Comments on: Staggered sports schedules: and then came the bill

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:48:47 +0000

“The fact that the lights were bought by, and being paid by supporters of the baseball team and not the school didn’t matter to the judge.”

This strikes me a particularly unjust point in this whole unjust mess. It also strikes me as even more obviously wrong than the rest, as it is directly constraining private action.

By: gitarcarver

gitarcarver — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:05:16 +0000

Merritt Island High School in Florida is close to me. This is the school that was noted in John Stossel’s book as losing a Title IX suit concerning their baseball and softball facilities. Over the course of the past 40 years, the baseball teams had held fund raisers to pay for improvements on the baseball field and associated facilities. When a softball player’s family realized that the softball fields were not equal to the baseball field, they sued. A judge ruled for the softball player, requiring some of the stands that the baseball team had built over the years not be used. The judge also said that the baseball team, who had bought lights over the course of years, could not be used until lights were installed on the softball fields.

The fact that the lights were bought by, and being paid by supporters of the baseball team and not the school didn’t matter to the judge.

The other thing of note in the Michigan story are the sports officials. Many sports were short of officials, so the schedules were adjusted to be able to supply officials. In the fall, for instance, when there are 7 football officials assigned to each varsity, jv and freshman game, there are not many other officials for other sports.

Consequently, the market price for officials has gone up. To get more officials and to keep them, the schools are having to pay more for officials as the officials won’t work games or sports they don’t want to.

It has been a great boon for some of the officials up there. Because of the increase in pay, some officials are working fewer days for the same total pay as before the lawsuit. Games are canceled due to a lack of officials.

All of this because a judge who had no clue as to schools, scheduling or the recruiting process for colleges thought there was an inequity.

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:13:18 +0000

“The only real result was that Friday night events like dances and fundraisers lost their guaranteed high attendance and many had to be canceled as well.

Yay equality.”

This is a good representative of the general result of such Title IX stupidities: women gain nothing, men lose stuff.

The closest we will get to sexual equality is when the government stops unConstitutionally forcing private parties to be sexist.

By: jkoerner

jkoerner — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:23:16 +0000

If justice is to be served, then the organization should go bankrupt and the lawyers get nothing. It should not be too hard to form a new high school athletic association without this legacy liability.

These title 9 cases are retarded. In Indiana they rotated women’s basketball games to Friday nights to be “compliant” with title 9. The theory was that attendance was low at these games because they had been previously scheduled on Tuesday nights. Of course, once moved, no one came to women’s games. The issue was not timing, but the fact that women’s basketball is tedious and boring to watch.

The only real result was that Friday night events like dances and fundraisers lost their guaranteed high attendance and many had to be canceled as well.

Yay equality.

By: Richard Nieporent

Richard Nieporent — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:11:48 +0000

There you go thinking logically again, William. The problem is that for example girls’ soccer is run in the spring while boys’ soccer is in the fall. The complaint is that the girls’ season is too late for them to get scholarships based on their senior season performance. Of course they will get them based on their junior season, but that means that changes in performance for a few athletes will not be reflected in who gets the scholarships. That’s right the $7.5 million award is for something that trivial. I predict that the next lawsuit will be that the boys are given the better day to play and the final lawsuit will be that they get the better time during the day. What is the better day and time? Whatever is the day and time that the boys are assigned to play.

By: William Nuesslein

William Nuesslein — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:07:24 +0000

Can somebody help me? How was anyone hurt by the schedule? One can not play football and field hockey on the same field at the same time, and there will always be some schedule differences between those two sports.

$7 million represents the lifetime earnings of 3 people. These outlandish money transfers disrespect working people and are worthy of disbarment.