Time to Scrap Title IX in Sports?

As many of our readers are probably already aware, June 23rd is traditionally celebrated as the anniversary of Title IX. This year marks the law’s 38th birthday, at least when you talk to the folks in the activist community who have gotten into the habit of singing its praises without noting its unintended effects — primarily the destruction and denial of competitive opportunities for male athletes.

That’s the traditional line that’s been parroted by the national press for years now. That means when you come across a story that doesn’t gibe with traditional thinking on Title IX and sports it’s impossible not to notice.

But to see it in an online publication dedicated to covering women’s basketball is another thing entirely.

This morning, over at Blue Star Basketball, long-time sports reporter Wendy Parker made this welcome assertion:

It’s time to scrap the Title IX sports regulations — now 31 years old, dating back to the AIAW era, reflecting a very different campus environment for female students and athletes when I was in school — and start anew. The first thing to go should be the the noxious proportionality provision that is being used primarily as a bludgeon.

It’s also time for Title IX activists to make their peace with football, their convenient bête noire. Believe or not, their football antagonists have made some concessions over the years, such as reductions in scholarships. Some more cuts at the FBS level may be in order, and not just a loss in players. Do BCS schools really need all those assistants, and especially “quality control” coaches?

While football at the very top levels is going to get richer and more powerful with coming conference realignment, those wishing to take a hatchet to it need to be mindful that this is the funding source for most of the best women’s hoops teams in the land, and that also lose tons of money.

The NCAA needs to be more of an impartial entity on gender equity, instead of being part of the Title IX establishment. While the late NCAA president Myles Brand was indeed a champion of women’s athletics and should be commended for that, he also left athletics directors trying to balance Title IX and financial pressures to twist in the wind.

I need to catch my breath. More later.