Muammar Al Khadafi

Wow, didn't see this coming.   Dave Gavitt, the man who founded the Big East conference in 1979 and was its first commissioner until 1990 passes away on Friday.   Sunday the news gets leaked that founding member Syracuse and Pittsburgh are leaving the conference for the ACC.  

While Syracuse and Pitt have the right to look out for their schools interests, it's still some foul and nekulturny timing to make this kind of announcement in light of the fact the founder of this league isn't even cold in his grave yet. 

TCU, y'all sure y'all want to head to the Big East seeing that serious sporting drama is about to break out on the East Coast?

Now the fun and drama the Big XII-3 is having over Texas A&M's SECession is about to take place on the east coast.   There are rumors the ACC is about to extend invites to Rutgers and UConn as well, but we'll have to stay tuned to see if this plays out

That unexpected ACC raid of the Big East may set off another frenzied round of expansion and soap opera level intrigue.  Will the SEC get busy and make an expedited adoption of a 14th team and who will it be?   Will the Big Ten wait or expand?   Will the Pac-12 grab more teams?  Will the ACC do the same?  

What happens to Louisville, West Virginia and the rest of the Big East's remaining members?   Will everybody in the BCS wait and see if the Big 12 and Big East implode, then pick up the leftovers and the AQ BCS conference status that go with it?


And to think I was upset about All My Children being canceled and the last broadcast of it happening on Friday.

Time to pass the popcorn, the latest chapter of 'As the College Conferences Realign Turns' is about to take place.

With transpeople transitioning as early as elementary, middle school, high school and their college years, it was only a matter of time before adjustments were made in the athletic policies at the high school and collegiate levels to allow transgender athletes the same opportunity to compete in athletic competitions as cis athletes get.  

The NCAA has adopted and announced an offical policy that allows transgender athletes to compete before and after transition

The new policy had its genesis in an October 2009 think tank on transgender athletes conducted by the NCAA, the National High School Federation, It Takes A Team!, an initiative of the Women's Sports Foundation, Helen Carroll, the Sports Project Director from the National Center For Lesbian Rights and Dr. Pat Griffin, the former director of It Takes a Team!. 

The think tank included transgender athletes, and an array of experts on transgender issues from the legal, medical, advocacy groups and athletics and reported its findings in an October 2010 report authored by Carroll and Griffin entitled "On the Team: Equal Opportunity for Transgender Student Athletes.".

According to the new NCAA policy, transgender student-athletes may socially transition by dressing and using the appropriate pronouns that match their gender identity.

Any transgender student-athlete who is not taking hormone treatment related to gender transition may participate in sex-separated sports activities in accordance with his or her assigned birth gender.


• A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who is not taking testosterone related to gender transition may
participate on a men’s or women’s team.

• A trans female (MTF) transgender student-athlete who is not taking hormone treatments related to
gender transition may not compete on a women’s team but can do so on a men's one.

If the student-athlete is undergoing a hormonal transition:

* A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone for diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA competition may compete on a men's team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing that team status to a mixed team.

* A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a nixed team status and she completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.

The NCAA stated the policy "will allow a transgender student athlete to participate in sex-separated sports activities so long as the athlete’s use of hormone therapy is consistent with the NCAA policies and current medical standards.”

NCLR's Sports Project Director Helen Carroll applauded the new NCAA policy.

“I commend the NCAA’s commitment to creating and supporting an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student athletes," Carroll said. "This new policy that will not only allow, but encourage transgender student athletes to participate on athletic teams. This is truly historic, and it will give transgender student athletes equal access and opportunities to play college-level sports without any obstacles.”

The NCAA policy is not only fair to cis athletes, it is proactive in dealing with the reality that transpeople exist, they transition earlier and it's better to have those policies in place now rather then having to write them in the wake of an adverse legal decision later.

We know the preseason doesn't mean diddly in terms of won-loss record, but this 2011 Texans squad is starting to look very interesting after beating the New Orleans Saints 27-14.

Both teams played their starters for the majority of the first half and for a few minutes it looked like the Texans defense was regressing into old habits.

New Orleans ate up clock while driving the ball to a first and goal on the Texans 4 yard line.  The next play the Texans blitz Drew Brees and Antonio Smith broke through to sack Brees and force a fumble that they recover to stop the Saints drive.   The offense takes the field and cashes the turnover in for a touchdown and a early 7-0 lead they never relinquished.

All-Pro running back Arian Foster saw his first action of the preseason and rushed the ball five times on that initial drive for 47 yards and two TD's in the first quarter before he was pulled to let Ben Tate handle things in the second quarter. 

And handle things he did.   The 2010 second round pick from Auburn exploded for 95 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries.

The offense as usual is looking good so far, but what about the defense you Texans fans are asking?.

Wade Phillips' new 3-4 defense is starting to look better as well.   Despite being in basic coverage all night because we have to go to the Superdome to play them when the games count in Week 3, they forced three turnovers and two fumbles.

They had one play where a safety got toasted in the second quarter on a 58 yard strike that narrowed the Texans lead to 17-14, but overall they played a good game. .

The 2-0 Texans travel to San Francisco to play the 49ers next Saturday
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