Tag: sports

Opposing Parents Vent to Reporter in the Stands as Trans Volleyball Player Leads Team to Dominant Playoff Win

Now that we’ve passed peak wokeness, perhaps we can start admitting that the evidence is undeniable that boys win at girls sporting events because of the massive advantages of biology.

Of course, the idea should be self-evident. It wasn’t, in some quarters, which is why we’re still having this discussion. And in very progressive Ann Arbor, Michigan, the idea that wokeness ever peaked is considered a minor heresy.

Thus you have Skyline High School making the state girls volleyball tournament for the second straight year — and in dominant fashion.

The secret to its success? The team isn’t precisely all girls.

According to sports outlet OutKick, Skyline won a straight-sets victory over Saline High School on Thursday, making Skyline one of eight teams left in the Division I Michigan High School Athletic Association girls tournament.

However, parents for the Saline team were incensed during the 25-15, 25-18, 25-21 sweep, thanks to the fact that a female-identifying male athlete was on the Skyline team.

The controversy isn’t just that the girls team has a boy on it, although that’s certainly part of the problem.

From OutKick reporter Dan Zaksheske:

The MHSAA requires transgender athletes to have an approved waiver to compete in any organization-sponsored events, which include the district and regional tournaments. The organization said in September that it had not granted any waivers since last fall (waivers have to be approved every year), but has ignored multiple follow-up requests asking if one has since been granted. 

As OutKick has reported throughout the fall season, Skyline appears to have attempted to hide its biological male player’s identity, with many parents of opposing teams expressing outrage when they discovered their teenage girls were competing against a male. 

The individual in question, Zaksheske wrote, “dominated the first set with several massive kills, helping Skyline cruise to the first set win.”

As Zaksheske’s report noted, this wasn’t met with unmixed delight by the parents of Saline athletes.

“As you saw, it was actually a pretty even match when he wasn’t on the court,” one parent said after the match.

“I’ve never seen a girl jump that high,” another remarked, presumably in sarcasm.

And another parent kept putting his thumbs down every time the male athlete made a play.

That didn’t stop Skyline’s march to the Elite Eight in the tournament, however.

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The Olympic ban on cheating men is long overdue

Finally, common sense has prevailed at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). If rumours are to be believed, a blanket ban on transgender-identifying men competing in women’s Olympic events is set to be introduced. At last!

This is great news for female athletes who will no longer have to endure the indignity and inherent unfairness of being made to compete against males. And it will no doubt be a huge relief for women who engage in contact sports, such as boxing, and who were put in danger by being made to face bulkier, stronger rivals. But why has it taken the IOC so long to see sense?

Feminists have long known that defending women’s rights is a marathon, not a sprint. But when it comes to single-sex sports, this marathon has been undertaken at snail’s pace. Rather than simply saying ‘no’ to cheating men, the IOC has been around the houses. Since the last Olympics, it has elected a new president, established a ‘working group’, launched a review and commissioned a presentation. Even after all of this, we are told that ‘no decisions have been taken yet’.

The cause for celebration this week is solely down to sources having revealed ‘that a ban is likely to be introduced in 2026’, but probably not before February’s Winter Olympics in Italy. In fact, the ban may not take full effect until the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Sadly, this will be far too late for New Zealand’s women weight lifters. They missed out on the life-changing opportunity to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, when their spot was taken by transgender athlete, Laurel Hubbard. Hubbard competed in men’s events before declaring himself to be transgender in 2013. He took medication to reduce his testosterone levels and – hey presto! – gained a place in the female category. Hubbard did not win a medal at the games, but, unlike the women who did take the top spots, he garnered global media plaudits.

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Is Saudi Arabia The Most Technocratic Nation On Earth?

Behold, the “Sky Stadium” announced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the latest jazzy edition to their utopian “smart city” project known as The Line or NEOM — an $8-trillion, 105-mile-long megastructure composed of two 1640-foot-high mirrored slabs that enclose a creamy nougat center of jungly foliage and water features integrated with apartments, offices, schools, and (of course) shopping. It’s completely insane, you understand. The Line was first featured on this site in August 2022. Three years on, the project is buckling under the weight of its psychotic grandiosity.

The 46,000-seat Sky Stadium will be perched 1,150-feet up and is slated to be completed in time for the 2034 Fifa football (soccer) World Cup. The initial A-I generated renderings at the top of the page show it suspended on a skyscraper above a sprawling city, but it is actually designed to be “nested” somewhere between the two slabs of The Line.

First announced in 2017 as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 diversification push, The Line was envisioned as a futuristic “cognitive city” with vertical urbanism, AI integration, 100-percent renewable energy (solar power), and 95-percent land preservation of its barren surroundings in the Tabuk province, “for nature.”

Dunno about you, but I’d be a little nervous about watching a soccer game 1,150-feet above the desert floor. Sounds like a super-gigantic version of one of those Sky Bridge” failures of the 1990s, where a mere hundred drunken people swilling margaritas collapse a hanging architectural folly in a Shopping Mall. We’ll stand by for the halftime show there.

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Olympics set to ban ALL transgender athletes for LA 2028 – but row rages over whether those with Imane Khelif’s reported condition will be able to compete

A ban on transgender women competitors is strongly expected to be in place for the  2028 Olympics – but it remains unclear if there will be barriers against athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) after the boxing furore at Paris 2024.

Under the existing rules, each sport is empowered to decide if transgender women can compete if their testosterone levels fall below a designated threshold.

But the International Olympic Committee, under new president Kirsty Coventry, is in discussions about a dramatic policy shift that would impose a blanket ban across all sports for the Los Angeles Games. 

Such a move would prevent the kind of scenario that saw Laurel Hubbard contest the weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Hubbard transitioned in 2012. 

While Olympic sources have confirmed that such a measure is very much the ‘direction of travel’, it is highly unlikely to come into force before the Winter Olympics in Italy next February. 

One report suggested that a rule change could be announced in February, but insiders estimated it might take between six months and a year for it to be approved and cleared.

The move would be seen as a box ticked by Coventry, who campaigned to protect the female category on her way to winning the presidential election earlier this year.

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Insane Mafia-Linked NBA Gambling Scandal Erupts; Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups Arrested Among Dozens Of Alleged Riggers

Over 30 people have been indicted after an FBI investigation uncovered an explosive gambling scandal rocking the NBA. 

Legendary Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were all arrested as part of the investigation into illegal gambling operations that included x-ray tables that read cards, special contact lenses, rigged shuffling machines and more – swindling people out of ‘tens of millions of dollars.’

Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker operation tied to ‘la costa nostra,’ according to the FBI, while Rozier allegedly manipulated his performance during an NBA game to sway betting results. 

According to the NY Post:

Rozier is one of the six defendants in the NBA-related investigation, each of whom was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, per Nocella.

His specific allegations tie back to a March 23, 2023 contest against the Pelicans when Rozier exited after playing the first 9:36 and did not return due to a foot issue in what would be his final tilt of the season.

He tallied five points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in that time, and one X user posted at the time how they allegedly had been tipped off that Rozier would exit early.

That knowledge would affect prop betting, where gamblers bet on a player’s statistics for a game.

An “unexpected” amount of bets came in on Rozier’s Under for that game, per ESPN, which resulted in some sportsbooks preventing further wagers on his prop lines.

The NBA investigated the issue and did not punish Rozier.

In a Thursday statement, the NBA announced that Rozier and Billups were being place on immediate leave.

“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today.  Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.  We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

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Student Challenging Ban on Males in Female Sports Cannot Withdraw Case: Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 20 declined a male college student’s request to withdraw his challenge to Idaho’s ban on male athletes competing on school sports teams intended for females.

The court’s new ruling in Little v. Hecox came without comment in an unsigned order. No justices dissented. Previously, on July 3, the Supreme Court granted Idaho’s petition but has not yet scheduled an oral argument in the case.

Respondent Lindsay Hecox had sued Idaho, alleging that Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and Title IX, a federal civil rights law that forbids sex-based discrimination at any school that receives federal funding.

Hecox, a biological male who identifies with a female identity, wanted to compete as part of the Boise State University women’s teams for track and cross-country.

A federal district court previously issued a preliminary injunction blocking the state law so Hecox could try out for the teams. The court ruled that the statute discriminates against transgender-identifying athletes.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the injunction, holding that laws making sex-based distinctions in schools serve as “proxy discrimination” against transgender-identifying athletes.

However, on Sept. 2, Hecox’s attorneys told the Supreme Court that he wished to abandon his appeal. The case had become too much of a distraction in his life and Hecox had asked the federal district court in which the original lawsuit was still pending to dismiss it.

“Ms. Hecox has also come under negative public scrutiny from certain quarters because of this litigation, and she believes that such continued—and likely intensified—attention in the coming school year will distract her from her schoolwork and prevent her from meeting her academic and personal goals.”

Even though playing women’s sports remains important to Hecox, “her top priority is graduating from college and living a healthy and safe life,” the filing said.

The document said that by filing a notice of voluntary dismissal at the district court level, Hecox terminated the case there, so there is no longer a live claim left to be decided by the courts. The Supreme Court should vacate the Ninth Circuit’s ruling and send the case back to that court with instructions to dismiss the appeal, the brief said.

However, on Oct. 14, U.S. District Judge David Nye of Idaho rejected the request to dismiss Hecox’s lawsuit.

Nye noted it was Hecox’s position that Idaho should be pleased he was attempting to dismiss the suit because doing so would allow the state law to remain in effect.

“But again, if Hecox dismisses this case and the Ninth Circuit’s decision is vacated, what is to prevent another individual from taking up Hecox’s mantel and bringing an identical suit. The parties (and the Court) would be back to square one.”

While it seems likely Hecox won’t “reengage in collegiate sports, she could still change her mind,” the judge said.

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California: 10 Teams Have Forfeited to Volleyball Team with Transgender Player

A total of 10 teams have now forfeited to the Jurupa Valley High School girls’ volleyball team in California due to the inclusion of a transgender athlete on its roster.

“Los Osos High School forfeited a tournament game against Jurupa Valley on Saturday, while Patriot High School forfeited its Monday varsity match, marking its second forfeit to JVHS this season. Patriot High School previously forfeited a Sept. 26 match to Jurupa Valley,” Fox News reported on Wednesday.

A California school board president familiar with the matter confirmed that only the Patriot High School varsity team forfeited to JVHS, while the JV and freshman teams did play.

No school has given an official reason for the forfeits. As many as two Jurupa Valley senior players, Alyssa McPherson and Hadeel Hazameh, quit the team this season in protest of sharing a court with a transgender athlete, which Jurupa Valley High School has continued to support.

“McPherson and Hazameh have also filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District, citing their experience playing and sharing a locker room with Hernandez the previous three seasons. McPherson’s older sister and former JVHS girls’ volleyball player, Madison McPherson, is the third plaintiff in that lawsuit,” noted Fox News.

“Jurupa Valley is poised to play in the postseason, where forfeits may continue. Last season, a Christian high school girls’ volleyball team in northern California, Stone Ridge Christian, forfeited a playoff game to San Francisco Waldorf, which had a trans athlete on its team,” it added.

Jurupa Valley previously addressed the forfeits, saying that the school must comply with the law.

“We understand and acknowledge the disappointment of our Jurupa Valley High School athletes who are ready and prepared to play. Decisions to cancel matches were made by teams in other districts,” the statement read. “As a public school district in California, JUSD is compelled to follow the law, which protects students from discrimination based on gender identity and requires that students be permitted to participate on athletic teams that are consistent with their gender identity (California Education Code 221.5 (f)).”

“This is consistent with the guidance provided by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond,” it continued. “We are proud of our JVHS Jaguars and their willingness to play any team and represent their school and our district with pride. We are currently working to find additional matches to give them that opportunity.”

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ACLU loses last-ditch effort to stop SCOTUS from evaluating state bans on males in girls’ sports

When the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether Idaho and West Virginia can ban males from girls’ sports, two weeks after upholding Tennessee’s ban on medicalized gender transitions for minors, the transgender track athlete who defeated Idaho at trial and appeals courts got cold feet and tried to stop SCOTUS from hearing Idaho’s part of the case.

Lindsay Hecox, who is male, decided to “cease playing women’s sports in any context covered by H.B. 500” and dismissed the suit with prejudice so it cannot be filed again, claiming that continuing the litigation through SCOTUS will threaten Hecox’s “mental health, my safety, and my ability to graduate as soon as possible.”

U.S. District Judge David Nye, whose injunction against Idaho’s law as applied to Hecox was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, doesn’t think the ACLU-represented athlete is playing it straight.

The President Trump nominee, who saved Hecox’s challenge three years ago when the 9th Circuit questioned whether the lapsed athlete would resume competing and thus maintain legal standing to sue Idaho, interpreted Hecox’s late-breaking about-face as “somewhat manipulative to avoid Supreme Court review” and ruled it “should not be endorsed.”

Nye granted Idaho’s motion to strike Hecox’s notice of voluntary dismissal, in the latest setback for the ACLU’s quest to preempt state laws that favor sex over gender identity, through federal regulation and the federal courts, while keeping SCOTUS from hearing close cases.

Federal courts including President Biden’s nominees blocked his administration’s Title IX regulation conflating sex and gender identity as his lone term closed, leaving the first Trump administration’s sex-based Title IX regulation in place. Second-term President Trump’s executive orders against gender ideology left SCOTUS the ACLU’s last hope.

That hope was dashed in June when a 6-3 court rejected the ACLU’s argument, on behalf of transgender children’s families, that gender identity is a protected trait like sex and race in the context of Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery as treatment options for gender-confused youth.

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WA Teen Faces Civil Rights Complaint For Refusing To Play Basketball Against Male Athlete

A high school basketball player in Washington state has been accused of bullying, harassment after she allegedly “misgendered” a male opponent who pretends to be a female.

The controversy began when an 18 year old biological male was allowed to play on a junior varsity team in the Tumwater School District, alongside 14 and 15-year-old female athletes.

15-year-old Frances Staudt noticed the obviously male athlete on the opposing team during her warm up for the final game of the season and asked the school’s athletic director whether the player was a male, but  was told that, in accordance with Washington state law, the school will not discriminate based on sexual identity.

Staudt then notified her coach that she was unwilling to play against a biological male opponent.

According to Staudt’s mother Aimee, Frances was so frustrated that, following the game, her daughter walked by the male player and told him, “You’re a man” prompting the school district to investigate Frances for ‘misgendering’ her opponent.

Aimee Staudt told Fox News that the school district could have avoided the situation, saying, “They knew, admittedly, that there was going to be this situation, and they had a meeting, the principal, the superintendent, and the athletic director to discuss the fact that this was a potential situation that was coming up.”

Aimee maintains that little controversy would have resulted if families had been notified of the situation beforehand, and players had been given the option to sit out the game.

Staudt said, “But they didn’t do that. They put the kids on the spot, and my daughter was the one that actually stood up in this situation, and… she was exposed… It was awful the way they handled it.”

The New York Post reports that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy states that each athlete will participate in programs “consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed,” and there are not even any medical or legal requirements.

Washington is one of a handful of Democrat-run states that have pushed back against President Trump’s executive order banning biological males from competing in women’s sports.

The school district released a statement last week stating, “As a district, we remain committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all students feel safe, supported, and valued.”

According to her mother, Frances received a letter late last week, stating that she had violated WIAA policy and that she could face further discipline if there are any further incidents.

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Spanberger Won’t Condemn School Board Member For Sympathetic Emails To Sex Offender Using Girls’ Bathroom

If you want to see Democrat Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger dance, ask her opinion about allowing men in women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams. She has been tap-dancing around a straight answer for weeks. In a recent debate, when pressed, she said the decision is up to individuals and school districts.

A political gift in the news should have made it much easier for Spanberger to find clarity.  

An Arlington School Board allowed a sex offender to shower and dress in the girls’ pool locker room last year, WJLA TV’s Nick Minock reported on Thursday. As with many public schools, the pool and facilities are open to the public outside school hours. He also revealed that a current Arlington School Board member, when running for her school board position, had an empathetic email exchange with a male sex offender who used girls’ spaces at Arlington schools.

The Federalist asked Spanberger in an email if she supports trans-identifying, male sex offenders showering with young girls? And does she condemn the sympathetic emails between the sex offender and a school board member candidate?

Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears knows her position and is not ashamed to say it out loud: “Girls are girls, and boys are boys.” She will support policies that promote the separation of the sexes in sports and private areas.  

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