By Casey Hobson

Our society has some wacky rules and laws.

Snowball fights are against the law in Rexburg, Idaho.

In Tremonton, it's illegal to have sex in an ambulance.

And from what I've heard, it's against the law to spit on the sidewalk in Cache Valley.

Why do we have these laws? How did they get on the books, and why are they still there?

We may never know the answer to those questions. Maybe people got tired of stepping over piles of chewing tobacco. Maybe city officials thought there was a better use for ambulances. Regardless of how or why these laws are on the book, most of them are no longer enforced.

Unfortunately for a lot of college athletes, one of the sillier rules our society has is still enforced: Title IX, the rule that says colleges must have the same amount of NCAA sanctioned women's teams as they do men's teams.

You want a football team? Fine -- if you have a volleyball team.

You want a men's basketball team? Fine -- if you have a women's team.

You want a team of lumberjacks? Well, I don't know how exciting it would be, but Title IX allows it -- if you have a women's team to go along with it.

This isn't too big of a crutch for the big schools such as Duke University or the University of North Carolina. These schools have enough money to fund an infinite amount of programs. For smaller schools such as Utah State University, however, it's not that easy. Scrounging up the funds for one team can be hard enough. Gathering up enough support and dinero for two programs can be close to impossible. At other times, there simply isn't a demand for an opposite-gender sport, which is one of the silliest things about Title IX.

Title IX says colleges must have an equal women's sport, regardless of whether the demand is there. It promotes fairness over sound economics.

One of the greatest things about our country is the free marketplace in which we live. The government doesn't regulate who can and can't be doctors. It doesn't choose who will be the nation's lawyers, teachers or engineers. If you have a dream, you can live it. It's up to the individual to fail or succeed.

Some people, however, think everyone should be a success at whatever the cost. That's where Title IX comes in. Because of the Let's Make Life Fair Movement (LMLFM), we've had rules like Title IX shoved down our collective throat. As a result, we get sports teams that nobody cares about. There's no demand at USU for a tennis team. (Well, OK, maybe a little, but not much.)

But we have to have a tennis team by damn, because it's just not fair otherwise. Well guess what. Life isn't fair, so why should college athletics be any different? The idea that life has to be fair originates in fairy tales, and it's the same type of thinking behind Title IX.

Basic rules of economics should regulate what sports a university has. If there is a demand for football, then by all means, let's put together a football team. But if no one cares about a football team, then why have it? To sustain it just to be fair is silly. Other sports that are in demand are cut as a result.

Utah State is the perfect example. The Aggies have men's baseball and hockey clubs that cannot be sanctioned unless there is a woman's team to go along with it. The baseball team gets little support, possibly because it is just a club and not a bonified team. Only the basketball and football teams draw a bigger crowd than the hockey club, however. But the hockey club couldn't be sanctioned unless school officials found a women's team to sanction along with it.

Now in all fairness to Title IX, it's not the only thing keeping the hockey club from gaining NCAA sanctification. There are only four NCAA hockey teams west of the Mississippi River, which makes it difficult to assemble a league.

USU had a baseball team once upon a time but discontinued the program for one reason or another. Now, one of the biggest obstacles keeping it at club status might be Title IX and the implications that come along with it. Until USU can find a way to fund both the baseball team and another women's sport, softball might be as close as baseball-loving students get to America's pastime.

In the meantime, sports like women's soccer and tennis will continue to draw funding while more traditional sports like baseball and wrestling are nowhere to be seen. All out of fairness.

Isn't college where most people learn life isn't fair?

MS
MS

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