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35th Anniversary of Title IX

Last weekend marked the 35th anniversary of Title IX, the legislation credited with increasing gender equity in sports. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, since its enactment in 1972, female athletic participation has increased by a staggering 904 percent in high school and by 456 percent in college.

As someone who has benefited from Title IX, softball star Jennie Finch is quick to share her appreciation for those women that came before her. "I'm truly grateful for people who have paved the way, and have fought the fight," Finch said in the Daily Freeman. "I'm happy they broke down barriers to give women like myself the opportunity to be successful athletes and make a living playing a sport that I love."

I’m no softball star, but I am also thankful for the positive influence of Title IX in my life and the opportunity to play ball in college. Here are some other women who have enjoyed the effects of Title IX and are part of my favorite moments in sports history:

1996 | New Women's Olympic Sports. Women's softball and soccer made their Olympic debut at the Summer Games in Atlanta, and the U.S. dominated, winning the gold in both sports, as well as in basketball, gymnastics and synchronized swimming. The Atlanta Games made stars of Lisa Leslie, Mia Hamm and Lisa Fernandez, giving rise to professional softball and soccer leagues for women in the U.S.

1999 | Women's World Cup. A billion TV viewers and a stadium crowd of 90,000 witness the celebration as the U.S. wins the Women's World Cup in an overtime shoot-out against China. Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey after scoring the winning goal, giving little girls someone besides a model to look at for a strong, beautiful body. And for the first time, a women's soccer team got as much attention a men's squad usually does.

2007 | Equal Pay at Wimbledon. After 123 years of awarding more prize money to men than women, Wimbledon yielded to public pressure and announced on Feb. 22, that it will offer equal pay through all rounds at this year's tournament.

2006 | Winningest Coach in NCAA History. Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history--male or female--earned her 900th career win as the Tennessee Lady Vols beat Vanderbilt, 80-68. That year, Summitt signed a $1.125 million deal for the 2006-07 season, making her the first women's basketball coach in history to be paid a million dollars or more.

2003 | Annika Plays a PGA Tour Event. Annika Sorenstam became the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945 to compete in a PGA Tour event. Sorenstam missed the cut at the Colonial--in Fort Worth, Texas--by four strokes, but walked off the course to a standing ovation.

1997 | The WNBA is Born. The WNBA kicked off its inaugural season with eight teams, but unlike the other women's pro basketball leagues before it, this one has enjoyed longevity, this year celebrating its 10th year of existence.

2001 | Increased Exposure for the Women's Tournament. The NCAA and ESPN announced an 11-year agreement for the cable outlet to televise every game of the women's national championship basketball tournament.

Women's College World Series set

This Women’s College World Series will be a refreshing change of pace. Only two programs in the eight-team field at the WCWS this year have won NCAA titles since the championship began in 1982.

The teams still standing are: Arizona, Texas A&M, Northwestern, Washington, DePaul, Arizona State, Tennessee and Baylor. Arizona, the defending NCAA champions, is historically the most dominant team as they have won seven titles, including five trophies in the 1990s.  Baylor, on the other hand, will step onto the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City for the first time in program history.

Surprisingly, for the first time in the 26-year history of the WCWS, a team from California did not advance to the eight-team field. However, this will be the first time two teams from the Chicago area (Northwestern and DePaul) will be making the trip to Oklahoma City. The two squads have combined for nine WCWS appearances -- never at the same time.

Tennessee senior Monica Abbott is a player to keep your eye on as she tries to surpass the Division I single-season strikeout record of 663 set by Southern Miss’ Courtney Blades in 2000. Abbott needs just 14 K’s to accomplish the task and add it to the long list of records she holds, including career wins, shutouts, and games played.

This year’s WCWS is shaping up to be an interesting one. Stay tuned for further news and commentary on this exciting tournament.

(Photo provided by Getty Images)

Softball Super Regionals

Divison I softball playoff format has the Sweet 16 teams meet in best-of-three super regionals. Those super regionals begin today. The eight survivors advance to the women's College World Series, which starts May 31, in Oklahoma City.

I read something a couple weeks ago that made me happy: ESPN and ESPN2 will have more NCAA softball championship coverage this year than ever before. They’ve covered three regional games already from the UCLA site, and will air every game of the women's College World Series game.

Softball may have gotten the boot as an Olympic sport, but it is certainly thriving here in the U.S. Gone are the days of waiting until midnight or later to watch a tape delay of a handful of College World Series games. I look forward to catching as many games as I can. As of now I’m rooting for the other Chicago teams: Northwestern and DePaul (which, I have to sneak in here, my alma mater defeated this year.)

Who do you want to win it all?

(Photo provided by Getty Images)

Despite popular debate, BCS unchanged

Bowl Championship Series officials concluded three days of meetings last week with no major changes being made to the system used to crown a college football champion.

Among the wide range of BCS issues that were discussed included the standings and automatic qualification standards. The commissioners from the 11 major conferences and Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White decided to continue with the current system as-is.

There has been a cry to only make conference champs eligible to play for the national championship as well as to change the rule allowing a maximum of two teams per conference in the five big-money bowl games. There was reportedly no support to revise the current BCS system.

Last season, the BCS produced another controversial championship game. When the final BCS standings were released, Florida jumped over Michigan and into the title game against Ohio State and an undefeated Boise State was left behind with no chance to have a crack at the title. The debate over whether the Gators or Wolverines should've played the Buckeyes raged for weeks and stirred up much discussion on improving the BCS system.

I would love to see some type of college football playoff system worked out. To reference a blog I wrote after Boise State came through with that thrilling victory:

Historically, sports have shown us that the best team the entire season through doesn’t always have what it takes to win when it counts. It just doesn’t seem to be a fair assessment, especially when people use the argument that a playoff system will never be implemented because of all the revenue that would be lost on bowl games. The thought of compromising crowning an NCAA football champion that is truly the best because of money--that shifting the game around for the sake of entertainment instead of in an effort to uphold the integrity of the game and collegiate sports is even an option--makes me sick.

(Photo provided by Getty Images/Stephen Dunn)

Monica Abbott: Career Strikeouts Leader

Softball season seemed never ending when in the middle of an eight-game stretch in the span of a week or less. However, it never failed to go by in the blink of an eye. Now that I take in the sport of softball via box scores and the occasional home game, this first season of being in the stands instead of on the field flew by. Certain players and teams have made the most of it – Tennessee’s Monica Abbott is one of them.

Abbott became the NCAA's career strikeouts leader Sunday, overtaking Olympian and former Texas star, Cat Osterman. Abbott tied Osterman last weekend at 2,265 strikeouts. She struck out 11 in a doubleheader Sunday against Alabama, giving her the all-division NCAA record of 2,276.

Abbott broke Osterman's record in a 9-2 win in the first game of the doubleheader, victories that helped Tennessee earn its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title.

I know and have seen elite softball pitchers toss a lot of innings during their collegiate careers, but 2,276 strikeouts? That’s just plain absurdity.

The senior from Salinas, Calif., also broke the NCAA career victory record this season in March when she won her 152nd game, passing the mark set by Southern Mississippi's Courtney Blades in 2000. With a 40-2 record this season, Abbott has 179 victories.

Congratulations to Monica on a phenomenal career at Tennessee.

NCAA bans recruiting via text message

Beginning Aug. 1, Division I coaches will no longer be able to send text messages to their top recruits. The Division I Board of Directors approved a proposal that prevents coaches from text messaging prospective student-athletes.

The Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee urged the removal of text messaging as a recruiting tool, and the Board of Directors cited that position as the top reason it approved the proposal eliminating all forms of electronic communication except e-mail and faxes.

Student-athletes called text messaging intrusive and said it was overused, convincing board members that text messaging and other electronic forms of communication are inappropriate forms of contact between a coach and a prospect.

I don’t think there’s much of a question that text messaging is an invasive form of recruiting, and student-athletes had voiced their displeasure about receiving dozens of the messages each day, many during school hours and at their own expense. It is definitely time to draw the line somewhere.

Will Ferrell to join USC’s Swim With Mike

On Saturday, The University of Southern California (USC) will hold its 27th Annual Swim With Mike swim-a-thon. A fundraiser for USC’s Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund, 22 disabled athletes will be awarded scholarships, including 10 enrolled at USC.

After All-American USC swimmer Mike Nyeholt was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident in 1981, the school held a fundraiser to purchase a specially equipped van for him. What was meant as a one-time event has blossomed into an annual fundraiser that has raised over $6 million dollars in scholarship money for physically challenged athletes. In 2003, the fund -- which is the only one of its kind -- began awarding scholarships to students attending universities other than USC.

Highlighting this weekend will be a relay competition featuring football coach Pete Carroll and comedian and USC alum Will Ferrell. An inner-tube relay between the USC football team and the USC song girls will follow.

Active.com was unable to confirm whether or not Ferrell will attempt to upstage the cannonball he did as Ron Burgundy in Anchorman with a Triple Lindy, made famous by Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School. One can only hope…

One Shining Moment

The NCAA crowned the Men’s Basketball National Champion just a week and a half ago. For some reason, it seems like that final game took place much longer ago – maybe it’s because I quickly invested myself in baseball season now that it has finally arrived. But before the season gets into full swing, I want to take a moment to congratulate Florida on repeating and highlight perhaps the greatest single-elimination tournaments of all time. That’s right, my friends, it’s “One Shining Moment” where you can see the best of three weeks and 64 games worth (including the play-in game) of college basketball:

It has become somewhat of an anthem for college basketball and I look forward to this montage every year as March Madness concludes. The One Shining Moment post-tournament montage was first implemented following the 1987 NCAA championship game, in which Indiana defeated Syracuse. Today it’s still going strong and is definitely worth a look!

College softball teams up with Little League

Little League Baseball and Softball will be teaming up with several college softball programs throughout the U. S. this season to provide local Little League softball teams a special experience – Little League Softball Days.

On Little League Softball Day, Little Leaguers, their parents and local league volunteers may attend the hosting institution’s regular-season game free of charge, or in some cases at a discounted rate. The players will come dressed in their Little League uniform jerseys, and following the games will be permitted onto the field to meet the collegiate players and coaches.

This is such a great initiative. I would have loved a chance to meet college softball players after one of their games when I was young as I looked up to the older softball players a great deal. Now, more than 364,000 Little League Softball players are welcome to take part in this unique experience that will benefit all of those involved. For as excited as the youngsters will be to meet the college ballplayers, hopefully the student-athletes will be reminded of why they fell in love with and play the game of softball.