After Atalanta

Last year the Soccer Hall of Fame thought it was just the bestest for inducting an all-female class; the first ever all-female class. How does that saying go...? One step forward...before the patriarchy just squashes you and makes you remember why you've bought into all that postmodern musing on the quaint notion of progress. This year the Hall of Fame is inducting , fresh off his lengthy legal battle over sexual harassment, eventual settlement, and admittance (kind of) of inappropriate behavior...drum roll please...University of North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance. National Soccer Hall of Fame, President Steve Baumann said: "Anson Dorrance has set an unbelievable standard for American soccer coaches. His success at UNC is staggering and his World Championship with the U.S. women's national team has inspired coaches to higher levels of excellence." Yes it was so excellent the way he got away with sexual innuendo, questioning of his players' pers...

As I suspected would happen, UNC settled the sexual harassment and Title IX suit brought against Anson Dorrance, head coach of the women's soccer team, by former player Melissa Jennings. The more I think about this situation, the more pissed off I get. First, the settlement was paltry--especially in light of the huge Title IX verdicts and settlements we saw in 2007 (Fresno State and University of Colorado most notably). Most of the $385,000 will go towards lawyers' fees. It's not all about the money, I know. But I think the sum sends a message about how seriously sexual harassment is taken in our country--in other words, not very seriously. I hear this fact, I know the history, but this case makes it all the more obvious. I have been fortunate enough never to be sexually harassed but how I have been so lucky is a wonder given how ubiquitous the practice is; how many people, people I know, have been subject to sexual harassment. And, of course, like Anson Dorrance, the offen...

Title IX is always in the news (as you will see if you check over at The Title IX Blog ), but a few interesting things have happened this week: 1. Anson Dorrance, coach of the very successful women's soccer team at University of North Carolina, is heading to court in the spring of next year to answer charges of sexual harassment brought by a former player. This case began in 1998 and was initially dismissed before a Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal. Unless there's a settlement, a jury will hear all the stories of how Dorrance kicked soccer balls into the backsides of his players and other such egregious behaviors in April. 2. Down in Florida, former (now fired) assistant softball coach Gina Ramacci at Florida Gulf Coast University has filed a complaint with the university alleging Title IX and Title VII discrimination in her case. Ramacci was accused of having inappropriate relations with a student-athlete on her team. A sexual relationship was never proven and Ramacci...

Just when you think you're the only person complaining about things like the lack of funding, Title IX backlash, and disparate media coverage of women's sports, you find a kindred spirit--at least regarding media coverage. A UNC fan, Tom Jensen , wrote into his local paper, The News and Observer, complaining that the paper thought an AP wire story constituted proper coverage of one of the biggest games in women's college basketball this year, UNC versus Maryland in a rematch of last year's NCAA Championship Game. Mr. Jensen wrote a concise but articulate letter that included this: "It's hard to even pretend you care about women's sports when one of the biggest women's sports events of the year in North Carolina doesn't even merit sending a reporter." Well said.

UNC and Maryland. The rematch of last year's championship game. Soldout crowd on the Terps home turf. UNC ended up getting their revenge, winning 81-74. In a game many see as exemplifying just how far women's basketball has come, a few moments remind us just how different the "rules" are in women athletics. Some say the game was marked by bad officiating. [Here I should own up to the fact that although I appreciate women's basketball and follow it occasionally, I know very little about the actual game and so cannot really discern the efficacy of the refereeing.] UMD coach Brenda Frese certainly thought so. She was assessed a technical during the first half when she came four feet or so onto the court to scream at the refs. The commentators (I forget who it was doing the game coverage) noted that the refs were letting Frese know that that kind of behavior was not acceptable in women's basketball. That sideline decorum in the women's game is a must. Would th...