Time to disband the MIAA

Title IX is a section of the 1972 Civil Rights Act that states:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

In my non-legal mind, that statement is very, very clear. What is says is that everyone who lives in this country should expect to be treated just like everyone else who lives in this country when it comes to any educational program or activity.

Over the years, the Supreme Court and other federal courts have been asked to define what that really means and one of the decisions handed down says that it is permissible to separate male and female athletes in sports that involve physical contact or high skill levels but once one is allowed to participate in the other's sport, that individual must be allowed to participate fully. In other words, once you let a girl on to a boys team, she must be treated equally.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association is the official sports representative for high school sports in Massachusetts. It was formed in 1978 to better align the sports programs at Massachusetts high schools so everyone played under the same rules.

Unfortunately for the student athletes of the 21^st century, the MIAA does not appear to review it's rules on a regular basis and it does not appear to be in any hurry to review them in the near future. As a matter of fact, the association appears to be made up entirely of old men wearing dark suits with stiff collars, monocles, top hats and spats who say, "Haarrumph" a lot.

Seems that Emily Nash has an athletic skill that very few of us have - she can hit a golf ball with one of those effed-up sticks called a golf club and she can do it very well. So well in fact that I am jealous of her ability because I've only ever broken 80 once in my life yet she does it all the time. And she's only 16...

All that aside, this kind of sucks and the MIAA should be ashamed of itself. It should be disbanded and a new organization put into place that at least realizes our society has changed and matured. For instances, we now allow women to vote, we now allow them to own land, we now allow them to drive cars and we allow them to play sports.

And when one of those women is better at a sport then most men, we damned well better recognize that woman with the same vigor and respect that would give to a man.

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The Astros are up two games to one and they seem to be unstoppable. If they can maintain their offensive dominance, they will win the series before it heads back to Los Angeles.

I managed to watch two innings last night and I'm going to try for another two innings again tonight. I'm still trying to recover from the long night at the ER the other night.

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Here are some links:

• Chocolate Covered Heroin would be a great name for a 1960s psychedelic rock band.



• Around here we only have to worry about birds, rabbits and deer.



• Key line in this story: "...eating an entire bottle of mustard."



• Proper anus cleaning is a must.



• Here's the video of the month.



• Australia: What doesn't kill ya comes with special instructions on how to avoid being killed.