GENDER equity is alive and well when it comes to cheating. Hey, women can cheat
just as well as menIt shouldn't come as a surprise. In the world of sports, even women's sports, it seemingly comes down to only one thing -- just win, baby. At all costs, if you can get away with it.
If all things are supposed to be equal these days, why shouldn't the women cheat as well as the men? Apparently they are.
Women's basketball programs at Kansas State and Texas-El Paso were put on probation by the NCAA. Also, Arizona State's women's track and field team. And two of the naughtiest NCAA violations the past school year, occurred in women's sports.
First, UCLA's softball program was placed on a three-year probation for "borrowing" a couple of scholarships from women's soccer to stack the 1995 national championship team. The Bruins had to forfeit their title, but they sure enjoyed the ride in the meantime.
Then, just last week, the University of Louisville women's volleyball program was hit with a scandal that its president called "the worst in the school's history." This was after the men's basketball team was put on probation and the athletic director resigned.
The Cardinal volleyball coaches arranged for a player's tuition to be paid, purchased textbooks for the player and supplied free off-campus housing for the athlete.
AS a result, head coach Leonid Yelin was suspended without pay for 30 days, one of his assistants wasn't rehired and another was reprimanded.
Also, two players were declared ineligible and the school had to forfeit its 26 victories, including one over UCLA in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic here last September at the Special Events Arena.
The two ineligible players were Russian recruits Marina Sinichenko and Sonia Gubaidulina, who were brought in by Yelin, former coach of the then Soviet Union women's national team.
They had combined for 34 kills in the upset victory over UCLA but were ineffective the following night when the Cardinals were swept by the Rainbow Wahine.
You can't help but shake your head.
It used to be that the only cheats were in football. After all, it's a macho sport and good ol' boys will be good ol' boys. Cheating in men's basketball became even more rampant. Entrance requirements have made it a SAT situation.
But women's softball and volleyball? Next thing you know, there'll be skulduggery in golf and tennis.
Actually, it's not surprising that women's volleyball is getting more notoriety in the college ranks.
VOLLEYBALL has become a very viable sport in terms of helping schools to cope with the numbers game regarding gender equity. It's a relatively inexpensive program with a good prospect of generating revenue, which is important to all cost-conscious directors of athletics.
No one knows it better than the University of Hawaii where both volleyball programs are not only more than self-sufficient, they're big money-makers. A victim of gender equity, men's volleyball figures to remain a minor sport -- everywhere else but here, that is.
But the popularity of women's collegiate volleyball is growing. A recent issue of NCAA News pointed out that it drew an overall attendance of 4.3 million in 1996, surpassing 2 million on the Division-I level for the first time. Of the women's sports, only basketball draws more fans.
Not surprisingly, the University of Hawaii shattered all attendance records for the third consecutive year, as a result of moving into a new 10,000-seat arena with a winning women's program. The Wahine's average game attendance of 8,378 was nearly 4,800 more than No. 2 Nebraska.
The best thing about it all? The University of Hawaii didn't have to cheat doing it.