When the tools inherit the earth; or, when good things happen to bad people

Hank - Actually, one of the daughters got a volleyball scholarship to Georgia Tech. Yeah, her scholarship chances really sucked in the old system.

It was frustrating to watch the court case unfold (I covered it start to finish, even though I went to newsside partway through), knowing that it would turn out the way it did. Hey, almost every state does it that way so it must be right, right?

Now girls' basketball is treated like a jay-vee sport. What a surprise. When I was in college and the men and women played doubleheaders, the only people in the stands for the women's game were families and significant others of players. The place really rocked for the men's games by my senior year when they were conference champs and went to the NCAAs (Hank's freshman year).

The volleyball fanatics were going to follow the sport whether it was fall or winter. Girls' basketball was center stage on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the fall. Now, very few people care.

It sucks.

 

Oh, and when both Detroit papers covered the recent Detroit Public School League finals, which were a doubleheader, both gave the boys' games better placement in the next day's paper. Surprise, surprise.

The girls' champ, Renaissance, has been a state power for years. Like I said above, the girls got jay-vee treatment.

 

With the drastic newshole cuts at the News and Freep, high school sports of any variety, of either gender, has seen coverage go to just about zilch. They post stuff online, but in the paper -- pfft.

 

That may be the case in "enlightened" Michigan, but down here in "backward" Mississippi 8), the girls are often the bigger draw than the boys. Hell, I've covered far more girls games this season than boys. Of course, it helps that we have a couple of State Tournament-quality girls teams in our prime area, including one that is hosting sub-state in its class this weekend, whereas the only boys teams we have still playing are a fringe school and one of the academies. Point being, basketball is a winter sport, and to me, playing it in the fall (or summer) amounts to gimmickry that doesn't serve the interests of the players.

 

Albert - It wasn't gimmickry in Michigan. I watched the girls' game, when it was played in the fall, grow tremendously in skill level and fan interest going back to my high school days in the early '80s. It was THE girls' sport in the fall and was drawing good crowds. For one of the teams I covered, the league banned thundersticks because the boys were making too much of a ruckus at the girls' games.

Now, with the combined seasons, the girls are treated like they're inferior to boys. It sucks.

Just because Michigan was the only state to do this didn't make it wrong. The system worked, and it worked well - until these two volleyball moms raised a fuss. It wasn't a case of unequal treatment. Girls' basketball got better treatment - fans, media placement, etc. - in the fall. Now, it's suffering.

 

Agree 100 percent, Wolv.

 

So basically this guy will have a good team for this season and then suck again. I'm not sure I follow the fuss.

 

The MHSAA was found to be guilty of discrimination against girls under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title IX and the Michigan’s civil rights law: the Elliott Larson Act.

This finding was upheld by three Federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.

Any decrease in girls participation is because of the way the MHSAA structured the new seasons - Communities for Equity specifically warned that this would happen. A different plan rejected by the MHSAA would have aligned all sports in the beneficial season and eliminated split seasons between the UP and LP. Why did the MHSAA do this? 1. To favor boys sports; 2. So they could say participation decreased.

I've never heard a female athlete complain about the change.

If you're arguing for the old system, you're arguing for a system that the United States Supreme Court agrees discriminated against woman. You can make all the excuses you want - and I've heard 'em all - but that's a fact.

That is all.

 

That was the one daughter's younger sister though, wasn't it? Not the one directly affected by the lawsuit.

 

Calling it a gimmick may be a little strong, but I'm not sure what else you would call playing a sport out of season just because the powers that be don't think girls can compete on their own merits during the normal season. I'm saying they can and do get good coverage and attendance. Where I live, more often than not, the girls programs get as much if not more attention from fans and the media as the boys. Last night, for example, I covered a girls playoff game -- a sub-state semifinal, actually -- and they drew the biggest crowd I've seen in this school's gym in years, boys or girls, and the excitement level was through the roof. And the girls games at the State Tournament, which are all played at Jackson, draw just as well as the boys games and get the same amount of media attention.

 

Hank - It indeed was one of the plantiffs' daughters.

 

Jim - Great to see you back on the board. The reality is once the lawsuit was filed, the MHSAA had no chance of winning, yet its leaders refused to see that. The fight took, what, 10 years? The only reason why the MHSAA is still alive financially is that it took out an insurance policy.

The MHSAA and its member schools need to work much harder at ensuring that girls' basketball isn't treated like a warmup act for the boys. When it gets to the point of what Albert's describing in Mississippi, that'll be awesome.