Interesting article in Today's Austin American-Statesman about the hypocrisy of college sports, particularly women's basketball Emily Neimann -- the former Baylor star who helped them win a National Championship -- is featured. Remember she transferred because she found being a lesbian at Baylor was too difficult. She's now married to her partner and they share the same last name. It's sad that homophobia is alive and well in our society, but particularly in women's sports where so many of the athletes and coaches are gay but probably afraid to live open, honest lives. Good for Kim Mulkey for not answering questions about how many lesbians she had on her team although it must be hard being open minded at Baylor where President Ken Starr is proudly anti-gay. Last fall he stopped by a tailgate with a bunch of gay Baylor fans (friends of mine) and posed for pictures and shook hands -- he had no clue. Ken Starr is a clown. I remember in the 90's the rumors about Jody Conradt and the gays on her team, which was allegedly used as a recruiting tactic against her. I believe there was an article in Texas Monthly but I can't remember for sure. Anyhow, it's an interesting read if you have a minute. Here's the link: The Link
Good article and credit to Mulkey for taking the high road and refusing to be drawn in by that poor girl's father. The reality is negative recruting can take many forms such as implying an up-and-coming coach might be moving on at some point, or an older one might not be around that much longer. Fortunately I think most top programs are hesitant to play that game in whatever form it might take; it's probably more of an issue with some (certainly not all, or even most) who aren't at the top and are willing to try anything to get there. As far as the whole lesbain issue is concerned, that's a real slippery slope because there isn't a program in the country that hasn't had lesbians on their team, and I doubt whether most parents or potential players care about that, or ask those kinds of questions. Obviously some do, but in this day and age it has to be the exception rather than the rule. The fact is there are straight and gay people on all teams and in all walks of life. Big deal. And while I'm not the biggest fan of Geno, I did like his remarks on this subject a few years ago. I don't recall his exact words but they were along the lines of a player's private life being their business and that negative recruiting was more likely to backfire than help a program. He also said it was dangerous for a program to go that route because coaches have no idea if a potential recruit is gay or not. I honestly think more parents and recruits than not are going to turn away from a coach that makes disparaing remarks about others, for whatever reason. And if there are a few that attempt to make decisions for those kinds of reasons, it seems like they get it wrong more often than they get it right. Take the extreme example of Renee Portland at Penn State, who actually told recruits that lesbians weren't welcome and was ultimately fired because of her homophobia. We later learned her program had as many or more lesibans as any other program. And as far as JC and negative recruiting is concerned...pretty ironic because she was considered the pinnacle as far as ethics and high standards are concerned. Maybe there will always be negative recruiting, but the good news is - if successful - the programs that engage in that crap end up with the kinds of people most others don't want anyway.
