A Woowoo Experience

July 12, 2026July 12, 2026 / skidaz / Leave a comment

I’m not a believer in Karma, Tarot cards, fortune telling, or Ouija Boards, but I had very weird things happen over the last few months. It began with a phone call from my sister who lives in Texas.

“Sue, Cal is going to visit Mount Vermillion next weekend.”

Cal? Her eldest grandson who was born and raised in Houston suburbia was visiting a very small Ohio university in the winter?

“Why?”

“He’s being recruited to play football, and he knows one of the coaches there.”

Granted Mount Vermillion does have an exceptional Division I team, but a big city guy, who’s never lived in winter in a small town, may find the Midwest weather and its culture challenging.

Several months later, Cal phoned. “Aunt Sue, I’ve committed to Mount Vermillion.”

Woowoo! Fifty-six years ago, I graduated from there. Both my brother and my ex-husband went there. “Congratulations, big guy! Perhaps, I’ll come and visit you.”

This week I was dealt the ultimate woowoo. My sister texted: Cal got his room assignment. He’s going to live in Colter Hall.

WTH? Colter Hall? Where I lived as a freshman sixty years ago? Where I watched my brother jumped off the roof a couple years later after a panty raid? Ye, Gods! I texted my college roommate, who resides in Mount Vermillion’s town: Cal is going to live in Colter Hall!

Her response: On our floor?

I responded: No. He’s on the first floor. Do hope the U has remodeled those rooms in 60 years.

The next morning, she called. “Don’t worry, Sue. Our names, cigarette burns, and etchings on the restroom stalls were vanquished years ago.”

“But what about the washer that Hansen threw up in when she couldn’t find the bathroom?”

“Damn it, Sue! Stop with the memories! Have you ever heard of a 60-year-old washing machine? Are you losing it?”

No. Woowoo.

Women’s Sports and Me

July 21, 2024July 21, 2024 / skidaz / Leave a comment

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to attend the sold-out WNBA All Star Game v The 2024 USA Olympic Team. Even though I not a rabid fan of basketball, the opportunity to see Brittany Griner, Diana Taurasi, Angel Reese, and the new phenomenon, Caitlin Clark, perform, motivated me to wedge into a seat and endure Pit Bull’s half-time show.

Yet, I couldn’t truly embrace this experience because my head was stuck in recalling the 60’s, the 70’s, and even the 2020’s. As a high school student in the mid-60’s, there were no interscholastic women’s sports. Rinky-dink intramurals were all we had. In 1972, when Title IX was enacted which forbade sex discrimination in schools, I had a brief glimmer of hope. Yet in 2003, when I was president of the school board, I received a call from a parent.

“Dr. Skidmore, I’m simply informing you that as Booster Club President, we have filed a Title IX complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR), concerning gross inequities in women’s sports.”

Believe me, no one in their right mind would ever want an OCR investigation. After a substantial amount of money was spent “equalizing” the softball fields and dugouts, the school board undertook a year-long study of sports equity. No surprise. The results were the same. Overt inequities. From coaches’ salaries for similar sports, like tennis, badminton, and golf. Men’s soccer uniforms and socks were replaced yearly on the school district’s dime, while women’s socks were replaced every six years and their uniforms hadn’t been replaced in the ten-year span of the study. The high-end workout facility at each high school scheduled women athletes’ usage at 4:30 AM weekdays, and men at 6:30 AM. When the school board questioned that arrangement, the district athletic director answered, “Duh. Girls need to take showers, do their hair, and other stuff before school. We guys don’t.”

When the third quarter began, my ears were ringing–not only from the Rap music but the fan screaming next to me. I’ve had more than enough of this national spectacle. Then….

Right before the start of the 3rd quarter, two, grey-haired men, wearing black number 22 tee shirts, seated 3 rows in front of me, stood up. They turned and faced we multitudes above and held a large professionally-made sign: We spent an arm and a leg to see Caitlin Clark.

Certainly, Caitlin Clark is the new face of women’s sports. Certainly, it was a sell-out, enthusiastic crowd, who paid major dinero for tickets and unconscionable bucks for tee shirts. Yet the salaries of women professional athletes pale when compared to their male counterparts. Hopefully, these popular, rising superstars like Clark and Reese will shatter the proverbial glass ceiling.

The Act of Kneeling

September 26, 2017 / skidaz / Leave a comment

The flaming hot topic of the week! Despicable, disrespectful, disgusting, degrading. Perhaps to some whom haven’t been inside a church in decades, but to those of us who have, kneeling is the antithesis of defiance. In Luke 22:39-41, Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives: Then, he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed….

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Theologian Fr. Seraphim noted kneeling has been one of the “Most potent weapons against pride” for over two thousand years. He concluded: “To this day, find a humble person, and you will find a person who kneels, regularly and consistently.”

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Now folks will continue to disparage every person who fails to stand when the National Anthem is played. But if the non-standing were dishonoring the American flag and the US military, wouldn’t they have chosen an ostentatious demonstration of disrespect rather than kneeling?

Believe I’m no fan of professional sports. I object to the outrageously high ticket prices, merchandise, and salaries. I resent that TV weekend programming revolves around games. Yet, hundreds of thousands of Americans avidly support their teams. So, I, too, am a protester, Mr. President, but it has nothing to do with Oh, say can you see. And with all due respect, sir, perhaps you should try kneeling.