Athletic departments are supposed to offer opportunities for all types of athletes, but nowadays what they offer are opportunities for (a) really tall people; (b) really big people; (c) females. It's the equivalent of offering English and science classes but no math.

Nobody can argue that Title IX has been good for women's sports but at what price? Title IX originally stated that federally funded universities could not discriminate on the basis of sex, which is exactly what they are doing, fixing discrimination against women with discrimination against men.

This has been noted previously in this column, but it's worth noting again: Addressing Title IX, the department of Health, Education and Welfare, required that schools examine "whether the selection of sports and levels of competition effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes."

Studies reveal — and you probably could have guessed this — that men are more interested in sports than women, in the same way that more girls are interested in the drill team than boys. Some colleges struggle to find enough female athletes to fill their rosters. Yet, as a wrestling coach once explained it, if you have 100 girls who want to play sports and 1,000 boys who want to play sports, 100 girls and 100 boys will be given the opportunity.

The proportionality is so strict that many football players can't walk on to a team because it will tilt the balance of numbers, even if they are willing to play without a scholarship.

Strict proportionality was introduced into the Title IX law by the Office of Civil Rights in 1979 even though the original law states explicitly that it should not "be interpreted to require any education institution to grant preferential or disparate treatment to one sex on account of an imbalance which may exist" in the numbers of each sex participating in a sport.

The loss of Utah's track team and the wrestling programs at Weber State, Utah State, Utah and BYU are especially hard felt at home. As Weber track coach Chick Hislop notes, the minor sports rely predominantly on Utah athletes to fill their rosters, but their opportunities are rapidly shrinking.

For all the good Title IX has done, no one can argue this: It does not offer equal opportunities for male and female athletes in the so-called minor sports.

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E-mail: drob@desnews.com