-Role, playing-

Customarily, I select a number of books according to a related theme. (I just completed a set of books that all featured the analogy of "the Frog and Scorpion" to convey betrayal) but I recently brought in a single book from the current affairs section of the library.

Public heroes, private felons : athletes and crimes against women / Jeff Benedict

I am reminded of the time I met a woman in Saint Paul who made a living educating athletes about their relationships with women. All for the purposes of avoiding legislation and bad publicity, of course. She was employed by Athletic industry, not GenderWatch.

Her job, she informed us, mostly consisted of leading seminars that taught athletes the different ways men and women communicate.

That part sounds okay to me. For example, if your team had just defeated rival Wisconsin in their home stadium, the college freshman you've taken home from the post-game celebration may be intoxicated and in over her head, and probably does not consent to intercourse. Even if she did, she certainly does not consent to being passed around by your teammates.

Sadly, I think the educator was more interested in teaching the jocks to duck and weave around prosecution. In the above scenario, the victim (who was imprisoned in the hotel room until a clerk found her the next morning) recognized the Minnesota Gopher gear. Police stopped the team's plane as it was getting ready to take off, and she identified some of the perpetrators on the spot.

They walked, of course. Because athletes are role models for the children.

To that I quote:
"If your kid needs a role model and you ain't it, you're both fucked."
George Carlin, Brain Droppings.