Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Thursday, July 05, 2007

Did the AP's Garance Burke miss the real story? Fresno State fired volleyball coach Lindy Vivas in 2004; she's now suing Fresno State for gender discrimination, apparently claiming that she got canned because she challenged the macho atmosphere.

Burke uses Vivas' story to suggest that Title IX has hurt women coaches by bringing more men into women's sports. There's obviously an argument there, as a new academic study makes clear.

But Vivas' travails sound hard to blame on Title IX. One day in 2000 she discovered administrators drinking beside a banner for "Ugly Women Athlete's Day" [sic]. Burke's next example of a beleaguered female coach, softball Hall of Famer Margie Wright, comes from Fresno State too.

Perhaps there's something especially rotten in Fresno? The Bulldogs have been in the news before.