Portland Massacre

Rene Portland is one of the most recognizable names in all of women's basketball. In her 27 year stretch at Penn State, she appeared in 21 NCAA tournaments, including a Final Four appearance, five Big Ten championships and two conference tournament titles. She is one of 9 women to have achieved more than 600 wins at one school, finishing at PSU with a record of 606-236.

Many believe her to be one of the greatest coaches of women's basketball history, but her resume still lacks a National Championship. I feel there is only one reason a coach this successful can not produce a ring: chemistry. In order for any sports team to play to their peak of performance, all cylinders must be firing and the team dynamic must be extremely tight. Portland however, had three simple rules for her players: no drugs, no drinking, no lesbians. I believe that the third and most controversial rule is what led to her lack of ultimate success.

Homophobia has no place in this world, especially in sports. Team chemistry is without a doubt one of the most important elements of a successful team. When Portland introduced the "no lesbians" policy she created a massive rift between members of the team. There were those who supported her policy and were used by Portland as spies. Others lived in fear of being found out as a lesbian, or simply did not agree with the policy and just wanted to play basketball without the overbearing weight of the fear of getting in trouble.

I feel that if Rene Portland had educated herself on homophobia and its affects on teamwork and interactions, she could have been limitlessly even more successful.

J.Petorella

KIN 338I

Sec 6