Belated Happy Birthday, Title IX!!!

It's hard to believe that only 35 years ago, American women sports barely existed in high schools and colleges.

Back then, there were virtually no educational institutions providing athletic opportunities for girls and women.

Which meant, if you were a chick and wanted to be an athlete, your choices were basically cheerleader or twirler.

But with these few words, all that changed:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

There's still lingering controversy over how men's athletic programs have been cut to conform with Title IX requirements but I won't debate that here. I only know that I got a chance to play competitive tennis in college because of Title IX.

Of course, that's still not good enough for some of you. (I can hear the grousing through the ether.)

So, look at it this way, guys: thanks to Title IX, you get a chance to see women athletes doing what they apparently believe they do best.

What follows below are just a few examples of NCAA scholarship money well spent.

And ladies? Thanks for doing all you could to guarantee female athletes are taken seriously by the sports world and men in general.

A TITLE IX TRIBUTE IN PICTURES

Amy Acuff. UCLA. High jump.

Jackie Frank. Stanford. Water Polo.

Amanda Beard. Swimming. University of Arizona.

Heather Olson. Synchronized Swimming. Stanford.

Marion Jones. Track and field. University of North Carolina.

Stacy Dragila. Pole Vault. Idaho State.

Linsday Benko. Swimming. USC.

Somewhere in the ether, you gotta know Betty Friedan is pulling out what little was left of her hair.