Support of women's sports: "The right thing to do"

A cross-generational panel set the stage for a lively conversation on Tuesday night at the Pennsylvania State University's All-Sports Museum. Once you managed to find your way through the labyrinth of photos, videos and quotes from the school's past, you arrived to a full room to go back to another moment: The enactment of Title IX.

Martha Adams, former chair of the Penn State women's physical education committee, recalled the pre-Title IX days when women had, so called, "play days" to enhance their skill levels and, through sports, socialize with women from other institutions.

In the 1960s, a few years before Title IX was written into law, the women at Penn State began asking why they didn't have varsity programs. So the efforts began. Adams said that some of the policies that were in place at the time, "today are laughable." She was quick to credit the faculty and the administration for the support they have given to the women's sporting initiatives.

"We have come a long way of doing the right thing," Adams said. 

Representing another generation was Sue Scheetz, who moved up the ladder at Penn State from being an assistant lacrosse coach to head coach to, later Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator.

Scheetz talked about her early involvement in sports and the efforts to push for opportunities for women in sports. "You can't get everything done at once, but you can get something done at once," Scheetz said.

She pointed out that one issue about the legislation is the myths. As a former lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology, Scheetz said she was "amazed at the number of students who didn't know what Title IX was or had misconceptions.

The third member of a panel  is a person whose mere presence at Penn State is historical. Coquese Washington became the first female African-American head coach in the school's history.

Washington said that she never would have thought she could have a career in athletics. Now, however, the young women she recruits tell her they want to be professional basketball players, or work in other sport-related fields, such as physical therapy or sports media.

The panelists agreed that the lack of women in leadership positions is still an issue in athletics.

"Young women don't see anybody who looks like them," Washington said.

She also added that women's basketball coaches are placing emphasis on creating a pool of good assistant coaches who could eventually advance in athletics.

Scheetz concurred with these initiatives.

"We need more women who are successful, who will serve as role models for young female athletes," Scheetz said.

But gender equity in sports might face some challenges in the near future. Scheetz is worried that the financial challenges will make non-revenue sports difficult to sustain. That said, the panelists are hoping for continued support of women's sports.

If for no other reason, but because it was, and still is, "the right thing to do."

-- Dunja Antunovic

Joe Posnanski talks about "Paterno" at Penn State

All Joe Posnanski wanted to do was to “follow the truth.”

Posnanski’s book Paterno debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestsellers list upon its release. On Friday afternoon, he spoke at Penn State about the biography, Joe Paterno, writing and the challenges he faced in the process. 

After the Jerry Sandusky scandal became widely covered by the national media in November, Posnanski's job became difficult as his interviews got canceled or postponed. What he tried to focus on at the time was to write the best book he could. “It was not going to be about the scandal,” Posnanski said. “It was going to be about his life.”

Responding to a question from an audience member, Posnanski was quick to acknowledge some of the quality reporting on the scandal, but he observed that the media narrative seemed to be going one way.

“I fear it’s because it’s very very difficult in today’s media world to fight against the tide and I think it used to be different,” Posnanski said.

He also said that under the time pressures, it is hard for journalists to be nuanced. Because it’s a complicated story, he wanted to include the “inconvenient facts” in his book that might not have made it into the media coverage.

Posnanski expressed his frustration with journalists who called the Freeh Report “exhaustive” considering that the “key members” were not interviewed.

“It’s like writing an ‘exhaustive’ book on the Beatles without talking to the Beatles,” Posnanski said.

However, he does not consider his book to be in conflict with the report because he said he did not make conclusions. 

Posnanski, an award-winning sports journalist began working on his book in November 2010, when after a year of “absolutely nots,” Paterno’s family called him and told him that Paterno would agree to have the book written about him. Posnanski moved to State College and began interviewing people who knew Paterno.

Based on his travels promoting the book, Posnanski feels that the conversation is changing and people are starting to ask questions.

“Time does change the dynamics very significantly,” Posnanski said. “Emotion will be taken out of it as well.”

One of the most common questions people ask him is to make a prediction on what the story will be like in a year or a few years.

“I don’t know,” Posnanski said. “If I did, I would bet on Super Bowls. But I do believe that time is going to play its part of the story.”

The John Curley Center for Sports Journalism organized the talk as a part of the “Conversation Series,” which has previously attracted visitors such as Mike Breen, Bob Costas and Jim O’Connell. The “conversation” was hosted by Malcolm Moran, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and Director of the Curley Center.

To see the video of the full conversation, visit Curley Center’s website. To see Twitter updates from the talk, visit @CurleyCenter.

The next Curley Center event will be a panel discussion titled “The Future of the NCAA and Its Membership” on Wednesday Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at the State Theatre.  For more information, see this news release and look for updates on Twitter.

-- Dunja Antunovic

Title IX at 40 Conference Concludes

After three days of engaging discussions and lectures, the Title IX at 40 Conference concluded yesterday. Sponsored by the SHARP Center for Women and Girls at the University of Michigan and the Women’s Sports Foundation, the Conference fostered an interdisciplinary dialogue between scholars, activists, athletes, lawyers, athletic administrators, teachers and students.

Despite the diversity of presenters’ and attendees’ backgrounds, a few themes reappeared during the conference. Perhaps the most prominent was that we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go in regards to gender equity. 

Another prominent theme was education. Valerie Bonnette, a TitleIX specialist, consistently with other speakers, emphasized the need to “educate, educate, and educate” about Title IX. The call for spreading knowledge about the law derives primarily from the misconceptions, most specifically the myth that Title IX caused/causes cuts in men’s sports. 

Numerous speakers, including Dr.Christine Grant, former women’s athletic director at the University of Iowa, displayed numbers that indicate: participation for men has actually grown. Men’s sports did not get cut because of Title IX, but because of “allocation of resources,” Grant explained. 

Judy Sweet, former NCAA Senior Vice President, confirmed stating that sports get cut “not because of Title IX, but because of institutional priorities.”

The conference addressed a variety of issues related to Title IX including youth sports, injury prevention, employment, men’s experiences, media coverage and diversity. 

Faculty from Penn State contributed to the conference with their research and expertise. Nancy Williams from the Department of Kinesiology gave a talk titled “Sport Involvement, Health Risks, and the Female Athlete Triad.” 

John Cheslock from the Center for the Study of Higher Education addressed financial challenges in athletics. Cheslock said that the “Title IX Blame Game” is based on the assumption that Title IX is the “primary cause of major reductions” in men’s sports. 

Cheslock pointed out the importance of considering other factors which play a role in institutional decisions such as high schools in the area, cost, risks, and international student presence. He also called for a disaggregation by institution type. Cheslock said that commercially successful institutions are “rare species” as most athletic programs are not sustainable. 

The John Curley Center for Sports Journalism was represented by Marie Hardin, Associate Dean of the College of Communications. Hardin shared research conducted by the Curley Center addressing the relationship between media producers, gender and Title IX coverage. 

Hardin explained that the “zero-sum” framing of Title IX is problematic because the legislation is understood as conflict. “When frames trump facts, ideology gains traction,” Hardin said. 

Currently, women make up approximately 10% of sports reporters, sports bloggers and sports information departments. While we need more women in sports departments, increasing the number of women who enter sports journalism is hardly sufficient. 

“Women will go into sports news departments, but they won't be valued until we value women's sports in our society,” Hardin said. 

You can find more information about the conference at the following sites: 

-        - For a list of all speakers, topics and photos click here and visit the conference website.

-        - For a play-by-play, go to the Curley Center’s Twitter feed @CurleyCenter #TitleIXConference

-         - For videos of keynote speakers Laila Ali, Amy Berman, James Delany and Bernice Sandler click here

To find Title IX related information, visit the SHARP Center, the Women’s Sports Foundation, the National Women’s Law Center, and Title IX Blog, among others. 

For updates from the Curley Center, check back to this blog and follow us on Twitter.

--Dunja Antunovic

Conversation About Covering Controversy: Recap

Penn State students, community members, and journalists met last night in a public forum to debrief and discuss the story around Penn State in recent weeks. The discussion took place as “A Conversation About Covering Controversy," hosted by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.

The event, a panel/Q&A session, took place in the Schwab Auditorium on the PSU campus.

On the panel were: moderator Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and director of the Curley Center; Christine Brennan, sports columnist for USA Today and national sports commentator; Jeremy Schaap, reporter for ESPN; Mark Viera, New York Times reporter and PSU alumnus; Jerry Micco, assistant managing editor for sports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PSU alumnus; and Sara Ganim, PSU alumna who first brought the story to light in March as crime reporter for The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News.

The goal of the conversation was to provide context for this story and to provide professional guidance for the many journalism students who attended. While there were plenty of questions about the controversy itself and how Penn State should move forward as a community, the focus of the panel was clearly on how journalists should cover and report on such stories.

The panelists fielded questions about identifying victims’ names in news stories, using anonymous sources, and reporting on stories in close-knit communities for which the reporter is an outsider.

More general questions about how this controversy has or will affect the PSU community were also presented to the panelists. The most ardently critical voice in these discussions was Brennan, who referred to the Penn State scandal as the worst controversy in college sports and perhaps in all of sports -- and wondered whether Penn State and other universities have lost touch with their priorities. She defended a recent column she wrote in which she encouraged Penn State to take itself out of bowl contention.

The event was streamed live on the web and an archived version is available (see below).

-Brett Sherrick

Plan now for Nov. 29 event on Penn State controversy

A discussion with sports journalists about recent events that have become national news at Penn State will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, in Schwab Auditorium as the latest installment of an ongoing series conducted by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism.

"A Conversation About Covering Controversy" -- featuring Mark Viera of The New York Times, Christine Brennan of USA Today and others -- will address the efforts, role and work of journalists when covering controversy in general, and the situation at Penn State in particular.

Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and director of the Curley Center, will moderate the session.

The session is free and open to the public but tickets are required. Tickets will be distributed Monday, Nov. 28, to Penn State students and, if any remain, Tuesday, Nov. 29, to Penn State faculty/staff and the general public.

Tickets will be available as follows at four locations on or near the University Park campus:

-- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Eisenhower Auditorium;

-- 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Penn State Downtown Theatre on Allen Street in State College;

-- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center; and

-- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the HUB-Robeson Center.

In addition, the event will be streamed live at http://comm.psu.edu/sports online.

The Curley Center’s "Conversation Series" has attracted visitors such as Bob Costas, Brent Musburger, John Feinstein and Chris Fowler. Other participants in recent Center programs include: Todd Blackledge, Mike Breen, George Bodenheimer, Matt Millen, Jim O’Connell, Bob Ryan, Lisa Salters, Jon Saraceno and Rick Telander.

The Center, established in 2003 and named in 2006 for John Curley, the retired president, CEO and chairman of the Gannett Co. Inc. who was the first editor of USA Today and served as a founding co-director of the Center, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, outreach, programming and research.

The Center’s undergraduate curricular emphasis includes four core courses -- sports writing; sports broadcasting; sports information; sports, media and society. Along with course work, the Center emphasizes internships at newspapers, magazines or electronic media, as well as on-campus co-curricular work.

Journalists on a "witch hunt"?

Even the most zealous fans of Penn State football should agree that coach Joe Paterno, in an interview on today's Outside the Lines, looked out of touch when he accused an ESPN journalist of being on a "witch hunt" for questioning the outrageous number of PSU football players arrested since last year.

Simply because of his tenure in the business, Paterno should know better than anyone that welcoming media attention when all is well, and then condemning the same reporters when the news isn't so good, isn't smart or responsible.

The ESPN story put a bright spotlight on the unusually high number of arrests involving Paterno's players during the past year. We need more -- not less -- investigative journalism in sports.

The OTL story has its own problems; for instance, it characterizes the off-field situation as a "trend," presenting overall numbers since 2002 that are startling. Broken down year-by-year, however, 2007's unusually high number is cause for alarm, but not necessarily part of a trend, as the number is more than three times as high as the previous year. (We're not told why ESPN chose 2002 as a starting point. Also helpful for context would have been more information about the types of bad off-field behavior -- how much involved non-violent misdemeanors? How many were felonies? How does the rate compare to arrest rates for the student body?)

The story also failed to put Penn State in context within the college sports culture. How does Penn State compare to other D1 schools (and not over just a single season)? Stepping back and looking at the big picture: Are Penn State's problems a reflection of the missteps of a single coach -- or might they signify larger problems with big-time football programs across the country? How do football programs in general compare with other sports?

The limited research on the relationship between off-field violence and male college athletes in revenue sports tells us that there is a problem -- but it goes beyond a single program or coach.

That's the bigger, and more important, story -- but one that would force us to look at the entire college sports culture in a more critical way than many want to do, I suspect.