Muffet McGraw's comments on gender equity in sports, business

It’s not my idea. It’s the natural progression of McMuffet’s thought

 

Under that hypothesis, a black man would never have gotten a head coaching job in football and manager in MLB

 

I'm going all the way back to the second post in this thread to counter a couple of things.

Jordan Peele and Muffet McGraw may be fighting similar battles, but they're really not in comparable situations. Peele has far more flexibility in deciding his path, because he's also the writer of his movies. His comment also deserves a little context - "I don't see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie. Not that I don't like white dudes. But I've seen that movie." Peele's argument is a creative one as much as it is about equality. He's now in a position where he can create things he didn't see on film growing up, and maybe that leads to another kid of color getting into film and creating things he/she didn't see as a kid.

McGraw has much less flexibility. As head coach, she has a much smaller pool of candidates to draw from than Peele. Where Peele can create any scenario he wants in order to cast people of color, McGraw has to work within stricter confines. There are likely hiring restrictions (maybe a college degree is required, experience in the game, background checks, etc.). So it's only natural that she's hitting back a little stronger.

But she also gets a much larger point that's being ignored, something she brought up in the follow-up interview at the NCAA tournament press conference. Why are so many coaches of women's and girls basketball men? You see at the high school level, too. And that's because so few women are in hiring positions at the NCAA and high school level. She lays out the numbers at the NCAA level - just 10% of the ADs in Division I are women. Now, since this is a sports journalism board, think back to your days in preps. Or think about the area your paper covers (or covered). How many of the local high schools had female athletic directors? They're the ones who sort through the resumes and put the names before the school board for approval.

I guarantee you it's a small percentage.

McGraw and Peele aren't wrong. It's not vengeful. It's seeing a problem and wanting to fix it. McGraw and Peele are going about it bluntly and directly. If you've got a more elegant solution, by all means, let's hear it.

 

Doing it, not talking about it, and protecting yourself from all this.

 

I get both of their positions. And am empathetic. But Peele is saying, in essence, I am writing characters of color and casting the movie to fit my vision of the character. It’s like Woody Allen saying Chris Rock is a fine comic actor but he’s not my creative choice to play he lead in my films. OTOH, there’s a Macbeth and Hamlet being produced with women in the traditional male leads. Idris Elba was not the type of person thought of to play the character created of James Bond, but millions think he’d be great.

But I agree that Peele should have the creative latitude to write characters and cast them as he sees fit. At a time when NBA teams are beginning to hire women assistants, McGraw appears to be about 10 years removed from making a relevant statement.

 

Sometimes things need to be said while the doing is being done.

And sometimes, as McGraw said, people have just had enough and speak out.

Shit, you think Muffet McGraw is going to get backlash for this? She's been to nine Final Fours and won a national title last year. If Notre Dame fired her, the school would be crucified and McGraw would be hired immediately by a Power 5 rival and end up back in the Final Four.

This will even help recruiting, not that Notre Dame needed help. Some Top 100 girl making her choice may like that her future head coach is sticking her neck out. Maybe that girl wants to get into coaching when she's done, and now she knows she has a vocal ally backing her.

 

Your last statement actually showcases why McGraw and others have been so adamant in pushing for change.

Just because women are finally being offered the occasional NBA assistant job or NFL coaching job does not mean the problem is solved. And that is especially true in women's sports. Again, 10 percent of Division I athletic directors are male. A number from a NYT article two years ago is staggering - in 1972, 90% of the coaches of women's sports were female. Now it's less than 40% (Number of Women Coaching in College Has Plummeted in Title IX Era).

What's the likely answer to that? Did women become poorer coaches? At a time when more and more girls are growing up playing sports, did they suddenly lose interest in coaching? Or is it possible that as money became more important to college sports, the old white men in charge started hiring other white men?

 

You know what else is lazy? Repeating the same point without considering what I said.

Would you be whining if a black-owned business said it was only going to hire black people?

 

I didn’t realize the number of women college coaches was so low. The women’s sports I pay attention to, actually just Terps teams, a woman is the coach of Lax and BBall. Soccer is coached by a man. And the Lax and B-ball coaches are 2 of the best.

 

Limited sample size evidence: 11 of the 14 Big Ten women's basketball coaches are female.

 

YUP.

 

I think I would pay to see that. Would be more than worth the price.