, murder, suicide, etc.), but thinks a sporting event (which has only entertainment value) is so important that he/she must intervene and determine a winner (and loser)? That makes no sense at all, and any god that capricious would deserve no believers.

The survey also asked if that invisible god rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success (see chart below). And sadly, even higher percentages believe this (evidently not understanding that this is very much the same as god picking sports winners and losers). Why would a god reward athletes while allowing terrible things to happen to others (both believers and non-believers)?

Whether you believe in a god or not, the idea that a god would consider sporting events important enough to intervene is a ludicrous idea.

Recent Bad Publicity Hasn't Hurt Professional Football

During the past few weeks and months, the National Football League (NFL) has gotten a significant amount of bad publicity. First there were players who were violent to women in their lives. Then came a player who physically abused his 4 year old son so badly with a "switch" that ugly scars were still visible several days later. The NFL was pilloried not only for what those players did, but also for the league's rather tepid reaction to those crimes (and they were crimes).

Then PBS aired a documentary about research that is showing that collisions (a part of the sport) may be causing brain damage in players -- damage that grows even more serious after players grow older and retire. The NFL's only answer to this growing body of research is to deny there is a problem (pointing to a thoroughly inadequate study of their own).

With all the negative publicity the NFL has gotten recently, a reasonable person might think it would have hurt the popularity of professional football -- but he/she would be wrong. The charts in this post were made from information in a new Harris Poll (done between September 10th and 17th of a random national sample of 2,543 adults). It shows that the popularity of professional football has not waned in light of the bad publicity.

Note that the popularity of professional football has actually risen a point over last year (from 54% to 55%) -- and it remains the most popular professional sport in America. And when you break the population down demographically, you find that every group but one has a majority following the sport -- and that one group, women, has 43% still following the sport. It is readily apparent that, while the negative publicity got a lot of headlines and airtime, it has not put even a small dent in the popularity of professional football.

West Texas A&M - NCAA Division II Softball Champions

The only major university in the Texas Panhandle is West Texas A&M (located in Canyon, just 10 miles south of Amarillo). It is also the school where my youngest daughter attends (as a senior with a 4.0 average). So I think you'll understand if I depart from discussing politics long enough to congratulate the Lady Buffalo softball team for winning the NCAA Division II National Softball Championship. They beat Valdosta State 3-2 on a three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.

It is the first national softball championship for the West Texas A&M women. Needless to say, all of us Panhandle-dwellers are very proud of their accomplishment. Congratulations!!

(The picture above, from the NCAA.com website, is of the winning home run.)

A Good Day For West Texas A&M Sports

I want to depart from my usual posting to congratulate our local Panhandle university -- West Texas A&M University. The WTAMU Buffaloes had a very good sports day yesterday.

It started with the football team, who once again qualified for the national play-offs in Division II. Last year, the Buffaloes advanced all the way to the national semi-finals. This year, they got off to another good start in the play-offs by beating the University of Indianapolis on Saturday by a score of 27-13. They will play Ohio Dominican next Saturday.

But football was not alone among Saturday's accomplishments. The WTAMU volleyball team won the Lone Star Conference championship. They beat Angelo State 3 to 2 in a hard fought contest.

And another sport also needs to be commended. Both the men's and women's cross country teams qualified for the Division II national championships, which were run on Saturday. Both teams finished in 14th place, but should be very proud to have earned a spot in the national finals.

All in all, it was a good day to be a Buffalo.  

Nate Silver Returning To First Love - Sports

In the last election, one of the best resources for political junkies like me, was the excellent blog of Nate Silver -- FiveThirtyEight.com (carried by the New York Times). Silver turned out to be the most accurate of all the political prognosticators. He was also a valuable resource in examining the accuracy of the many political polls that were issued.

But Mr. Silver is now ending his relationship with the New York Times. When his contract ends in August, he will take his blog to ESPN. Silver started his career as a sports prognosticator (especially in baseball), and this move means he will be returning to that.

This is a big coup for ESPN, and I'm sure that the blog will be loved by sports fans. I just hope that Silver is not completely giving up his political prognosticating. The elections of 2014 and 2016 will just not be the same without the opinions and skills of Mr. Silver. It will be much harder to wade through the mass of political polling without his expert guidance.

Forbes Rates Most Valuable Sports Teams

(The image above is from ehow.com.)

Soccer is still a minor sport in the United States as far a money goes (although it is growing fast), but it still reigns supreme worldwide. That is reflected in Forbes newest rating of the most valuable sports franchises. The three most valuable franchises are all from the world of professional soccer -- Real Madrid ($3.3 billion), Manchester United ($3.165 billion), and Barcelona ($2.6 billion).

It is not until we reach the forth most valuable sports franchise that we get to an American franchise (and a non-soccer one). The fourth and fifth most valuable sports franchises are the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys. Here are the top 30 most valuable sports franchises in the United States -- with the number in parentheses being their worldwide rating:

1.(4)-New York Yankees (Major League Baseball).....$2.3 billion
2.(5)-Dallas Cowboys (NFL Football).....$2.1 billion
3.(6)-New England Patriots (NFL Football).....$1.635 billion
4.(7)-Los Angeles Dodgers (Major League Baseball).....$1.615 billion
5.(8)-Washington Redskins (NFL Football).....$1.6 billion
6.(9)-New York Giants (NFL Football).....$1.468 billion
7.(11)-Boston Red Sox (Major League Baseball).....$1.312 billion
8.(13)-Houston Texans (NFL Football).....$1.305 billion
9.(14)-New York Jets (NFL Football).....$1.284 billion
10.(15)-Philadelphia Eagles (NFL Football).....$1.26 billion
11.(16)-Chaicago Bears (NFL Football).....$1.19 billion
12.(17)-San Francisco Forty-Niners (NFL Football).....$1.175 billion
13.(18)-Green Bay Packers (NFL Football).....$1.161 billion
14.(19)-Baltimore Ravens (NFL Football).....$1.157 billion
15.(20)-Indianapolis Colts (NFL Football).....$1.154 billion
16.(22)-Denver Broncos (NFL Football).....$1.132 billion
17.(23)-New York Knicks (NBA Basketball).....$1.1 billion
17.(23)-Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL Football).....$1.1 billion
19.(25)-Miami Dolphins (NFL Football).....$1.06 billion
20.(26)-Carolina Panthers (NFL Football).....$1.048 billion
21.(27)-Seattle Seahawks (NFL Football).....$1.04 billion
22.(28)-Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL Football).....$1.033 billion
23.(29)-Tennessee Titans (NFL Football).....$1.011 billion
24.(30)-Kansas City Chiefs (NFL Football).....$1.008 billion
25.(31)-Chicago Cubs (Major League Baseball).....$1 billion
25.(31)-Los Angeles Lakers (NBA Basketball).....$1 billion
27.(34)-Cleveland Browns (NFL Football).....$987 million
28.(35)-Minnesota Vikings (NFL Football).....$975 million
29.(36)-New Orleans Saints (NFL Football).....$971 million
30.(38)-San Diego Chargers (NFL Football).....$936 million

Should We Be Subsidizing Sports ?

(This Brazilian protesters sign says "Health and Education, Not the Cup".)

As you may know, there have been massive protests in Brazil this last week (and they still continue) -- protests that have included millions of people. The protests are over the amount of money the Brazilian government is spending (many billions of dollars) to bring the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics to that country, while far too many in that country must live in abject poverty. Just last Thursday, more than 1.5 million people flooded into the streets of 80 Brazilian cities in the protest.

The Brazilian protesters do have a point. Why is money being spent on sports while too many in that country must suffer from the lack of government help? But Brazil is not alone. Other countries do the same thing, and that includes the United States.

While poverty and food stamp rolls continue to grow in our faltering economy, and the government seems to be continually cutting funding for the poor, the unemployed, children, and the elderly, that same government gives sports businesses tax breaks, subsidies, and other perks than normal business does not get. And it's not just the federal government. States and cities gives tax breaks to sports and subsidies to build stadiums -- while at the same time they are cutting funding for hurting citizens who really need a little help.

And that even extends down to our local school districts -- who cry about funding and cut teachers, but still find the money to build new sports stadiums (even if they have to raise taxes to do it). If all levels of government are really hurting for funding, how is it that they can always find money for sports? Why is it OK to raise taxes to build a new stadium or gym, but they cannot raise taxes to help hurting Americans or create jobs?

Obviously we have some really screwed up priorities in this country. I am a big sports fan, but I fail to see why those sports (at all levels) shouldn't have to pay their own way (like other businesses do). Schools are there to educate our young -- not provide a stream of athletes. And governments (local, state, and federal) are to provide services for their citizens through taxes -- not to provide services for sporting franchises through taxation.

The Brazilian protesters have it right. When will Americans be smart enough to do the same?

God Picks The Sports Winners ?

(The image above was found at the website of Tom McMahon.)

We've all seen athletes pray before a sporting event, and give thanks to Jesus (or some god) if they are successful in that event (although we never seem to see any athletes blaming god for their losing effort -- strange). I don't really have much of a problem with that, as long as no one is forced to participate against their will and it doesn't happen with government-sponsored teams (i.e., public schools and colleges, because that would be a sponsoring of religion by government, and usually it's a particular religion).

These voluntary prayers by non-public school or college athletes are just an example of people exercising their freedom of religion. You may think that a strange thing for an atheist like myself to say, but I believe in the Constitution. I just want religious people to also believe in that same Constitution, and honor the freedom of others to not believe in their particular religion (or even any religion at all).

But some people take their religion a bit far. A new poll, done between January 16th and 20th of this year of a random sample of 1,033 adults, by the Public Religion Research Institute, shows that there is a significant segment of the American population who believes that god rewards faithful athletes who believe in him with success in sports, and that god actually plays a role in determining the winner in team sports.

Frankly, I am amazed that anyone would believe such a thing. Even if there was a god, why would he bother himself with determining the outcome of something so meaningless as a sporting event? And it is meaningless in the large scheme of things. I love sports, but I recognize that nothing is going to change regardless of which sporting team wins. It's just entertainment, nothing else. And if god existed, there would be no reason why he/she would concern themselves with sports (especially since he/she ignores suffering and tragedy all over the world).

But people will believe what they want to believe, whether it makes any sense or not. That's the only excuse I can find for these poll results:

GOD REWARDS ATHLETES WHO HAVE FAITH WITH GOOD HEALTH AND SUCCESS.
completely agree...............24%
mostly agree...............29%
mostly disagree...............17%
completely disagree...............25%
don't know...............5%
or
agree...............53%
disagree...............42%
don't know...............5%

GOD PLAYS A ROLE IN DETERMINING WHICH TEAM WINS A SPORTING EVENT.
completely agree...............12%
mostly agree...............15%
mostly disagree...............21%
completely disagree...............49%
don't know...............3%
or
agree...............27%
disagree...............70%
don't know...............3%

It makes me feel a little better knowing that 70% of Americans don't believe god determines the winner of team sporting events, but it's still a bit disconcerting to think that more than one out of four Americans thinks god is picking the winners (and over half of all Americans think god makes individual athletes successful to reward their faith). I wonder if these people think the losers were not faithful enough or had done something to make god mad.

But it was another question in that same poll that troubled me far more than the questions above. Those questions above just detail some rather silly beliefs of some Americans, but this next question shows a significant portion of our population doesn't really believe in the religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. They think it's perfectly OK to force their religion on others at a public school (government) sponsored sporting event.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO SPONSOR PRAYERS BEFORE FOOTBALL GAMES.
completely agree...............49%
mostly agree...............27%
mostly disagree...............10%
completely agree...............11%
don't know...............3%
or
agree...............76%
disagree...............21%
don't know...............3%

It makes me wonder if these people have thought this through. They think it's great to impose their own religion on people with other beliefs (or no religious beliefs). But I'd bet they would be incensed and offended if that prayer was islamic (or hindu, buddhist, taoist, wiccan, etc.) rather than christian. That fact is that public school sponsored prayers are wrong, and unconstitutional, no matter what religion is offering them.

The Huge Success Of Title IX

On the 23rd of June in 1972, President Nixon signed an education bill into law. One of the provisions of that bill was a section that is commonly referred to as Title IX. This provision said:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

In other words, no school receiving federal funds could discriminate against women by offering more programs to men than to women, including athletic programs. This caused a furor among many in this country. They said it would destroy athletic programs for men (namely the hugely popular and financially successful football and basketball programs for men). There were even efforts in Congress to exclude the "revenue sports" from the new rules. Fortunately, all efforts to water down Title IX were unsuccessful.

What has been the result? Well, men's sports were not hurt at all. They are just as popular (and financially successful) as they ever were. But the law has created a huge boom in women's sports -- and in the participation of women in those sports. This huge growth has been at all levels, from high schools to college to the professional level (and of course, the Olympic level). And the sports-viewing public has embraced women's athletics as it continues to grow. Can any of you who watched the recent Olympics truly say you did not enjoy watching the women athletes as much as the men?

The chart above, from Mother Jones, shows the effect Title IX has had on women's participation in sports since it was passed (especially in the Olympics).  The truth is that equality works -- and it works for all of us. We should be working to make more people in this country equal, not less. Because when people are equal, they are given the chance to succeed -- not just in athletics, but in all kinds of endeavors.

I also liked the chart below. It seems that the majority of medals won by the United States Olympic Team were won by women. And if the U.S. Olymic Team women were a country, they would have finished in fifth place among all countries. That's pretty impressive.

Once again I say -- EQUALITY WORKS. We have not achieved full equality for all the citizens in this country. But the success of Title IX should encourage us to continue the fight.

An Exciting Time For My Favorite Sports

This is not only a thrilling time for a political junkie like myself (with the national election coming up in November), but it's also going to be a busy few months for many of my favorite sports. The Texas Rangers are already playing and hopefully, on their way to another trip to the Major League Baseball play-offs. And at the end of June, the Tour de France will begin its 21-leg journey to Paris.

But while those happen every year, this year we are going to be treated to one of the greatest sporting events of all - the Summer Olympics, which only comes around every four years. The Olympic flame was lit by a parabolic mirror on May 10th at Olympia in Greece. It arrived in Great Britain last friday.

Now it will be carried through all four of the nations making up the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) by 8,000 torch bearers in a huge relay effort -- winding up at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford for the July 27th opening ceremony. The gentleman in the picture above is 1948 British Olympian Michael Lapage, running his leg of the several thousand mile relay.

And of course, as the Olympics winds up, it will be time for my Dallas Cowboys to play another National Football League schedule -- hopefully with better results this year. It's going to be an exciting next few months for sports. Gosh, I hope I have time to get in a little blogging! (Just a little joke. Politics is the greatest "sport" of all, and I could never keep quiet in an election year.)

Texas Wesleyan Is Conference Champion

I need to depart from politics for a minute to do a little bragging about the school I earned my college degree from -- Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth. The girls on the TWU Rams softball team have grabbed a well-deserved berth in the NAIA national softball tournament.

The Wesleyan girls had a great season, finishing first in the regular conference schedule with a  20-4 record. That was good enough to give them the top seed in the Red River Athletic Conference tournament. They then went undefeated in the conference tournament, beating Our Lady of the Lake 5-2 in yesterday's championship game.

I congratulate the Texas Wesleyan Rams softball team on what has already been a great season. They should all be proud of their accomplishment. But now they get the chance to go even further. They get to play in the NAIA national playoffs.

Good luck, and know that the Wesleyan alumni out here are proud of you and are pulling for you. We know you'l do your best.

For those of you not familiar with the Red River Athletic Conference, here are the other schools in it:

Bacone College (Muskogee, Oklahoma)
Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, Texas)
Jarvis Christian College (Hawkins, Texas)
Langston University (Langston, Oklahoma)
Louisiana State University-Shreveport (Shreveport, Louisiana)
Northwood University (Cedar Hill, Texas)
Our Lady of the Lake University (San Antonio, Texas)
Paul Quinn College (Dallas, Texas)
SW Assemblies of God University (Waxahachie, Texas)
Texas College (Tyler, Texas)
University of St. Thomas (Houston, Texas)
University of Texas-Brownsville (Brownsville, Texas)
University of the Southwest (Hobbs, New Mexico)
Wiley College (Marshall, Texas)