635...NCAA Accepts First Canadian School

Ah, another sign of the impending doom and end of Canadian culture and blah blah blah.

Or, perhaps, they just wanted to save money on travel.

Either way, Sports Illustrated reports that Simon Fraser University in suburban Vancouver has been admitted on probation to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division II. This is not the big time, populated by schools such as Notre Dame, Washington, Syracuse but it is the NC2A.

Here is what SI had to say:

A new option emerged on July 10, when the NCAA’s Division II admitted its first non-U.S. school, Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C., for a transitional period with the ability to become a full member in 2012-13. Division II made the decision to geographically balance its membership, particularly in the West generally and in the Northwest for football. For now, neither Division I nor Division III is considering opening its membership internationally, and with only a handful of Canadian schools considering Division II, the concept of a North American Collegiate Athletic Association is far-fetched.

But, but and but. The process that made this happen was the attempt by the University of British Columbia to join the NCAA a few years ago. UBC wants in the NCAA Division I to play in the Pacific Athletic Conference, the PAC 10, against schools such as Stanford, Washington, UCLA and USC. Their reasoning is two fold. First off, it is much cheaper to go from Van to Seattle, Palo Alto, LA than from Van to Saskatoon, Brandon and Thunder Bay. Secondly, if one buys into the fact that one of the prime reasons for big time athletics is to raise the profile of the school, playing against Stanford, Washington et. al. on TV has exponentially more value than playing Brandon in a half empty gym that may or may not even make the student paper.

This is not the end of university sports in Canada per se but it could be the end of the CIS, Canadian Interscholastic Sports and, frankly, that is a good thing.

It is fashionable to hate on the United States for sure but the fact of the matter is the CIS has nothing approaching Title IX, which is a gender equity law passed in 1972 and is why women's sports have exploded in the last three decades nor does the CIS publish graduation rates. The NCAA has both.

WFDS

505...Good News For Catholics

Sure, hard core Roman Catholics had their panties in a knot [that's you I am talking about, Monsignor] about our beloved Prime Minister, Steven Harper, doing something with the Eucharist he weren't supposed to do, but on the plus side my research shows that if Judge Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed as a member of the United States Supreme Court, six of the nine members of the Court will be Catholic.

You win some, you win more.

Except for Notre Dame football; never should have got rid of Dan Devine.

WFDS

125...Michael Steele, Idiot

On NBC's Meet The Press this morning, Michael Steele, who is the chairman of the Republican Party, says that the University of Notre Dame should not award an honorary degree to President Barack Obama.

Mr. Steele says Notre Dame is right to be honoured that Obama is speaking at Sunday's commencement. Then he does a 180 degree turn and says granting Obama an honorary degree is inappropriate because the President is pro abortion while the Roman Catholic Church opposes abortion.

That be crazy.

For starters, President Obama is Pro Choice, not pro abortion. There is a big difference there Chairman Steele. Catholics, and I am one, are not a monolith and many of us, including prominent Catholics like New York's former governor Mario Cuomo and myself, are Pro Choice. Pro Choice does not make one pro abortion; it means one respects the right of a woman to choose.

Mr. Steele also referred to Notre Dame as the nation's largest Catholic university. Uh, no, the South Bend, Indiana school is not even the largest Catholic school in that part of the country. DePaul University, in Chicagoland, is the largest Catholic university. Honest mistake though, Notre Dame has a higher profile, dating back to the days that it was good at football. Which are so over by the way. Charlie Weis, what a schmuck. But that is another story.

Abortion, like a lot of medical procedures, should not be restricted to those who have financial means. When abortion is proscribed it becomes a right of those with privilege and connection; one would have to be naive to think otherwise.

Medical access should not be only for the elites, it should be available for all.

Not just in the United States either; it should be available across the board in Canada also. It is not and that is elitist.

WFDS