JASON Elam needed one field goal to tie the NCAA record still held by former University of Washington kicker Jeff Jaeger. Gender equity in sports
done in—by a layupElam entered the University of Hawaii's final 1992 regular-season game tied for second in career field goals with UCLA's John Lee at 79.
Elam, now the kicker for the Denver Broncos, was well aware of the fact that he needed one to tie and two to set the mark, but at the time said, "I don't expect any special treatment. I want to tie or set the record in the course of the game."
Former UH head coach Bob Wagner agreed with that sentiment. He said he wouldn't do anything to facilitate Elam's quest to make NCAA history.
"We'll play this game like any other," Wagner said. "I'm not going to do anything differently just so Jason can tie or set a record. That's not how it's done."
Elam was wide right on a 47-yard attempt, and watched as Michael Carter scored from 1-yard out to secure the win late in the game against the University of Pittsburgh.
Granted, the Georgia native was disappointed he didn't make history, but he didn't second-guess Wagner's decision to go for the touchdown in the 36-23 victory.
"The team always comes first," Elam said. "I wouldn't have wanted Mike not to score just so I could tie the record. That wouldn't have been the right thing to do."
TOO bad University of Connecticut women's head basketball coach Geno Auriemma didn't adhere to that way of thinking.
His decision this week to allow injured Nykesha Sales to limp out on the court at the beginning of the game with Villanova and set a school scoring record on an uncontested layup was a disgrace to organized sports everywhere.
For years, women's basketball has fought long and hard to gain validity and respect in a game dominated by men.
It hasn't been easy, and it still isn't a level playing court, but women's basketball has traveled light years since the early days of Title IX.
The pioneers of gender equity said that if given a chance, the women could build profitable programs that would hold their own with the men at certain conferences and campuses.
Plenty of good old boys across the country snickered at this thought. Years ago, current Fresno State head coach Jerry Tarkanian said, "Let them go out on the road for a dozen games, and when they get home, throw them a banquet."
Unfortunately, Auriemma's sideshow gives credence to that way of thinking. Imagine if former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith had done something similar for Michael Jordan. Purists everywhere would have been calling for his head.
The fact that Tennessee women's head coach Pat Summitt came out in support of the decision only makes matters worse. Credibility, not sentimentality, is the real issue here.
IT'S a shame Sales was hurt before she could set the school record. But she was, and that should have been the end of it.
Now we're left with a controversy that seems harmless enough to some, but in fact, goes straight to the heart of the integrity of organized sports.
Coaches always talk about the team coming before the individual. You play to win, and if records are set in the process, so be it.
It's too bad one of the Villanova players didn't take that theory to heart, run down court at the last moment, and swat Sales' shot halfway up the concourse. That would have been the sensible and right thing to do.
What's next? The two-headed calf being paraded around the gym as part of the halftime show? How about the bearded lady playing a game of H-O-R-S-E with the team mascot? Winner take all.
This is a travesty, a mockery of the game, and an incident the NCAA should address at its next major convention so that something like this never happens again -- at any level in sports.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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