It was 74 seconds. 74 seconds that Mel Pearson spoke on a BTN+ broadcast during the Michigan hockey team’s March 3 Big Ten quarterfinal against Wisconsin. But those 74 seconds said a whole lot about the past 10 months for Michigan Athletics.

Because by letting Pearson represent the Wolverines on national airwaves, it showed just how little the athletic department cares about fully separating from its former coach. 

There’s plenty of reasons that warrant a full divorce. WilmerHale’s May 5 report included substantiated claims that Pearson yelled at female staffers and allowed former director of hockey operations Rick Bancroft to bully them and other staffers. It includes evidence that Pearson kicked goaltender Strauss Mann off the team for raising culture concerns. It alleges that Pearson then retaliated against whistleblower Steve Shields for trying to protect those athletes.

Despite those abundant reasons to do so, Michigan can’t seem to fully cut the cord. But it needs to. Michigan fired him — three months after the report initially reached athletics director Warde Manuel’s desk — but still lets Pearson hover around the program. It can no longer allow Pearson to do so if it wants to move on. Of course, this seems obvious, right?

Michigan realizes that too.

“On Saturday night, an outside contractor assisting with the StudentU production on BTN+ initiated an interview with former head coach Mel Pearson,” athletics spokesperson Kurt Svoboda told The Michigan Daily in an email that night. “The Athletic Department was unaware of the decision that unfortunately detracted from student-athletes who are competing in the postseason. This has been addressed with our broadcast partners as part of the educational aspect of these student-led productions.”

But this misses the point. By allowing Pearson into Yost Ice Arena at all, Michigan invites these sorts of appearances in the first place. His Champion’s Box seat lies within throwing distance of the Big Ten Network’s fourth-level video booth. By allowing him to stay so close to the program, it allows his misconduct and that of Bancroft to go largely unpunished although he doesn’t work at Yost Ice Arena anymore.

And the reason Pearson and Bancroft don’t work there directly corresponds to their role in that misconduct. Records uncovered by The Daily in September proved Bancroft retired due to his role in the misconduct, enjoying an exit package of a month’s salary and his accrued vacation time. The same records request by The Daily uncovered Pearson’s termination letter too, which made it abundantly clear that he was fired due to the investigation.

“Based on the information contained in the WilmerHale report, additional information I have received and your lack of sufficient explanation for your actions and behavior, your employment is hereby terminated effective 08/05/22,” Manuel told Pearson via email, noting that a disciplinary review conference regarding Pearson’s conduct came to that conclusion.

Clearly, the athletic department read the report and thought his conduct warranted his firing. Michigan also had access to a culture survey mandated by Manuel in May 2021. According to The Athletic’s Katie Strang, 31.3% of respondents to that survey said they “personally experienced offensive, intimidating, discriminatory or harassing conduct” by Pearson when he was coach. And 37.5% witnessed that behavior toward a teammate or program staffer. 

What does Pearson’s continued presence at games say to those individuals?

One might assume that Pearson is just a fan attending a game. He might not be the coach anymore, but he shouldn’t be able to just enjoy a game at Yost either. He should have lost those privileges based on the results of WilmerHale’s report, and his corresponding lack of accountability.

His actions away from game days affirm his attendance is deeper than fandom, too. In September, Pearson snuck into private practice sections of the Wolverines, watching over his old program from the stands as they worked to move on from his tenure. As a result, sport administrator Josh Richelew sent him an email Sept. 26 which The Daily received a copy of through an open records request:

“Your appointment was terminated effective 8/05/2022. Please consider this a formal notification that you are prohibited from attending practices or accessing any Athletic Department facilities and venues,” Richelew wrote. “You may attend Athletic Department public events or games with the purchase of a ticket.”

But Pearson should not be allowed at games in the first place. Because the same staffers and players who suffered under his regime are at the rink in both instances, and his attendance fails to account for what they experienced. And in reviewing the removal policies for Yost, Michigan has every right to kick him out and show that it actually cares.

“Participants and guests should not be subjected to harassment or intimidation or any other kind of disruptive behavior while attending Michigan Athletic Department events,” the policy reads. “Any fan who engages in disruptive behaviors — including but not limited to appearing inebriated; entering the field of play or throwing objects in the stands or onto the field; harassing or intimidating others; or directing profane, insulting, abusive or highly critical language at another person (such as racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or demeaning slurs) — will be removed from the event and may face arrest and prosecution in accordance with local, state, and federal laws.”

Harassment. Intimidation.

Sound familiar?

Sure, you can argue that Pearson’s contact with players and staff is minimal if he’s just sitting in his seat as a fan. However, his appearance on the Big Ten Network broadcast treats him as something more. Michigan Athletics realizes this — just look at its statement regarding the appearance. By saying his appearance “unfortunately detracted from student-athletes who are competing in the postseason,” Michigan acknowledged the weight of his presence. Those words mean it no longer wants him present.

But its actions — or rather, inactions — speak louder.

Michigan never released a public apology to any of the affected parties listed in WilmerHale’s report. It also didn’t follow through with the recommendations the original report laid out.

Specifically, the report asked the athletic department to open a new investigation. To verify if Mann was retaliated against by Pearson when he left the Michigan program, WilmerHale suggested that Michigan open a new inquiry under Standard Practice Guide 601.90, “Protection from Retaliation.”

It’s been 10 months since that report hit athletic director Warde Manuel’s desk. Michigan has not publicly announced a corresponding investigation, and there’s no inclination that it will do so in the near future.

But all the while, Pearson has gone to games. He’s sat right across from the bench he once coached. One floor below staffers who bravely stood up to his bullying in the WilmerHale report. 

It’s too late to right those wrongs and ban him this season. Twenty-one home games concluded with Saturday’s win over Ohio State. Twenty-one games and that train has left the station. This week, the Michigan hockey team will travel to Minnesota for the Big Ten Championship game instead of hosting a final game at Yost, so the time for action came long ago.

But there’s still time to make a change. No matter how much Pearson wanted to hang around the program he disgraced this season, Michigan should never have let him in. And if Michigan Athletics wants to prove that it cares, it needs to ensure he doesn’t do so in the future.

Earegood can be reached via email at earegood@umich.edu or on Twitter @ConnorEaregood.

The post Connor Earegood: By failing to act, Michigan shows its complacency regarding Mel Pearson’s misconduct appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Content warning: This story contains references to gun violence

The typical news cycle lasts one week.

After seven days, old stories are filtered out and replaced with the new ones. As that fresh content takes hold of headlines, fills pages and occupies our news feed, we start to forget. The information from last week fades in order to make room for this week’s information. Seven days later, it happens all over again.

But Monday marks a week since the tragic shooting on Michigan State’s campus. A week since a shooter stole the lives of Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner. A week since five other victims had their lives changed forever. A week since every Spartan lost any sense of security in the place they call home.

How, then, could we turn the page and forget?

It would be disrespectful, irresponsible and heartless. It should be impossible.

Unfortunately, though, we quickly turn that page far too often. In a world — in a country — that simply replaces one tragedy with the next, we manage to regularly sweep inhumane horrors under the rug in a matter of seven days.

In just the first six weeks of 2023, there’s been over 70 mass shootings in the United States — an average of nearly two a day. The numbers aren’t just staggering, they’re unbelievable. This amount of gun violence and death can’t be accepted.

Yet here we are, going about our lives like it’s normal.

Meanwhile, in the wake of tragedy, we emphasize a return to “normalcy.”

I do not want to go back to a normal where people have to fear going to class — where deciding to go study could be a life or death decision. I do not want to go back to a normal that involves texting my friends on a Monday night praying that they’re alive. I do not want to go back to a normal where a girl I shared halls and classrooms with in high school is now dead.

I do not want to go back to our current normal.

Last week was a moving display of unity. Every day, it was markedly obvious how little the rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State mattered. We all had our friends, our family and every student in East Lansing in our thoughts. Spartan gear adorned the Wolverine campus, images of support were shared on social media and it was clear that people mattered, not their affiliation.

Everybody in the state of Michigan was on the side of healing.

And for some, sports was part of that healing journey. 

On Wednesday, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo spoke at a vigil to honor the victims.

“Our hearts are heavy,” Izzo said. “Our loss has been great. Our lives have been permanently changed. With a shared commitment to help each other and a promise to remember those we have lost, we will find joy again.”

To many, his words meant a lot. Sports is their place of comfort, of escape, and Izzo is a living legend. And to all the parents of Spartans, Izzo offered empathy.

“(My son) Steven was at one of the buildings two nights ago about 10 minutes after things happened,” Izzo said. “So sometimes we don’t understand because we haven’t been through it. That little moment brought me a little closer to understanding.”

Then, the week built toward a fatefully scheduled moment of togetherness. The Michigan and Michigan State men’s basketball teams were set to play Saturday.

After everything, it’s what many people needed.

“We can’t do anything about what’s happened,” Izzo told reporters Thursday. “Except hopefully do a better job of making sure it doesn’t happen again. But we can do something about moving forward. Because there’s probably a brother or sister of one of those three that has to live. There’s a mom, and a dad, and hopefully a smile on your face — whether it’s a Michigan fan being mad at me, or a Michigan State fan being happy, hopefully — it just brings everybody together.”

The game succeeded in that. It offered a moment of silence, ‘Michigan Basketball stands with MSU’ shirts, ‘Spartan Strong’ banners in the Maize Rage, green lights and LED wristbands and a general outpouring of support.

The game between the two in-state rivals was the culmination of a week of promoted togetherness. From Monday to Saturday, news showed communities coming together and condemning the horrid act of violence. We offered support, gave our prayers and said that this should never happen again.

But then it’s Monday. And a new cycle begins.

Michigan State students return to class. Headlines return to normal. And we return to our lives.

But there are kids who can’t do that Monday morning. Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner cannot do that Monday. Think about that and read their names again.

Arielle Anderson.

Brian Fraser.

Alexandria Verner.

They are not just names. They are people. People who lost their lives, people with family, people with friends and people who had a future stolen from them.

They are people that we cannot forget, and people we cannot let the never-ending churn of the news cycle forget. We must say these people’s names louder. Really hear them.

Remind everyone again this week that you stand ‘Spartan Strong.’ Remind them that the tragedy that occurred is unacceptable. Remind them that we need a change.

Columbine. Virginia Tech. Sandy Hook. Parkland. Uvalde. Oxford. Michigan State.

Each time, we watch children die. Then we move on until the next child is killed. Then we move on again, until the cycle restarts.

It cannot continue.

If you need this time to heal, heal. But if you can bear it, now is the time for rage. Speak their names, condemn violence, stand up against the weapons that can do this. Do not let new stories take the place of the people whose lives were forever changed due to inaction.

Do not let the ferocious tide of  “normalcy” convince you that we can go back to normal.

This is not normal.

We can’t let it be.

Stoll can be reached at nkstoll@umich.edu and on Twitter @nkstoll.

The post SportsMonday: Don’t let the world move on from Michigan State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In sports, one thing is put above all else: winning.

Excuses are made for cheaters and gamblers on the tame end, and domestic abusers and sex offenders on the extreme end. But as long as they help your team win, it’s OK. Because in sports, that’s all that matters, right?

Right?

And Michigan is winning.

The football team just claimed its second straight Big Ten Title — accomplishing the feat for the first time since 2003-04 — and secured consecutive College Football Playoff appearances for the first time in program history. The men’s basketball team has made five straight Sweet 16s. The women’s basketball team reached unprecedented heights, making the Elite Eight in last year’s tournament. The hockey team made it to the Frozen Four once again. The gymnastics teams bring home banners, individual wrestlers have claimed titles and the suite of other varsity sports have found great success.

That success across the entire athletic department has been forged by hard work, dedication and — of course — moral compromise.

Because who needs accountability when you’re winning?

First, turn your eyes to the Big Ten Championship MVP and sophomore running back Donovan Edwards. After retweeting antisemitic rhetoric, the athletic department didn’t muster a very strong response. Edwards eventually apologized, only after saying it was a “glitch” — an unlikely scenario given the steps it takes to retweet something. University President Santa Ono put out this indirect statement, which fails to address Edwards himself or his actual actions. 

Beyond that? Excuses.

You don’t know Dono like we do.

We heard.

Dono didn’t mean it.

They said.

Dono’s a great guy.

The line went.

But “Dono” helped them win. That much is evident. So his actions were brushed under the rug.

Just this week, senior defensive tackle Mazi Smith faced felony gun charges. The incident dated back to Oct. 7, but the charge was filed Wednesday, and athletic director Warde Manuel left this lackluster statement:

“We are aware of the charge against Mazi from a traffic stop back in October,” Manuel said. “Mazi was honest, forthcoming and cooperative from the very beginning and is a tremendous young man. He is not and never has been considered a threat to the University or community. 

“Based on the information communicated to us, we will continue to allow the judicial process to play out. Mazi will continue to participate as a member of the team.”

The Wolverines would’ve been hurting without their star player and team captain in the Big Ten Championship game. Of course he was going to play.

I know that Smith was in the process of getting his concealed carry license and the other facts of the case. I’m not here to say whether he is guilty or not. I’m here to say the athletic department failed to give substantive reasoning why a player charged with a felony wasn’t suspended even a game — instead being lauded in the press release — or why the news wasn’t disclosed sooner.

Had the athletic department known about the incident since Oct. 7, this becomes all the more complicated and all the more damning. There’s no way to know, but the past doesn’t look favorably on the athletic department’s track record.

Another star athlete — former point guard Zavier Simpson — also faced charges after a vehicle incident with police in 2020. Simpson, unlike Smith, was suspended one game. The issue in his case wasn’t the suspension, but the way the athletic department failed to properly address Simpson lying to police that his name was “Jeff Jackson,” how he was driving a vehicle owned by Manuel’s wife and how bodycam footage indicated an impaired state of mind.

Winning took priority over teaching lessons and molding young athletes — over being the “leaders and best.”

But passing over serious incidents doesn’t end there.

In former Michigan hockey coach Mel Pearson’s case, there was a slew of disgusting infractions that Manuel and the department had known about for months before firing him earlier this year. It took public outcry before the facts of the case were deemed severe enough to result in action.

Because Pearson was a winner. His players were top prospects at NHL squads and the Wolverines were in the Frozen Four. Firing Pearson would likely result in a rough year for the Michigan hockey program.

That simply isn’t enough to excuse inaction — and there’s really no other explanation for it.

Really, this feigned ignorance and false moral high ground stretches much further back than the past couple years. Look at what’s happened with Bo Schembechler and the chilling accusations, corroborated by his own son, levied against him.

Still, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh praises him, and his statue still stands outside the hall given Schembechler’s namesake on athletic department grounds.

Why?

Because he was a goddamn winner.

And that should not be enough to pardon any kind of behavior.

Not every incident needs a suspension, firing or sweeping address, but athletes and coaches need to be held accountable for their actions. It’s not Manuel and the athletic department’s job to cover up its pupil’s failures — it’s their job to handle them properly.

And if Manuel and his department can’t, they’re the ones who should be held accountable.

Winning programs don’t excuse that.

Stoll can be reached at nkstoll@umich.edu and on Twitter @nkstoll

The post SportsMonday: Don’t let winning distract you from the athletic department’s failures appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The first thing I need to say is I’m a man. 

I know I can’t speak on women’s rights the same way a woman can. When it comes to abortions and Proposal 3, the Reproductive Freedom for All Initiative, I’m not the one being directly affected, and therefore my opinions should hold little weight on their own. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case in legislative and legal proceedings. Far too often, men — typically older, white men — determine how much autonomy women have over their bodies.

On Tuesday Nov. 8, however, that decision is no longer only theirs to make. Every vote counts, a politician’s as much as mine, mine as much as yours — each person regardless of gender has the same amount of power. Still, we are all voting on an issue of female reproductive rights. So as someone who understands that I do not have the experiences, the perspective and the insight to give my sole opinion on the matter but believes in its importance, I reached out to someone who has more authority to speak on it.

I spoke with legendary former Michigan softball coach and women’s athletics trailblazer Carol Hutchins.

I did so to educate myself, but also to educate others through this column.

***

After Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh spoke out against abortion at a pro-life rally, I realized that people within the Wolverines’ athletic department were going to share their opinions on abortion in the post-Roe world.

It, of course, was a white man that openly shared his opinions first after the monumental June decision, but just like everyone else, he has the right to those viewpoints. And he has the right to share them. But so do the women in the department.

When I reached out to women in the athletic department, many were cautious about speaking their views publicly on such a delicate topic like Harbaugh did — and that’s completely understandable. In the public position they are in, speaking on reproductive rights can put them in jeopardy of backlash from all angles, no matter the side they stand on, and can influence their ability to conduct their jobs.

Hutchins, though, an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and women’s athletics, was willing to speak. And the first thing she wanted me — wanted everyone — to know, was what kind of issue this is.

“The issue that is on the table is about a woman’s right to choose their own health care,” Hutchins told The Daily. “Their right to choose when they want to have a family and to be able to navigate that. That is what’s on the table — period. It’s really that simple.”

Hutchins emphasized it’s about a woman’s right to “choose.” Choice is the key phrase. Many people, when they hear “the right to choose,” “pro choice,” or anything of that nature, take that as choosing to have an abortion. But that isn’t what Hutchins is saying. It means women deserve the right to choose, regardless of the outcome of that choice. 

And that’s just as important.

Near the beginning of our conversation, Hutchins requested I look at the history of abortion and women’s rights rulings in the United States, specifically a case that’s far overlooked. Coming just three years before the ever-mentioned Roe v. Wade, Struck v. Secretary of Defense nearly set the precedent for reproductive freedoms.

“I think it’s very interesting, as I become more of a history buff in my older years, that the first case argued, and it was on its way to the Supreme Court, was Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Struck case,” Hutchins said. “(It) argued because the military was going to force one of its own women … to terminate her pregnancy or be discharged. Ruth Bader Ginsburg took on that case so that the woman could have the right to choose because (the woman) chose to continue the pregnancy. It was about the right to make the choice for yourself, for your life.”

Air Force Capt. Susan Struck was Catholic, and based on her religious views, she refused to have an abortion. At the time, however, the Air Force did not allow women in the military to be mothers. If she wanted to have the child, she would have to leave or be discharged, and if she wanted to stay, she would have to have an abortion.

Ginsburg argued that, because only select people can get pregnant, this was unequal treatment under the law. Again, not just an abortion issue, a women’s rights issue. But, just before the United States Supreme Court could hear the case, the Air Force changed the law to accommodate Struck and the case was never heard. Ginsburg has been recorded saying that she wishes the Struck case was heard rather than Roe because it better defined the issue to the Supreme Court. It made it clear it was about reproductive rights, about choice, not just about having abortions.

And that’s exactly what people need to understand.

One of the main arguments in the case was Struck’s right to freely exercise her religion. Struck, a Catholic, did not want to have an abortion. She should have every right to feel that way because it’s her religion, and she has the right to choose to follow her beliefs in making her decision.

The problem arises when people try to apply their own religion onto others, stripping them of the right to follow their own beliefs. That’s what Harbaugh did when pedaling his religious-backed opinion that there should be a right to “let the unborn be born.”

These religious beliefs should not be forced upon anyone else. They are Struck’s religious beliefs, Harbaugh’s religious beliefs. They aren’t necessarily mine, yours or your neighbor’s. And people, constitutionally, have the right to practice the religion they believe in.

“I think all people should honor their religious beliefs,” Hutchins said. “They should honor their own religious beliefs.”

So let people honor what they want to honor, and let them make their own choices. And let places that limit those choices face the consequences.

Limitations on those choices affect more aspects of life than we realize and can even change things that may seem to have no connection. Athletics, for example, are further intertwined with reproductive rights than many might understand.

“There’s been discussions about both student athletes making decisions based on how prohibitive certain states are,” Hutchins said. “And there’s been discussions about people who, when they’re looking to take jobs and move into different states, whether or not they will be limited in their right to regulate their own personal decisions in life. That’s all real stuff.”

It’s real, and it’s here. In Hutchins’ very own world of softball, the implications are mounting. Just this summer, it came into question what NCAA Softball would do, if anything, about Oklahoma’s abortion law. Will Oklahoma City, the site of the Women’s College World Series, remain the host of softball’s most prestigious competition? We don’t know. But the laws matter to people, and they concern many.

This is just one example, but the implications extend far beyond sports. So Hutchins, though entrenched in women’s athletics for nearly her entire life, doesn’t even want to think of it in that way.

“I don’t think this is a women’s athletics issue,” Hutchins said. “It is a women’s rights issue, which of course would affect women athletes.”

Obviously, a women’s rights issue affects women athletes. But some people don’t want to see it that way. They want to cheer on Naz Hillmon, Lexie Blair and Natalie Wojcik — some of Michigan’s best current and former athletes — but they don’t want to vote for those women’s rights. They care about a female athlete’s health when she’s out with a knee injury, but they don’t when she needs contraceptives.

The only difference is how it appears to affect you. Both circumstances affect the athlete.

And it affects your friends, your cousins, your sisters and your very own mother. So why in the hell wouldn’t you care?

And really, it affects you — man, woman or otherwise — too.

“It’s a societal issue in our country, and it involves all of us,” Hutchins said. “Women bear the larger part of the responsibility. But definitely, I would hope men would care and would want to see the right decisions made and be involved in helping and be involved in that.”

Because men are part of it. They shouldn’t have control over a woman’s health decisions, but they should care. Almost every occasion of pregnancy — especially the ones that are debated in the law — involves a man. How else are women getting pregnant?

For every “reckless” one night stand that we pin on a woman, there was an equally, if not more, reckless man. Planned or not, a man is involved. So men not only need to be held accountable, they need to care.

“It is a men’s issue because men are involved, and what we need to understand is that women are not solely responsible,” Hutchins said. “… So the best way to handle this is we need to eliminate unwanted pregnancies. That needs to be the focus, and that would require both men and women to be involved. Eliminate unwanted pregnancies and involve men.”

Usually the sentiment is the opposite: Remove men from the process of a woman’s reproductive choice. But, ironically, to remove men’s decision-making power over women’s health, men, because of their position atop the societal hierarchy, will have to make a decision — the decision to give women that choice. 

“Women bear the burden of the finality of a choice that may not be theirs,” Hutchins said. “They will bear the lifetime responsibilities that go with it.”

That’s the crux of it all. Women must bear the burden, men share the responsibility for that burden, and women are simply asking for the power to choose what they do with that burden.

That’s what’s on the ballot. That’s what we’re voting for.

“I think it’s important to vote (in) every election, and (for) people to vote with good knowledge … and to know what they’re voting for,” Hutchins said. “And just to be knowledgeable, because these are our communities. This is the world we live in.”

Tuesday, we all have the opportunity to shape this very world we live in.

Vote for women’s rights. Vote for women’s health.

Vote “Yes” on Proposal 3.

Managing Sports Editor Nicholas Stoll can be reached at nkstoll@umich.edu and on Twitter @nkstoll

The post <strong>SportsMonday: Vote for women’s rights</strong> appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

After qualifying for the NWBA national championship in its debut season, the Michigan wheelchair basketball team returned to action at the Wolverine Invitational, losing all four of its matchups in a lackluster weekend.

The Wolverines hosted the Detroit Wheelchair Pistons, the Variety Village Rolling Rebel, the Brampton Crashers and the LSWR Hawks at the three-day meet this past weekend at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron. With the addition of five new players to the roster, Michigan struggled to replicate last year’s dominance. 

“You can’t win them all,” Michigan Coach Jessica Wynne said. “But in every game, we grew. … It’s a building block for what we’re going to do next.”

In their first game, the Wolverines were pitted against Brampton. From the opening possession, the absence of team chemistry was evident. The early turnovers and missed defensive rotations allowed the Crashers to convert in transition, and Michigan found itself down by 13 points at the half.

The Wolverines entered the second half with increased defensive intensity, applying full-court pressure on Brampton, but the dominant performances by Crasher guards Puisand Lai and Tamara Steeves led to a comfortable 59-39 Brampton win. 

Michigan’s energy was unhindered as it faced LSWR on Saturday. The Wolverines fought for every loose ball and forced turnovers early in the game. While Michigan generated good shots, the momentum shifted in the Hawks’ favor and the team quickly found itself trailing by eight points heading into the half.

The Wolverine offense — led by first-year guard Erik Robeznieks and second-year guard Kevin Konfara — sparked a glimmer of hope late into the game, but they were unable to get stops on the defensive end, ultimately falling to the Hawks 69-54. 

With the adrenaline still pumping, Michigan was immediately whisked into its next game against the Variety Village. The Rebels, playing their first game of the tournament, controlled the game from the tipoff. The fatigued Wolverines failed to contain the Variety Village’s offense, struggling to a 57-32 loss. 

Regardless of the early losses in the tournament, the team remained optimistic heading into its final game of the weekend against its Division II rival, Detroit Wheelchair.

“Every game we played, we got better,” Konfara said. “Our goal is to just get better each time we get out there.” 

The Pistons were the highest-ranked team Michigan encountered in the tournament, and they were up for the challenge. After a grueling and physical game, second-year forward Alex Saleh and Konfara gave the Wolverines their first halftime lead in the tournament.

It appeared as if Michigan was going to have a solid defensive performance, too. The Wolverines showed improved chemistry, trusting each other every possession down and rotating smoothly on defense at the half. After that, however, the remainder of the game was all Detroit. Michigan failed to keep pace with the Pistons’ shooting, ending the tournament on a 61-51 loss. 

Although the tournament came to a close early for the Wolverines, its outcome hasn’t shaken the championship aspiration of the team. The community support at the invitational reaffirmed Michigan’s confidence in the U-M Adaptive Sports program. 

“The main thing is that we’re making history,” Wynne said. “Everything that we’re doing is something bigger than just basketball.”

The post Michigan wheelchair basketball hosts its second annual Wolverine Invitational appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

On June 23, Title IX — a civil rights law forbidding discrimination based on sex — turns 50.  And with the half-century that has ensued since the passing of the statute, there is certainly progress to celebrate. 

Despite that progress, though, glaring disparities still exist.

In 1972, at the time of the legislation’s passing, Michigan offered 13 varsity sports — all of which were men’s teams. It was clear: many people didn’t believe women belonged in sports.

But in the years since, things have changed. Today, the Wolverines house 27 varsity teams, 14 of which are women’s programs. As society began to prioritize women in athletics, Michigan evolved too. 

And the increase of women’s participation in sports at the collegiate level is clear across all NCAA institutions. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Title IX 50th anniversary report, 215,486 female athletes competed at the NCAA level in 2020-21. In comparison, only 29,977 females participated at the college level in 1971-72.

The increase is a sign of progress, but with 50 years of Title IX in effect, changes beyond participation numbers have hardly been made.

In 2021, at the women’s NCAA basketball tournament, the reality of women’s sports came to the forefront as a video from Oregon forward Sedona Prince displayed the inequality in tournament gyms and went viral. In comparison to the large areas filled with exercise equipment and weights that the men’s basketball players were provided, the women’s tournament offered merely a small room with one rack of dumbbells.

As the controversy circulated and people began to speak out about the inequality, important change seemed probable. And while some positive results occurred from this grave inequality in that increased attention, this was only one example of what has hindered female athletes for years. Until 1982  — 72 years after the NCAA was founded and 10 years after Title IX was passed — the NCAA did not sponsor championships for any women’s sports. While progress had been made before Prince’s video, it was clear that the problems were not entirely solved.

One year after the workout equipment controversy, those improvements were seen in the March Madness tournaments. For the first time in more than 20 years, the women’s tournament began with a First Four round, amounting to 68 teams, that matched the men’s tournament.

The changes were also evident at the women’s tournament itself. According to a gender equity review conducted by Kaplan Kecker & Fink in 2021, the NCAA spent $53.2 million dollars on the men’s tournament and just $17.9 million on the women’s in 2019. For this year’s tournament, the budget for both tournaments underwent redistribution and with the monetization improvement, all NCAA Tournament participants — men and women — received the same gifts, had access to hotel lounges and had games officiated by officials paid equally.

In the last year, reaching equity between women’s and men’s sports was prioritized, and with it, changes came about. Was it all because the NCAA got called out and enough people said something? Maybe — but that doesn’t make the change any less important or real. 

All of the changes were much-needed improvements, but they were just a few of the many needed fixes. And at Michigan too, a lot of progress remains unfinished. 

In 2021-22, The Wolverines’ endowment fund provided $149.9 million to the 27 sports offered at the University. But of that amount, only $33.7 million was allocated to women’s sports — which accounts for 14 of the 27 programs. And if you exclude football, men’s basketball and ice hockey, the 10 remaining men’s sports total $35.6 million, exceeding the amount that the women’s programs receive despite having four fewer sports in that comparison.  

When its men’s basketball team made the Sweet Sixteen, Michigan Athletics received tickets which they allotted to students. But when the women’s basketball team made the Sweet Sixteen, no offer was given to students. And when the Wolverines reached the Elite Eight — for the first time in program history — the athletic department didn’t provide any opportunities for students to attend.  

This year, the NCAA made a concerted effort to provide many of the same opportunities to both the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in March. But with Michigan’s lack of selling student tickets for the women’s tournament, the Wolverines displayed that more has to be done for equity to ensue. 

And if universities don’t make an effort to support women’s programs outright and beyond the bare minimum, the progress of Title IX will continue to fall short.

The post 50 years of Title IX: progress and potential appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

In 2019, Governor Gretchen Whitmer created the Task Force on Women in Sports in the leadup to the 50th anniversary of Title IX with the goal of creating “opportunities in Michigan for girls and women in sports” and increasing the presence of women in leadership positions in the larger economy. 

The task force’s final report to Whitmer, published on June 22, 2022, drew a conclusion that many women in sports are all too familiar with: Title IX alone isn’t enough to create genuine equity in sports.

But the task force also did something more. In addition to releasing multiple research reports throughout its three-year existence, it also detailed three ways to close the gender gap in sports, and set the state of Michigan up to lead an increase in sports equity:

• Recommendation 1: “Modernize and expand upon Federal Title IX requirements to increase protections, compliance, and accountability.
• Recommendation 2: “Invest in pathways for Michigan girls and women to play, work, and lead in sports in Michigan.
• Recommendation 3: “Encourage Michiganders to support and invest in future opportunities and access for girls and women at all levels of sports.”

Its advice to expand federal Title IX requirements is intended to increase funding for and support of women’s sports from the government level. The task force hopes this will facilitate improvements in opportunities and facilities for women’s athletics.

While federal Title IX requirements mandate proportional opportunities for men and women in college athletics, the reality is that less than 10% of NCAA Division I schools provide opportunities to female athletes at a rate proportional to their enrollment. 

“Only 9% of NCAA Division I institutions (30 of 348) offered athletic opportunities to female athletes proportional to their enrollment,” the task force noted in one report. “In Michigan, participation rates for female student-athletes average 13% of the female student enrollment … compared to a participation rate for male student-athletes that averages 20% male student enrollment.”

At Michigan, despite making up nearly 51% of the student body, women make up only 46.1% of student-athletes. And while it’s difficult to analyze funding disparities due to football generating and receiving the majority of funds, the recruiting budget of women’s teams makes up just 12% of all recruiting expenses.

Across all 27 of the Wolverines’ athletic programs in the 2020-21 academic year, the report showed that the average salary of an assistant coach for a men’s team is 3.5 times the average salary of an assistant coach for a women’s team.

But the task force doesn’t believe that simply matching women’s athletics funding and opportunities at the government level will cause sufficient change. The second recommendation is to create pathways for women in Michigan to lead and work in sports too.

Many studies have proven that women who play sports are more likely to achieve leadership positions later on in their lives, whether within or outside of the sports industry.

Every Wolverines’ men’s varsity sport has a male coach at the helm. On the women’s side, track and field and cross country, rowing, swimming and diving, volleyball and water polo are all coached by men. Across Michigan’s 27 teams, there are significantly more male coaches than female coaches at the assistant level. 

This isn’t a disparity specific only to the Wolverines. One study conducted as part of the task force’s research found that across collegiate athletics in the state of Michigan, women coached just 41% of women’s teams and a meager 4% of men’s teams.

The task force also reported that underqualified men were more likely to be hired for coaching positions while qualified women still faced significant hurdles to earn jobs.

The committee believes that supporting female leaders in sports is crucial to achieving equity. It also recommends that Michiganders give their support to women’s sports at all levels.

This final recommendation, while the most abstract, has the potential to provide the spark that leads to grander changes in college athletics. 

Attendance at men’s and women’s sporting events at Michigan isn’t even remotely close to equal. Despite having a significantly stronger win percentage than the Michigan men’s basketball team in the 2021-22 season, the Wolverines’ women’s basketball team rarely received even a quarter of the fan turnout that the men’s team received. In a historic season that saw Michigan advance to its first-ever Elite Eight, its support from students and fans lagged behind significantly.

As the task force noted, efforts to achieve gender equity in sports are more successful when they start from the ground up in youth sports. By the time they get to college, female student-athletes have already faced significant disparities throughout their athletic careers. But a large part of that stems from a lack of female role models that young girls in sports have.

The state of Michigan doesn’t have a lack of strong female athletes, and neither does the University. Rather, it suggests there’s a lack of support — whether intentional or not — from the student body, fans and athletics departments. 

Looking back 50 years, a lot of progress has been made toward gender equity in college sports. But as the task force found — and as almost any female athlete can tell you — a lot more work needs to be done to truly level the playing field. 

The post Task Force on Women in Sports shows Title IX isn’t enough in Michigan appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The concept of women in sports often centers around the idea of female athletes. But there are so many roles beyond athletes that are crucial to the functioning of a team behind the scenes. For every school and for every sport, the athletic director is a role that is vital to the success of each team.

And while there are roughly the same number of men’s and women’s sports programs at each school — for example 13 men’s and 14 women’s teams at Michigan — there are significantly fewer female athletic directors in that front office position across the NCAA.

That problem is not new — it has a long history.

Before the NCAA took over the governing of women’s athletics prior to the 1982-83 school year, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) served that role. And in the AIAW, many leadership positions were held by women. 

But after the NCAA — which actively fought against Title IX and the AIAW — took over due to its larger budget and more widespread marketing, many of those roles disappeared as the AIAW folded.

In 1973, 95% of women’s athletic programs were women-led, but in 1985 — three years after the NCAA replaced the AIAW — that number dropped to 14%, and that same year, 38% of programs did not have a single female administrator. Many women who previously held leadership positions in the AIAW were demoted when their institutions joined the NCAA. Liz Murphey, a former women’s athletic director at Georgia under the AIAW, was demoted to assistant athletic director after the switch to the NCAA. Murphey is just one example of how women in leadership positions were treated after the NCAA took over.

But female athletic directors didn’t go away quietly. The Council of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators — now known as Women Leaders in College Sports — was founded in 1979 by a group of female athletic administrators. The organization aims to develop female leadership, advance women in their careers and create a community of women working in sports.

Its current CEO, Patti Phillips, wrote that “cultural and societal bias drives much of the inequity in college athletics … gender inequality in the world of sports has existed for decades, and a major contributor can be explained in one word: football.”

Chief among those influences, football — almost exclusively a men’s sport — is the main revenue source for many colleges, especially in Power Five conferences. Accordingly, gender bias when it comes to hiring an athletic director — who oversees football — prevails. 

According to a 2019 research report from the Michigan Task Force on Women in Sports, both women and men perceive gender bias in the hiring practices and workplace culture of sports leadership at the college level. Women experience gender inequity amid a deeply ingrained male-dominated culture. In sports leadership, women must work both within and against that culture to succeed.

“I think the perception is (that) opportunities are there and processes are fair and equal, but they aren’t truly whether it be budgets, salaries, promotions, or how women leaders are viewed and evaluated by peers and administrators,” a respondent to the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Female Leaders in Sport Survey in 2019 said.

The report also found that the lack of access to mentors was the greatest hindrance to the development of women leaders. While the number of women in high-level positions has increased in recent years — this week, for example, Nevada hired Stephanie Rempe as its next athletic director — the inequity remains glaring.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, only 24% of athletic directors in the NCAA were women — and just 14% in Division 1. And the University of Michigan, which has never had a female athletic director since the position’s creation in 1898, exemplifies that disparity. The Wolverines aren’t alone in that regard, and there are currently no female athletic directors in the Big Ten.

The absence of women leading NCAA front offices highlights the need for increased female mentorship in the sport industry.

In her USA Today op-ed, Phillips proposed keys to evening out that disparity. Those include creating diversity commitments, encouraging university academic leaders to join in finding a solution and speaking directly to men about sports gender inequity.

Currently, opportunities exist for women as athletes, coaches, administrators, general managers and broadcasters that would not have been possible prior to Title IX. But there is still a long way to go, and change begins at the top.

“It’s on us as female coaches to keep pushing. It’s on athletic departments to keep hiring strong females and females in administration to bring to light just what we have to go through as female athletes,” Michigan women’s lacrosse coach Hannah Nielsen said in a video about Title IX.

Fifty years after Title IX passed into law, change still needs to occur in hiring female athletic directors. Doing so could be key to expanding gender equity in sports beyond the law’s current progress.

The post Absence of female athletic directors in the NCAA stands out appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, discrimination on the basis of sex and gender remains illegal by law. However, the United States has made little effort to prevent de facto discrimination in sports from institutions receiving federal funding when it comes to fan attendance and viewership.

And those issues exist throughout each and every level of women’s sports.

When I was in high school I played on the women’s soccer team. Our team was great. In the three seasons I spent on the team,  we reached at least the semifinals of the city playoffs. In my final year we made it all the way to the finals. 

But every year we lacked one thing: fans.

No one wanted to come see us blowout our opponents 10-0 or beat our rivals in an overtime thriller. No amount of posters, emails, social media posts, or cookie bribes could convince the student body to watch the girls soccer team dominate the competition. Winning games without anyone in the stands except a few enthusiastic parents was disheartening.

When I was little, it didn’t matter — I loved soccer and that was all that mattered to me, it was my favorite hobby. My parents were my cheerleaders and I wasn’t old enough to know what I was missing. 

And that’s not uncommon for other girls growing up. Most young female athletes don’t know what it feels like to have masses of screaming fans propel them to victory, and even at the professional level, the majority of female athletes don’t know that feeling.

In lacking that support, female athletes are missing out on a key pillar of sports: the connection with fans.

Part of the joy professional athletes feel in their sports is the exhilaration of the crowd. Hearing fans cheer them on motivates them to play harder and better. It’s a luxury that’s not afforded to female athletes.

Often at Michigan,  fans must be bribed with free t-shirts and hats for the first 100 attendees on top of the already free entry tickets. At the No. 23 women’s tennis teams regular season finale, you were hard pressed to find any fans aside from parents.

Even the Wolverines’ women’s basketball team — who made the Elite Eight for the first time in program history – offered all students free attendance to fill the stands and enact real home court advantage in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

If colleges fail to improve viewership for women’s sports – especially at Universities with  student bodies riddled with school spirit –  it’s no surprise that professional sports face a similar lack of support.

Female athletes are paid significantly less — which is often attributed to a lack of viewership and fanbase — than their male counterparts. Christian Pulisic, USMNT and Chelsea FC player, makes more in a single month than the highest paid United States Women’s National Team player, Alex Morgan, makes in a year. 

Out of the top-50 highest paid athletes only two women, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams, make the list. But less than 3% of their earnings are attributed to on-the-field pay, the rest of the figure comes from endorsements and brand deals.

In recent years the popularity of women’s sports has increased but the pay hasn’t followed suit. The USWNT became well known in the last few years with players like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan becoming household games. Their games sell out and their jersey sales are through the roof, all while showing young girls — who, similarly to me, grow up with a love for sports but a lack of support — that sports are for girls too. They have found their place as a powerhouse winning World Cups and Olympic medals left right and center, while their male counterparts struggled to find similar success. 

Yet, it wasn’t until last month that the USWNT received equal pay to the US Men’s National Team on a per-game fee and bonus structure rather than salary. Given that the USWNT is the most successful international women’s soccer team in history and continues to dominate the field, they should be paid more than the male athletes that lack the same impressive resume. Although the USMNT has never won the World Cup or any Olympic medal, and failed to even qualify in 2018. But their pay never faltered and their performance bonuses were still larger than the women’s. In the old contract structure, the USMNT received $2.5 million for World Cup qualification while the USWNT got $750,000.

As a little girl, I looked up to the USWNT and I wanted to be like them. They showed me that women’s soccer could be just as entertaining and competitive as the men, if not more. As they won medal after medal — all while taking women’s sports to another level — it gave me motivation to play soccer with the same intensity and drive.

And the USWNT’s disproportionate salary isn’t rare. Most other sports are having trouble filling the gap and gaining more support and fandom for their female athletes.

The flashy lifestyle major male athletes achieve with luxury cars, mansions and private jets is rarely attainable for women. And while Title IX ensures that women can play sports, there’s still a long way to go beyond the ability to participate.

We play sports because we love them. We play because of the way every ace and goal makes us feel. We play because of the way every win reverberates through us — not because of the potential fame and riches.

But it wouldn’t hurt to hear the fans cheer for us, to celebrate our victories and mourn our losses. And the USWNT offers an example of how to get there.

The post Remi Williamson: US Women’s National Team shows how soccer can surpass Title IX appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

TW: Gun violence

In professional wrestling, there’s a principle known as kayfabe that governs the act playing out onstage. Kayfabe is a relatively simple distortion of reality that boils down to three essential points: 

One: Professional wrestling is fake. Two: Everyone watching knows that professional wrestling is fake. And three: Nonetheless, the audience enjoys it more if everyone pretends it’s real. So time and time again, that’s exactly what happens. People flock to stadiums to watch a version of reality that they know is inherently falsified, because it offers something to revel in. 

Professional team sports are drastically different from professional wrestling. But at the same time, all sports are laden with a different kind of distortion of reality — the erasure of societal divisions. Yet sometimes the cost of this distorted reality is too steep, and now is one of those times.

It’s easy to ignore the ugliness of politics — guns being prioritized over public safety, women’s and voting rights being destroyed, and Black people being killed by police officers — when sports gloss over these topics. 

Because for three hours a night, sporting events craft an alternative world where only one thing matters — what team you root for. This is part of the reason that sports are so enthralling. They suspend all distinction, and replace it with collective effervescence that can bind millions of people around the world together as long as they’re wearing the right colors. And within this version of reality, the outside world and all the disagreement and dissimilarity in it can be forgotten, because in the arena, the only thing that matters is who wins. 

And the University of Michigan is a school that knows this best. In The Big House, in Crisler and in Yost, thousands of fans are bound together by an intense feeling of connection. I think back to when the football team beat Ohio State and I rushed the field with thousands as the snow fell, feeling pure ecstasy. Looking back on that day feels almost like a dream. Nothing else mattered except enjoying that moment.

But that’s not reality, and everyone in attendance knew it. They knew that the outside world could not be forgotten and that other issues are inherently more pressing than the game. But they did it anyway — but I did it anyway — because they all realized that they’d have a better time if they pretended like their unity bound by team allegiance was absolute and genuine.

And sometimes, this beautiful distortion needs to be shattered. Sometimes, kayfabe must be dropped. 

This week, when a gunman walked into an elementary school with an AR-15 and murdered children — again — kayfabe had to be dropped.

The fallout started like it always does. There was the wave of  condolences, moments of silence, tweets, statements of disgust and even outrage — but nothing inflammatory. 

Then, it went a step further. 

It started with Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors and a man who knows what it’s like to lose a loved one through gun violence. In a press conference prior to Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference finals he said: 

“Any basketball questions don’t matter. When are we going to do something? I am tired. I am so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families out there. I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough. … So I ask you, Mitch McConnell and all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and the school shootings and the supermarket shootings — I ask you, are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our church-goers? Because that’s what it looks like. That’s what we do every week. I’m fed up. I’ve had enough. We can’t get numb to this. We can’t sit here and just read about it and say let’s have a moment of silence.”

In doing so, Kerr broke an unwritten rule. 

He acknowledged that basketball isn’t more important than reality and he replaced the artificial unity of sports with politics, inviting the vitriol that follows. And once Kerr brought the conversation to the world of sports, others followed.

Prior to their game against the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat too took a political stance, urging everyone in attendance to call local representatives and push them to change gun laws. On Thursday night, the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays united to take a stand, putting aside their contest and prioritizing a more important message. Using their social media to broadcast statistics on gun violence instead of plugging scores and highlights. 

Some people were horrified by these politically charged stances. Because to some, the infusion of politics into an arena designed to be devoid of division is the ultimate sin. Among those disgusted was Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who referred to the actions of the Heat as, “politicizing a horrific tragedy.” 

Senator Rubio, what on earth is a horrific tragedy if not inherently political?

Politicians make a core promise when running for office to keep the Americans they serve safe. And time and time again, they have failed. An elementary school in Sandy Hook, a country music festival in Las Vegas, a nightclub in Orlando, a church in Sutherland Springs, a high school in Parkland, a grocery store in Buffalo and now, another elementary school, this time in Uvalde. 

And yet nothing has fucking changed.

There’s been no reform — and there’s no reason to believe that this was the last time. Nothing has been done by those with the power to make change. And because of it, people continue to die. 

The public is disgusted — not just with the horror of mass murder — but with the refusal of politicians to do anything to stop it. And disgust isn’t something that can be forgotten, not even for just a few hours. 

This is what forces the realms of sports and politics to become intertwined. Disgust cannot be forgotten. You can’t walk into Crisler, or the Big House, or any other stadium for that matter and suddenly forget that children were murdered and our politicians haven’t — and likely won’t ever — do a damn thing to prevent it from happening again. And so at a certain point, not acknowledging the disgust that the public feels is just as political as speaking out. 

By saying nothing, you are saying that nothing is pressing enough to force protocol to be broken. That nothing really needs to be done. It’d be the same as the band continuing to play as the Titanic sinks — a charade of normality.

But things are far from normal in our country. It’s not normal that our nation has seen more mass shootings than days this year. It is not normal that an 18-year-old can buy thousands of rounds of ammunition and multiple assault rifles. And it is absolutely not normal that our politicians refuse to take action because of an ambiguously written phrase in a 240-year-old document and a $250 million lobby.

Our politicians are failing us. It’s apparent to everyone in our nation, and because of that, politics needs to bleed into sporting events. Because sports cannot serve as a suspension of reality when reality needs to change — and right now, it desperately does. 

And as college athletes — many of whom are still teenagers — take advantage of their platforms and speak out, others should follow suit. 

In the past, many of the members of the Wolverine men’s and women’s basketball teams took to the court wearing warm up shirts that read messages like “say their names”, “stand together” and “unity.” Michigan athletes’ decision to speak up is important. 

Because athletes, coaches and teams have an incredible platform, by making political statements they have the power to make change. Sports attract eyes, garner media attention and become topics of conversation. They dominate our landscape, something every Michigan student knows, so when politics appear in sports, there’s nowhere for us to avert our eyes. 

That’s a good thing.

When Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists at the 1968 Olympics, it was because reality needed — and still needs — to change in America. When Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem, it was because reality needed — and still needs — to change in America. And when the NBA canceled games after the death of Jacob Blake, it was because reality needed — and still needs —  to change in America. 

This time it’s no different. 

Generally, sports like to stay apolitical and erase division. But sometimes, the reality of the failures of our nation must be acknowledged in the pastimes we use to distort it. 

If black men aren’t safe from the police when they get pulled over and if children aren’t safe from gunmen in school, it is ridiculous and childish to ask that sports be devoid of the vitriol that comes with politics. 

By speaking out, Steve Kerr, the Rays, the Yankees and the Heat aren’t just being political, they’re being pragmatic. And every other person and entity in the realm of sports has a duty to follow suit, Michigan included. The athletic department can’t sit idly by, it needs to be outspoken. Coaches need to speak out, activism must be encouraged and individuals must make their opinions known.

Because sometimes kayfabe must be broken. And I happen to think that following the preventable murder of children — that our leaders are too cowardly to prevent with necessary stricter gun laws — it is a damn good time for that to happen. 

The post Charlie Pappalardo: Sports and politics are inseparable, especially right now appeared first on The Michigan Daily.