Let’s stay together. The soulful Al Green first performed “Let’s Stay Together” in 1972, but his words still resonate 35 years later. It seems that times are good for female basketball players in the United States while times are bad for their male counterparts. The women are happy, the men are sad. Al could easily be singing about the success of United States basketball on the international scene as opposed to breakin’ up and makin’ up. This summer, USA Basketball has claimed three of five gold medals in international competition. All of the first-place finishes are courtesy of the American women; the men have yet to bask in the 14-karat sunshine. At the World University Games, instead of an all-star roster, both the men and women sent over college teams to represent the country. For the women, Charlotte has found great success wearing the red, white and blue while the Northern Iowa men’s team allowed 97 points against Lithuania earlier this week. Women’s basketball prides itself on teamwork, defense and unity. Why are the men’s teams struggling? It seems they don’t stay together as well as the women do. Perhaps Al Green’s anthem should be played a couple of times in the men’s locker rooms prior to games.

Italian culture for New Yorkers. The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) Goodwill Tour recently sponsored a 12-day sojourn to Italy, as 17 baseball players, three coaches and five administrators immersed themselves in European culture while playing baseball, working with kids and visiting Vatican City. The CUNYAC squad won three of four games during its trip, but that’s clearly not what the experience was about. Many of the student-athletes competing in CUNYAC are city kids who haven’t had the chance to get far outside the Big Apple. A foreign tour is something that they are fortunate to have experienced and something they never will forget.

Meetings today. The NCAA’s most influential committees, comprised of presidents and chancellors from colleges and universities, will meet today in Indianapolis to discuss pressing issues about intercollegiate athletics. Perhaps most intriguing is the conversation the Division I Board of Directors will have regarding text messaging. Earlier this year, the group prohibited coaches from using text messaging as a recruiting tool but the NCAA membership has enacted an override that will force the Board to reconsider that legislation today. We will recap and evaluate all of the happenings tomorrow.