Colleges have come a long way via Title IX
ESPN’s documentaries on the 50th anniversary of Title IX remind us that in the ‘70s, the NCAA as well as athletic directors, football and basketball coaches pushed back against women’s sports, arguing that schools couldn’t afford them and that they would weaken men’s sports. All sounds so ridiculous today. Something to keep in mind as universities and coaches fret over the currently changing landscape of college athletics.
Those days: Years ago in Hampton Roads, I heard of one public high school girls basketball team that was told to have a bake sale to pay for their warmup jackets. Long way, baby.
The Unicorn: Of all the talent at the top of the NBA Draft, Gonzaga 7-foot string bean Chet Holmgren poses the most upside-downside questions.
This just in: Acongressional report shows that Commanders owner Dan Snyder is more weaselly, vindictive and just plain awful than we thought.
Diamond clutter: Does it really enhance the MLB viewing experience to be told the speed of a ball leaving the bat? “It’s 102 miles per hour off the bat,” a TV announcer will exclaim. Important information? Or another case of media bending to showy technology? If a batted ball lands in the bleachers, most of us can deduce that it was hard hit. Hard enough, anyway.
Wasted: It takes a special knack to lose 12-11 in 11 innings on a night when one of your stars clubs a pair of threerun home runs and finishes with eight RBIs. The fallen Angels had better get their act together or risk losing Shohei Ohtani to free agency after the 2023 season.
A bargain: On Wednesday, the night after his offensive pyrotechnics, Ohtani pitched an eight-inning two-hitter with 13 strikeouts. Let’s not forget how unique he is as a talent and drawing card, yet his salary is only $5.5 million. Soon, somebody will pay him around $40 million — $20 mil as a pitcher, $20 mil as a hitter.
Featured attraction: Your typical baseball series this time of year comes and goes largely unnoticed, but the Astros’ visit to Yankee Stadium this week — a duel between the AL’s winningest teams — is buzzworthy.
Hoop du jour: With his audacious 3-point shooting, Stephen Curry has changed the game from the grassroots to the pros. But, many would say, for the worse.
Curious: I wonder about the strength of the NBA when the Warriors can sweep through the playoffs — albeit often carried by Curry — despite the visibly diminished skills of veteran starters Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
Second thought: By ending its men’s basketball series with
ODU, isn’t VCU cheating its own fans?
Linked: Now Brooks Koepka can continue his feud with Bryson DeChambeau on the LIV Golf circuit. Saudi millions are going to a couple of sweethearts.
You don’t say: Koepka gets the award this year for least sincere comment by a golfer. Asked at the U.S. Open about the LIV tour, he said, “I haven’t given it that much thought.” Uh-huh.
Filthy lucre: Soccer should be gearing up this month for the 2022 World Cup, which was moved to November — interrupting most of the world’s domestic leagues — to
help players escape the 100-plus summer temperatures of host country Qatar. Untold amounts of oil money are behind this disruption of the soccer schedule. So it’s not as if LIV golf is the first or only example of Saudi money trying to sportswash a shameful human rights record.
On a break: Let’s wait until Thanksgiving before hazarding a guess as to whether Rob Gronkowski is retired for real or still taking calls from Tom Brady.
Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at bob5molinaro@ gmail.com and via Twitter@ BobMolinaro.