That Was The Week That Was In Links - February 28, 2025
Some stuff I’ve consumed this week and items of note…
- In a statement released Thursday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that their former head coach, Jon Gruden, would be reinstated in their Ring of Honor. "Jon Gruden was initially inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor based on his many accomplishments during his seven seasons as our head coach and he remains a significant figure in the history of our franchise," the statement said. "Upon further reflection, we have decided to reinstate him into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor." What was further reflected upon, though? Gruden infamously said some wildly offensive stuff in various emails that led to his (for now) banishment from further coaching and broadcasting consideration and that Ring of Honor. What changed to merit him going back in?
- clickholeworstpersonyouknowgreatpoint.jpg
- On this episode of Code Switch: “In 2015, the NFL agreed to an uncapped settlement to pay former players diagnosed with brain disease. The agreement came after players sued the league for covering what it knew about the links between brain disease and football. But who's gotten paid and how much is affected by their race.”
- “The US state department has ordered officials worldwide to deny visas to transgender athletes attempting to come to the US for sports competitions and to issue permanent visa bans against those who are deemed to misrepresent their birth sex on visa applications.” And while it’s pushed as a sports thing, this really just attempts to ban trans people from entering the US period.
- Per The 19th: “Texas is suing the largest college sports governing body in the country in the hopes that a court will order the organization to ‘immediately begin screening the sex of student athletes.’ Although the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has already barred transgender women from playing in women’s sports, Texas’ attorney general has accused the group of using loopholes to allow such competition.”
- From “Why We Do the Research”:
Remarkably, in the nearly 16 years since the regulation of female ‘athletes with [Differences in Sexual Development (DSDs)]’ has been a central focus of World Athletics, there has not been a single study of the performance of these women in comparison with other women to assess the possibility of an unfair performance advantage. There has been no direct evidence to support the regulations, which have become increasingly restrictive nonetheless.
That is, until now.
I and seven colleagues from the U.K., Canada, and Switzerland have just published as a pre-print — Gollish et al. 2025 — the first such study. We compare in-competition performances of nine women who fall under the 2024 World Athletics DSD Regulations (and who have publicly stated so)2 against the performances of hundreds of other women who participated in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. . .
Does evidence in performance of the women currently banned by World Athletics indicate an ‘insuperable advantage’ or ‘exactly the same’ advantage that men have over women?
The answer to this question is perfectly clear: No, these women do not have an ‘insuperable advantage’ over other women nor do they perform like men.
- The President of the TV says that the PGA-LIV deal is more complicated than Ukraine-Russia.
- Sally Jenkins on the PGA seeking to get in bed with the Saudis–the same Saudis who ordered the hit on her WaPo colleague Jamal Khashoggi:
"Let’s just say it: The deal the PGA Tour is pursuing with its Saudi rivals is filthy. LIV Golf, the circuit bankrolled by the same Saudis the PGA Tour now courts, is as commercially appealing as a cross between a portable toilet and Putt-Putt. Not even the words ‘White House meeting’ can remove its odor. It’s a flop — and a game-defiling one."
- From the “This is Going to Keep Happening” Department, two Fresno State basketball players allegedly gambled on daily fantasy involving their own stats.
- And I’m not linking to it, but Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker and his wife spoke to Clay Travis’ Newsmax-but-sports site to deny the claims made by (as of now) sixteen massage therapists that he’s a sex pest. And if that’s where you’re taking your “I didn’t do it” claim, well...
- And I’ll be jumping in frigid Lake Michigan on Sunday for a great cause, in case you would like to donate and get some good karma for your weekend.
Hello, hey you
Who said that?
Baby, how you been?
You say you don't know
You won't know until you begin
Weekend.
