Sex Determination Test for Olympics

Everything below was taken from the NY Times:
________________________________

July 27, 2008, 2:43 pm

Lab Ready for Sex Tests for Female Athletes

By Jason Stallman

Beijing Olympics organizers have set up a gender determination lab to test female athletes suspected to be males, China’s state media reported Sunday.

Experts at the lab, located at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, will evaluate cases based on their external appearance and take blood samples to test hormones, genes and chromosomes, said Prof. Tian Qinjie of the college hospital, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Gender verification tests emerged in the 1960s when Communist countries in Eastern Europe were thought to be using male athletes in women’s competitions. The tests were used at the Olympics for the first time at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

The concept has drawn criticism over the years, largely because certain chromosomal abnormalities may cause a woman to fail a test, even though it gives her no competitive advantage. Also, if a female athlete fails a test she must have a physiological examination, which many consider invasive and a privacy violation.

The ethical implications of the test and the notion of reducing female athletes to their sex chromosomes led to the International Olympic Committee’s decision in 1999 to stop requiring chromosome tests for every female Olympian; now the organizing body has the authority to arrange for gender verification if it is called into question.

At the 1996 Atlanta Games, eight athletes failed the tests but were all cleared by subsequent examinations. Santhi Soundarajan, a middle-distance runner from India, was stripped of an Asian Games silver medal in 2006 after failing a gender verification test.

What do you think? Is the possibility of male athletes posing as women in the Olympics great enough to warrant such testing? Or are these tests inappropriate?

Strength of Schedule

I was going to post this as a comment under Hauser's post, but I decided to get my first post out of the way and expound on my thoughts, so JD, start booking that ticket.

While at training in Cleveland, I met a girl who attended the University of Florida. She immediately informed me that Florida had "amazing academics and athletics." I nodded my head, while simultaneously trying to control my gag reflux. After she started throwing out numbers I politely reminded her that not only did BYU's accounting school dominate Florida's, but that BYU's basketball AND football team finished better than Florida did last year. She shut up pretty quick after that. But the next day she had a friend of hers debate me about how Florida is sooooooooooooo sick. After reminding them that I'm don't have a vote on the polls, they just decided to throw out the whole strength of conference bull shiz.

That confrontation coupled with Hauser's post got me to thinking about the legitimacy of that claim. First of all there is a cyclical component to conferences that you just can't ignore. An entire conference can be soft but it can avoid expose by the fact that 2/3 or more of their games are against common opponents. And the other side of the argument is that many teams in the BCS conference schedule play terrible teams for their nonconference games.

Nebraska for example scheduled Western Michigan, San Jose State, and New Mexico State for their nonconference opponents. Last year Nebraska won 5 games. Now are you telling me that if BYU or another good nonBCS team couldn't beat those three teams and win 2 out of 9 games against the Big XII?

Another example: Louisville. Everyone was so high on them. They won 6 games last year, and played Murray State, Middle Tennessee, and Utah (whom they lost to by the way). Now I'm positive that BYU could beat those 3 teams and win 3 more games in 9 chances against the Big East.

How about another: Iowa. They have scheduled Maine, Florida International, and mighty Iowa State.

Okay one more: Indiana. Western Kentucky, Murray State, Ball State, and Central Michigan.

Since I know your enjoying this I'll share my favorite: Kentucky. They finished well with 8 wins. And they play the likes of Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee, and Western Kentucky. Okay, and then they split with the games in the SEC that included Ole' Miss and Vanderbilt.

Ohh, this is a good one, I can't pass this up. Ole Miss, won 3 games last year against Memphis, Louisiana Tech, and Northwestern State. They lost the next 9 games against the rest of the SEC. I only wish that BYU had the chance to play 9 games against BCS opponents each year.

Last one, I promise: Arkansas- They played Troy, North Texas, Florida International, and Chattanooga on their way to winning 8 games. I hardly doubt that if BYU played those 4 bums, then split with 8 SEC teams that they'd get any recognition at all.

I could go on, but I'll spare you.

Now here is my beef with Notre Dame's schedule. Some years their schedule truly is very difficult, but other years this is what it looks like. (The number represents the number of wins that opponent had last year, and keep in mind that for most of those teams, that number includes a win over Notre Dame). The thing about Notre Dame's schedule that is so deceiving is that they play a few a lot of schools with a good name which makes it appear like it's tougher that it really is. By my account, they play 4 good to great teams, and 8 average to below average teams. I see BYU winning at least 9 games against this schedule (my prediction marked with the *)

SDSU 4 *
Michigan 9 * (mainly this year since UM is completely reloading and is probably going to struggle)
Michigan State 7 *
Purdue 8
Stanford 4 *
North Carolina 4 *
Washington 4 *
Pitts 5 *
Boston College 11
Navy 8 *
Syracuse 2 *
Southern Cal 11

TOTAL = 77

BYU's opponents had a combined 74 wins last year, and that number isn't inflated like Notre Dame's schedule due to the fact that we beat all of the teams we played minus 1, which takes a number out of each of their win columns.

So to sum up my rant; the BCS is a worthless. and the strength of schedule garbage doesn't hold water for the BCS schools. All you have to do for the media to treat you like a powerhouse is beat 4 weak nonconference games, win 3 conference games against the weaker teams in the conference, then win a bowl game and BAM! 8 wins, and you are legit. I don't want to hear any more strength of schedule crap. No team would fair well if they had to play, USC, Georgia, Oklahoma, West Virginia, OSU, and Virginia Tech every year. But sure, play two of those teams and then 10 mediocre teams and it's manageable. And my last point - BYU IS SICK. We could compete in any conference. The argument that BYU couldn't "hold it's own in a BCS conference" just doesn't hold water. Not only would we be entitled to play 4 of the weakest teams in all of football, but we'd only have to win 3 or 4 additional games against even the bottom tier BCS teams to "compete". Really doesn't sound all that difficult. Now obviously BYU wouldn't be satisfied with just "competing" so give us 9 chances at BCS teams every year and you'll see we'd be sitting in a similar place.

There'll BEANO ten wins

I was listening to sports radio this afternoon as I was driving back to work and Colin Cowherd had Beano Cook on the show. I generally like listening to Beano, but I have to draw the line at this comment and emphatically disagree. He believes that ND will go 2-1 in their first three games and finish the season with 10 wins. I am sorry, but there is no way that is going to happen. The elite athletes do not go to Notre Dame. Charlie Weis is not that great of a Coach, and Notre Dame plays too many games against too many average-to-great teams.

Notre Dame will finish the season over .500, but will not win 10 games...

...There I said it.

Homeless World Cup

Anybody heard of the Homeless World Cup? They've even got a documentary.

That's right. They had some qualifying matches over the weekend in DC, and I missed it. US qualifying is taking place, and they'll play against other international teams in Australia for the bragging rights of the unemployed.

Qualifications? You bet there are some. Players must:

• Be male or female and at least 16 years of age at the time of the tournament
• Have been homeless at some point after the previous year's World Cup OR
• Make their main living income as a streetpaper vendor OR
• Be asylum seekers (who have neither positive asylum status nor working permit)

I was musing to a friend the other day that whenever one of my teams isn't playing well, I usually yell out something like "Man...they're playing like a bunch of bums!" Now, I guess someone could take offense to that remark...

One final note to this hastily composed entry: Not that I lack confidence in any of our fellow countrymen, or national pride, but I got money on the Brazilians.

ESPN's Face of the Program

Ivan Maisel, a senior writer at ESPN.com and College Football nut, has been compiling a "Faces of the Program" wrap-up, identifying who he feels is the 'face' of college football programs around the nation:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/face/index

Ivan's choice for BYU:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/face/team?teamId=252

ND Football on NBC

NBC is resigning Notre Dame football.

I understand that's it's been tradition for a while now, but why would they re-sign Notre Dame games? Is it because their ratings went through the roof because everyone enjoys watching ND lose so much?

A Level Playing Field

I think it’s time to see how high man can really jump; or if a human being can physically break 9 seconds in the 100 meters. I would love to know if the 3:20 mile would actually make a man’s heart stop working like all the “experts” said would happen to the first man to break 4:00. (I’m fairly confident it worked out ok for that Roger Bannister guy. . .) Even that crazy redneck family in the backwoods of nowhere would slip off the couch to adjust the bunny ears if they knew that every conceivable athletic record was about to be shattered by today’s best athletes.

How would this happen, you say? By the governing bodies of sport stepping up to the plate to stop the butt injecting, pill swallowing, blood transfusing, clear and cream rubbing suckers that are ruining fair competition, that’s how. Let’s pick a date. My son Dallin’s 3 year birthday is fast approaching on August 1, so that’s my pick. On August 1, 2008 all banned substance lists will be abolished and every PED on the market (open or black) is now completely legal. No more wasted money on testing; no more inconvenient raids on athlete’s houses out of season to catch them with their pants down; no more perjury cases. All is fair in athletic competition.

The people with the scrilla -- which happens to be the ones competing -- will always stay a few steps ahead of the ones doing the testing. What’s the point!? Marion Jones and Barry Bonds never tested positive for anything other than snaggle teeth and arrogance respectively, but who’s going to bet their monthly salary, let alone their lunch money, that this duo wasn’t taking? I’m an avid American cyclist, yet I don’t know that I can look anyone in the eye and say that Lance and Floyd (tangent . . . who on earth names their kid Floyd anyway . . . can a baby actually look like a Floyd coming out of the womb?) never juiced up in some fashion to win a combined 8 Tour de France titles.

I would venture to say that a large majority of professional athletes have a, “I will do anything to win” attitude. You will not stop the cheating by drug testing and suspensions. As Mr. Conte from BALCO alluded to a few years back, there will always be another chemist brewing up some magic, undetectable substance that will give athletes the edge they are looking for.

The only way to truly level the playing field is to open the flood gates to new world records. Bring em on! Can you say entertaining television? Who wouldn’t want to see some freak of nature with blueberries in his pants line up to run the 200 meters faster than a motorcycle? Count me in. Have them sign a waiver admitting their stupidity for risking their life for money and glory, and let the games begin! Make sure their families have good life insurance and IRAs maturing and let’s call up Guinness to make it official.

I think it’s time to give the public what they deserve, a level playing field.