In the early hours of Friday August 13, newspaper printing presses across the country were humming with news from the 2004 Olympic games in Greece.
Everywhere, newspapers were featuring the picture of the Iraqi soccer players in a joyous embrace following their stunning 4-2 victory over Portugal.

But at USA Today, the presses were churning out a very different message.

On the front page, USA Today featured a story on ³U.S. gymnasts look bound
for glory.² Despite its title, the article turned out to be only about female gymnasts. No mention of the men.

In the Sports section, the first page was graced by photos of swimmer Katie Hoff and volleyball players Kerri Walsh and Misty May. Again, the male athletes were nowhere to be seen.

Swimmer Michael Phelps, seeking to eclipse Mark Spitz¹ record of seven gold
medals, is arguably the most talented American athlete competing in this
summer¹s Olympics. But at USA Today, gender counted for more than talent, so his story was buried on page 4F.

And the miraculous Iraqi soccer win? That piece was neatly tucked away on
page 2C, below the fold.

Overall, women¹s sports ruled. And men¹s athletics were practically an afterthought.

How did USA Today¹s coverage of the Olympics become so biased? That question can be answered in two words: Christine Brennan.

Christine Brennan, the person who organized the articles, is the well-known sports reporter at USA Today. Brennan is an ardent proponent of female athletics ­ and she¹s a doctrinaire feminist.

Brennan does not hesitate to ridicule men¹s athletics. She has referred to college wrestling as ³malarkey² and football programs as ³bloated.² Once
Brennan wrote a smark-alecky column why men should swoon over women¹s figure skating (www.usatoday.com/sports/comment/brennan/2002-02-08-brennan.htm).

Of course, Brennan believes that female athletes should be paid the same as
men, despite the fact that professional women¹s sports is a proven money loser. Look at what happened to the now-defunct Women¹s United Soccer Association. And the Women¹s National Basketball Association is barely staying afloat.

But when women choose to not fill the stadiums and arenas, Brennan blames
the sports editors who don¹t create new beats to cover female athletics. ³The sports world is changing, and we¹re barely reflecting this. There is no excuse for this,² the hyperventilating Brennan exclaimed (www.makeithappen.com/wis/readings/covlack.html).

But above all, Brennan is an unabashed supporter of Title IX. In a 2002 interview, Brennan described Title IX as mandating ³proportionality and equality for men and women in terms of having opportunities to play sports." (www.jomc.unc.edu/carolinacommunicator/archives/july2002/brennan.html
<http://www.jomc.unc.edu/carolinacommunicator/archives/july2002/brennan.html
> ).

If you¹re looking for an example of loopy feminist logic, it doesn¹t get any better than that.

Because the 1972 law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools doesn¹t say anything about ³proportionality.² Proportionality is fem-speak for ³quotas.² Proportionality is the highly controversial term that the Clinton administration used to justify the elimination of hundreds of men¹s swimming, golf, and wrestling teams.

According to the Independent Women¹s Forum, males are twice as likely as
females to participate in colleagiate intramural and club sports
(www.iwf.org/pdf/fairness.pdf <http://www.iwf.org/pdf/fairness.pdf> ). And at ESPN, male viewers outnumber females three to one. So how can anyone expect that women will want to participate in sports in numbers that are ³proportional² to their college enrollments?

I¹m an unabashed fan of women¹s tennis and figure skating. I love the artistry and grace.

But many of the Olympic sports have little to do with artistry or grace. Cycling, rowing, running, and swimming all come down to one thing: speed. And events like shot-putting and weight-lifting are tests of brute strength. Despite Ms. Brennan¹s good intentions, she would have to admit that in those departments, men outclass the women.

Radical feminists believe that women should achieve complete statistical uniformity with men. Experience proves that feminists are willing to resort to heavy-handed tactics such as propaganda-like media coverage and heavy-handed quotas to reach that goal.

But the truth is, if women don¹t get involved in athletics in similar numbers as men, that has nothing to do with discrimination or patriarchal oppression. That¹s about women exercising their right to free choice.