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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.

Summitting Mount Everest... with the Olympic torch

I just read that China is improving weather stations on Mount Everest to monitor global warming and prepare for the Olympic torch relay that is slated to summit the world’s highest mountain on its way to opening ceremonies.

I’ve read Into Thin Air and watched most of the Discovery Channel’s series, Everest: Beyond the Limit and am having a hard time envisioning how one could summit that mountain while carrying and maintaining the Olympic torch. I think it would be fair to say that the people involved in that book and the television show struggled enough without having to worry about a perpetually burning flame. The torch will be specifically designed to burn at high altitudes, but even given that, I will be very interested to see how it unfolds.

(Photo provided by Getty Images/Franco Origlia)

Beijing predicts weather for 2008 Opening Ceremonies

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could control the weather so that the sporting events or special plans we look forward to were never rained out? According to Beijing’s meteorological bureau, we can.

Beijing’s bureau plans to manipulate the weather to guarantee a dry opening ceremony at next year's Olympic Games. The bureau claims they can force rain in the days leading up to the Olympics, through a process known as cloud-seeding, to ensure clear skies and naturally cleaner air.

That sounds great – almost too good to be true. I would have appreciated cloud-seeding today as my plans to play golf with my dad, who is visiting from out of town, got rained out. On a more serious note, this concept could change the future of sports from both the athletes’ and fans’ perspectives. I hope it works out for Beijing so the Opening Ceremonies are more pleasant and they continue to improve with their air quality concerns.

Olympics Go Green

With fewer than 500 days to go until the 2008 Games in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed satisfaction with the city's plans to improve air quality and provide an efficient transport system.

Beijing transport authorities plan to replace more than 2,500 air-choking buses with new-generation, clean, alternative buses before next year's Olympic Games. Additionally, transport authorities will add another 160 electric-powered trolleybuses to the new, green fleet.

China’s plan of attack also includes planting 13 million hectares of Jatropha trees by 2010, from which 6 million tons of biodiesel can be extracted every year as a source of clean energy, according to the State Forestry Administration.

In terms of architecture, outside layer engineering, environmentally friendly material, energy and water resources, Beijing’s National Aquatics Center, or the "Water Cube," is potentially the most sustainable Olympic venue.

Check out more on the "Water Cube" and what's going on in the swimming world.

Chicago 2016

"Ladies and gentlemen at this time I am very proud to announce that the United States' applicant city for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games is Chicago." -- U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth

I’m still basking in the excitement from hearing those words come through a live feed from Washington, D.C. That statement capped a yearlong search for an American candidate for 2016 in which Chicago edged out two-time host Los Angeles.

I had an opportunity to attend the bid announcement gathering with the Chicago 2016 organization on Saturday afternoon. I’ve been a huge fan of the Olympics my entire life; emulating Olympians by attempting gymnastics in my living room and putting everything on hold for the rare and fleeting moments that the Games take place. Chicago's Olympic bid being moved to the international stage means a lot to me and I would love a chance for this city to host one of the greatest international sporting event in the world.

Lately I’ve been getting the impression that the general public isn’t as interested in the Olympics as much as it used to be. Television ratings for the 18-49 demographic seem to reflect my suspicion. Through 13 nights during the Torino Olympics, ratings for the 18-49 demographic were only 6.3, compared to the 12.4 overall rating for primetime network coverage.

Has your interest in the Olympics dropped? Do you think this trend is caused by the increased popularity of professional sports or because of doping scandals, etc.?

Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy elected to Hall of Fame

Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, two longtime pillars of the United States women’s national soccer team, were the only players elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame recently from among the 62 players on the ballot. Former teammates Hamm and Foudy, each in their first year of eligibility, comprise the first all-women class elected to the Hall of Fame. The duo will join the five women who have been inducted since the hall began in 1950.

“This is one of those things that when you start playing, you never go out there thinking about this opportunity,” Hamm said in a telephone interview from Carson, Calif., where the announcement was made. “We were just trying to promote the game in a positive way. It’s very special to me and means my career is over, which I’m fine with. I’m in a good place in my life in accepting this tremendous honor.”

Hamm was selected on 137 of 141 ballots cast, garnering 97.2 percent of the votes, a record in the 62-year history of the hall, which is located in Oneonta, N.Y. Foudy got 118 votes (83.7 percent of votes cast). They will be inducted Aug. 26.

“Two decades playing for your country, and now to be recognized and grouped with the biggest pioneers and legends of the game is a great honor,” Foudy said in a telephone interview. “We could see that we were making an impact, and what I love about the group we played with is that everyone saw the bigger picture. It was important not just to excel on the field, it was a message we wanted to give to young kids about sports, life. It was never a chore. What kept us out there was that we wanted to leave that legacy.”

Hamm and Foudy played on the national team that won two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals. They and the team left an indelible mark on soccer and sports when the United States played host to the 1999 Women’s World Cup in huge stadiums that were often filled to capacity.

Youth Olympics!

Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, said that he wanted to start an Olympics for teenagers in 2010. The Youth Olympic Games would feature about 3,500 athletes 14 to 18 years old who would compete in largely the same sports as in the regular Olympics, as reported by the Associated Press.

The IOC is conducting a study on the proposal, which will be discussed at the IOC executive board meeting in Beijing on April 25-27. Rogge said most international sports federations approached about the idea have not opposed it.

This could be very interesting. My hope is that this kind of new opportunity will inspire young people to be more active now and raise youth sport participation in the future. Having a Youth Olympics in place could definitely encourage youth to access new activities that promotes their healthy development.

I wish Youth Olympics were around when I was a young teenager! I played many years of Junior Olympic softball that prepared young athletes to build their skill level up to that of possibly becoming a member of the U.S. National Team. It would have been amazing and inspiring to know that we could have been working to play in the Youth Olympics right then and there.

I always dreamed of being an Olympian. I think I always secretly will. The next best thing to competing in the Olympics myself is to help others get there, so I'm helping out at World Sport Chicago to raise awareness and participation in Olympic and amateur sports.

What do you think of the idea of having Youth Olympics?

(Photo provided by Getty Images/taken by Mike Hewitt)

International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day! Annually on March 8th, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men.

International Women's Day is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

Despite these struggles for equality, the world of sports has the power to unite and transcend boundaries that once divided this community. Women's effort to redefine sport and achieve equality is something I am passionate about and has drastically impacted my life. The changes that have occurred so far are promising; women have experienced joy, camaraderie, pride, strength, increased educational opportunities and leadership as a result of their involvement and progression in sports.

In light of recognizing this important day, I’d like to pay homage to some of the greatest moments in women’s sports:

1973 | Battle of the Sexes. In the most watched tennis match in history, Billie Jean King routed Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. For many, this was the event that defined the women's movement of the 1970s and changed the social landscape for females forever. Thirty-three years later, the USTA renamed the National Tennis Center the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the first time in U.S. history that a major sports arena bore the name of a woman.

Against All Odds

I remember watching Rulon Gardner win the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics against all odds. His victory was one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history. He handed three-time Olympic champion Aleksandr Karelin of Russia the only defeat of his 13-year international career, winning by 1-0 in the gold medal match of the Greco-Roman superheavyweight division.

When I read that the small plane Gardner was flying in hit the water in a remote part of Lake Powell in southern Utah recently, I had confidence he could beat the odds again. In addition to his Olympic underdog success, he had already survived two accidents. In 2002, he had to have a toe amputated because of frostbite after he was stranded in the wilderness overnight while snowmobiling in Wyoming; two years later, he was hit by a car while riding a motorcycle in Colorado Springs.