Bolla won’t just go away

Well, we knew it wouldn’t be so easy to get rid of him. Jim Bolla has filed suit claiming wrongful termination.

The lawsuit claims Bolla was fired in retaliation for complaining about discrimination against female athletes by the school.

Bolla claims that in March 2008 he complained to Donovan regarding Title IX violations. Bolla says he told Donovan the women’s basketball team “did not receive the same instruction, coaching, benefits, or other requirements of Title IX that the (men’s basketball team) received.

Bolla claims that about a month later, he was given notice of complaints against him, “some of which were three or more years old.” He says that at the time he complained, his personnel file contained no negative documentation.

I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this, but seriously, does this guy have some nerve or what, claiming discrimination against women is the reason he got fired. We’ve already seen how he thinks women should be treated.

BTW, I’m not necessarily saying UH isn’t guilty of Title IX violations. Track coach Carmyn James sued the school citing such violations a couple years ago. But for Bolla to pull the Title IX card in his own defense, that just feels so slimy. blech.

And, no, despite prior player complaints, he did not have any “negative documentation” in his file back when his buddy Herman Frazier was athletic director. Frazier, who Carmyn said “discriminated against James because she advocated for gender equity.” Bolla can’t even be original in his lawsuit.

Bolla gone

Finally, the news we’ve been waiting for: Jim Bolla is no longer an employee of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

More thoughts on the Wahine and their future later. Just wanted to share the happy news right away!

More on Pokey

I must make a correction. A couple of entries ago I said that no one is coming out and saying that the allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct against Pokey Chatman aren’t true. Shortly after that I read an ESPN column that included a quote from a former LSU player saying she would “not believe anything until I hear from Pokey herself.” Not exactly the same as the blind belief in an admitted pedophile, but I thought I should point out that there are some doubters out there.

Actual March Madness, aka What the Hell’s Going On in Women’s Basketball?

It’s that time of the year again, when every basketball fan suddenly becomes an expert, driven crazy — and often angry — by the frenzy of basketball games and ever-increasing importance of each contest. It’s the time of year when I too become an expert and usually spend a good week fussing and stewing over the Wahine getting snubbed by the NCAA yet again, or in more recent years, fuming over some worthy midmajor like Gonzaga getting snubbed or La Tech getting in on name alone or Tennessee getting stuck in the damned hardest region yet again.

But this year, the NCAA tourney is barely on my mind. Heck, I almost forgot it was Selection Monday yesterday until STAN IM’d me about some team that made it in or didn’t make it in (I’ve totally forgot already). It’s not that the NCAA Selection Committee hasn’t given us its usual share of things to complain about. (Where’s Montana, Ball State, Southern Illinois? And why is Tennessee stuck in the damned hardest region yet again?) No, this year there’s been so much unfortunate news concerning women’s basketball that the sport itself seems like a distant afterthought.

First, of course, there is the really big story, the one that all by itself has completely overshadowed the NCAA tourney: LSU coach Pokey Chatman abruptly resigned allegedly due to allegations of an improper sexual relationship with a former player or players, reported by Chatman’s long-time teammate, colleague and assistant Carla Berry in February, according to unnamed sources. I wish I could say I was above the media’s gossip frenzy that has sprung up around this story, but I’m not. Since STAN first left me a voicemail Thursday afternoon about the above story broken by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, I have read *every* story and column related to Pokey Chatman and LSU that I can find online. I swear, I’ve read more in the last five days than I did throughout library school. Part of me of course is incensed at the coverage (they wouldn’t write so much about it if a male coach slept with a woman player!), and part of me worries that this all just reinforces the lesbian-as-predator stereotype in women’s sports. But sadly, a huge part of me is always searching for just a hint of publicized lesbianism in sports that I’ve latched on to this story, eagerly awaiting every sordid detail. (So who was the player? Who else might be gay?) Unfortunately, you know somewhere in Happy Valley Rene Portland is saying “I told you so.” (And Portland can still coach after that? I’d call *that* improper conduct.)

Not as big and scandalous but still juicy is the story of Mr. Coach P. biting a police officer in a Florida airport. Apparently, Michigan State head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s husband went nutso when airport security lost their luggage and wouldn’t find it without the baggage claim stubs they had thrown away. Mr. Coach P. then began emptying out a rubbish can and when a police officer questioned him, he allegedly swung the trash can at the officer and bit his finger when he tried to handcuff him. Now, I can’t blame Mr. Coach P. for getting upset at an airport, what with all luggage shipped to the opposite end of the world from where you’re going and the insane regulations that are supposed to “protect” us, but it’s still generally not acceptable to throw rubbish cans around in public. Especially not when your wife coaches a top 25 basketball team.

The final big distracting story is not one of scandal but one of sadness. After nearly 40 years and 900 victories, Jody Conradt resigned as head coach of the Texas Longhorns after UT failed to make the NCAAs for the second consecutive year. It’s really hard to blame anyone for the ‘Horns’ tough times — a young Texas team has been plagued by injuries the last two years — but the highly respected Conradt, who is second in Division I wins only to Pat Summitt, is taking responsibility and stepping aside as ‘Horn herder. Conradt has not only done so much for women’s basketball in her 38 years, she was the anti-Rene Portland, once actually saying she would welcome lesbian players on her team (and not for the same reasons Pokey Chatman would) (ouch, low blow). Conradt was a true class act and will be missed.

So, what about that Dayton region? Tennessee gets defending national champs Maryland, Oklahoma and low post monster Courtney Paris, Big Ten powers Ohio State, and Middle Tennessee State, winners of 26 in a row? Don’t think you can distract us from the fact that you stuck Tennessee in the damned hardest region yet again.

RIP Maggie Dixon (1977-2006)

Army women’s basketball coach Maggie Dixon dies suddenly
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army Women’s Basketball Coach Maggie Dixon, 28, died Thursday night, April 6, at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. Coach Dixon collapsed Wednesday during an afternoon tea and was taken immediately to Keller Army Community Hospital. She was then airlifted to Westchester. Read entire story

I can’t believe Maggie Dixon is dead. I’d read the other day that she’d been hospitalized after collapsing due to an irregular heartbeat, but I’d assumed she would recover. Maggie and her Army Lady Knights had been the feel good story of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, and everybody recited the tale of how Dixon took the head coaching position at West Point just 11 days before the start of the season, then went on to lead Army to its first Patriot League title and NCAA tourney berth. How could such a fairy tale-like season end with the death of the 28-year-old coach?

No Drinking, No Drugs, No Lesbians

I had a quintissentially Lori night tonight. Watched Riverdance on DVD (Eileen Ivers’ blue fiddle is so cool!) while reading bout Penn State coach Rene Portland’s latest round of bad behavior and chatting with STAN and looking at Wahine volleyball photos. It was a good night.

So, I’ve been out of touch with the women’s basketball world for too long. I can’t believe that I missed the latest allegations against Rene Portland. When there were allusions to them in the stories surrounding Sheryl Swoopes coming out, I assumed it was just general references to Portland’s history of discrimination against lesbians. But no, apparently a player has alleged that Portland told her to look for another team at the end of the last basketball season after perceiving her to be lesbian, and also made disparaging racial remarks to her. Am I the only one who can’t believe Rene Portland is still coaching? I mean, it’s been 15 years since her homophobic coaching practices were first revealed, and it sounds like she hasn’t reformed her ways yet.

Didn’t see that one coming (out)

Holy crap! Sheryl Swoopes came out!

The same Sheryl Swoopes that transferred from the University of Texas to Texas Tech because she didn’t want to play with lesbians? (I don’t remember if Swoopes herself said that or Red Raider coach Marsha Sharp said that.) The same Sheryl Swoopes whose heterosexuality in the form of a very pregnant belly was once prominently displayed on the cover of the inaugural issue of SI for women?

OutSports also has a big package on Swoopes’ coming out, and seems to be quite rah-rah about her decision. AfterEllen, although not strictly a sports site, I believe is more critical of Swoopes’ decision and addresses some of the causes of concern that are bugging me. (I think this can be traced back to the fact that OutSports is run by gay men while AfterEllen is lesbian-run and focuses on lesbian perspective.)

Obviously, when someone as big of a name as Sheryl Swoopes comes out, it greatly increases visibility. But considering Swoopes’ history of flagrant heterosexuality, and the WNBA’s attempts to feminize and heterosexualize the league, I don’t know that I can wholeheartedly celebrate this.

And then there’s this (quoted from AfterEllen):

Asked by the Advocate whether she considers herself lesbian or bisexual, Swoopes says, “I just consider myself a person. I don’t consider myself bisexual. The relationship I’m in right now, I hope, is the relationship I’ll be in for the rest of my life.”

Statements like these always make me uncomfortable. It’s much like saying, “I’m not trying to be political.” But it’s all political, and attempting to distance oneself from a community that’s desperately trying to latch itself on to you does no good for the community as a whole. Not that I’m saying Swoopes is distancing herself from the gay community — apparently she’s signed an endorsement deal with Olivia (cha-ching) — but I think the effects, and the context, of Swoopes’ decision is more complex than may appear on the surface.