After Atalanta

The University of Colorado recently settled the Title IX lawsuit brought against it by two women who were sexually assaulted at a football recruiting party. The women believed the university had enough knowledge of the situation that they should have done something about it. In other words, powers-that-be knew there was sex and alcohol and general bad behavior and they, at the very least, chose to look the other way and may have even encouraged these parties to some degree. This story was big news for years . It seemed sexual harassment and assault became part of the culture at the institution. Former Rams football player Katie Hnida spoke and wrote about her own such experiences and though she never filed her own lawsuit, she did provide testimony as to the climate at CU and how her situation was ignored by higher ups. Turns out that CU was not the only institution where athletes were getting in trouble and the people in charge were letting it go. According to a recent article in the ...

The Olympics, in case you have not heard, are coming. There are stories every day from every possible angle imaginable. And one of the big stories, that has been big for a while now, is that this is the last Olympics for softball. The most common reason for the elimination of softball from the Olympic roster is that the sport does not have enough international depth. I have wondered for a while how much of a real reason this is versus what it might be covering. Since I don't have access to the inner workings of the IOC, I cannot really say for sure. But I am pretty sure there was not just one reason. Anyway, I find this all interesting in light of this story about the American, Michael Bastian, who is coaching the Chinese team and the bridges he has burned in doing so. Apparently USA Softball is not too keen on coaches going overseas. Wait, but wouldn't quality coaching--like the kind offered by USA Softball--exported to other countries help increase the depth of the sport? So ...