Racial and Gender Report Card (Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport)

[Knave]

There was an article about this report among the daily news items on the MLS board. It took a little digging but I found the report itself. The link is below.

While MLS gets high marks in some areas in comparison to other sports (a B+ in race, for instance) it also gets an F on gender.
On gender, the WNBA led with an A, followed by the NCAA with a B, the NBA and NHL with C's, baseball with a D, the NFL with a D-minus and soccer with the first F ever issued in the history of the report.

MLS spokesman Trey Fitz-Gerald questioned the grade, since two of the league's eight vice presidents during the reporting period were women. "An F indicates that we would be doing nothing. That certainly isn't the case," Fitz-Gerald said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/29/national/main551488.shtml

I haven't really had a chance to look at the numbers but I wonder about the numbers that led to that grade. My real suspicion is that MLS has a small administrative staff in comparison to other sports so their numbers are thrown off by small changes. I also noticed that MLS seems to have cut their adminstrative staff in half since 2000 (Table 12). Again, that might account for the drops - especcially if women were occupying positions in MLS that no longer exist. (Though, I suppose that's notable too.)

Here's the link to the 2003 Racial and Gender Report Card mentioned above.

http://www.bus.ucf.edu/sport/public/downloads/media/ides/2003_racial_gender_report_card.pdf

The article above is now being reprinted elsewhere. I think all the information contained in it is actually from this press release.

http://www.bus.ucf.edu/sport/public/downloads/media/ides/2003_rgrc_reveals_weakened_hiring_practices.pdf

[Dr. Wankler]

Woo Hoo! Now maybe misogynistic rednecks will flock to league matches in record number!!!

[deejay]

You know I'm going to get real mad if I find out that the other leagues get more points because they have cheerleaders. Additionally, no other league has to deal with the fact that they have a women's league that is a COMPETITOR. Apples and oranges.

[dcc134]

Maybe Martha will be showing up soon.

[Sneever Flion]

So much for soccer being a women's sport.

[Thomas Flannigan]

I broke out laughing when I read this in the paper. Press releases from feminist pressure groups are often reprinted without question as to methodology or agenda. Do a google news search after one of these missives hits the presses and you will see what I mean. Newspaper after newspaper reprints the press release under their own byline, with minor modification.
I think this "study" is way off base. It gives the NBA an A for diversity, even though it is perhaps the least diverse pro league. The NBA is 92% black. That does not sound too diverse to me. It is however a meritocracy; the best players get drafted. I think most Americans would like to see merit count for more than diversity, but that is not always the case.
Giving the MLS an F shows the hostility some feminists have towards men's soccer. Nothing is more politically incorrect than men playing soccer. Not long ago, folks posted an article claiming that the MLS was the most female-friendly of the men's leagues, attractive 39 per cent female fans. Anyone who has gone to an MLS game has probably seen lots of soccer moms and families, young girls who play in youth leagues and so on. Why give the MLS an F when other pro leagues attract far fewer female fans and employ a smaller percentage of female staff?
Just my opinions.

[Dignan23]

5.....4......3.......2......

[skipshady]

Someone here's missing more points than Liverpool in December...

[dcc134]

Is it just me or does everyone else get the Ivillage adds on this thread. Eriee

[Thomas Flannigan]

People interested in this issue may want to pick up a copy of a new book: "Diversity, the Invention of a Concept." by Peter Wood. He writes about various think tanks and their goals and has some very interesting conclusions. I have just started reading it.

[geordienation]

Originally posted by Thomas Flannigan
People interested in this issue may want to pick up a copy of a new book: "Diversity, the Invention of a Concept." by Peter Wood. He writes about various think tanks and their goals and has some very interesting conclusions. I have just started reading it.


Can you wait until you're finished to pimp it? Or do you already know what it's going to say because it follows your own predescribed ideology?

[Thomas Flannigan]

I am not tyring to "pimp" it. If people are interested in this thread they may be interested in the book. It was favorably reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, which is not necessarily a good thing in my book! From the early going it seems he claims that diversity has drawn even with merit and other virtues. It is a heavy book with zillions of footnotes, so I can't promise that I will finish it!

[kenntomasch]

You guys don't want to do this. Trust me, you don't want to do this.

Hey, how 'bout those Cubs?

[monster]

Originally posted by kenntomasch
You guys don't want to do this. Trust me, you don't want to do this.

Hey, how 'bout those Cubs?

You mean we don't want to overanalyze an academic report about the business world put together by someone who probably hasn't held a job that doesn'y include summers off in 30 years?

[kenntomasch]

No, I mean you don't want to get someone started.

[Malaga CF fan]

Seems like a load of subjective crap... The NFL received a D- for a score of 58.7 for gender while the MLS got an F with a score of 57.4. So where do they drawn the line for an F, 58.0? The only reason that this has any bearing on anything is that this may give some negative pub on the league, making it look inferior to the other leagues. I wonder why they didn't take a look at the WUSA?

[beineke]

Interesting to learn that two of MLS's head coaches in 2002 were counted as minorities. Zambrano and who else?

Incidentally, MLS gets an "A" for having 96% female support staff, while the NBA gets an "A+" for having 78% minority players.

[kenntomasch]

Originally posted by beineke
Interesting to learn that two of MLS's head coaches in 2002 were counted as minorities. Zambrano and who else?

Maybe Clavijo?

Unless they count Frank Yallop since he's a Canadian. ;)

[Sneever Flion]

Originally posted by beineke
Interesting to learn that two of MLS's head coaches in 2002 were counted as minorities. Zambrano and who else?


Does this mean that the league is going to adopt the asinine approach to diversity that the NFL has, i.e. a quota on minority interviews for coaching vacancies?

I deficate on this report.

[HalaMadrid]

Originally posted by kenntomasch
Maybe Clavijo?

Unless they count Frank Yallop since he's a Canadian. ;) And Steve Nicol.

Fat Sigi maybe? Is the Hutt species a minority?