The Sports Report: Title IX suit leads to harassment for Riverside women’s coach Alicia Berber

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Title IX is 50 years old, but inequities still exist, especially in women’s sports. Title IX states “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.” We take a look at how one woman’s fight for Title IX equality has led to her being afraid for her life.

From Steve Henson: Cheryl Miller is livid, her voice rising, her words coated with frustration, alarm and incredulity. The ire of one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time is locked on the plight of a junior college coach in Miller’s hometown of Riverside.

“Right now, I’m afraid for her life,” Miller said. “She has way too much fight and she’ll fight and fight and fight, not for herself, but for her players. My greatest concern is for her safety. Absolutely. Someone will end up hurting her.”

Miller pauses to breathe. “If that happens, if somebody doesn’t step up and protect her, I will hold all of Riverside City College accountable.”

Outwardly, Alicia Berber doesn’t behave like someone under attack. She shows up for work every day, teaches classes and coaches the women’s basketball team, same as she’s done for 22 years. The Riverside City College campus is her turf. She played basketball there as Alicia Rubio, was a Kodak All-American and was inducted into the school’s sports hall of fame in 2007.

But these days, Berber heads home before dark. She listens for footsteps before exiting her office, makes sure her car keys are in her hand and hurries to the parking lot. A fellow coach suggested she arm herself with pepper spray and a taser.

She says she’s been berated and ostracized for years, treatment that she alleges recently escalated to bullying and verbal threats by a small handful of male athletes. Her offense? Berber had the temerity to insist, no, to demand, that Riverside City College follow Title IX regulations to the letter, that her team get the exact same treatment as men’s teams. Then nearly a decade later, she insisted again.

Berber sued the college and agreed to a $250,000 settlement in 2012. As part of the pact, two negative evaluations of Berber contrived by athletic director Barry Meier — who subsequently was put on administrative leave and resigned after pornography was reportedly discovered on his work computer — were rescinded and the college promised to conduct “sensitivity and sexual harassment training to all athletic department staff in conjunction with a mandatory staff meeting.”

Berber thought maybe her fight for equality was over. But, she alleges, violation after violation, humiliation after humiliation, year after year, made her professional life miserable. So, she fought back — again.

“In Riverside it’s really a deep-rooted culture, it’s an old boys network,” she said. “I’m breaking that up and I’m proud to say I’m breaking that up. When I decide to retire, I want the young woman or man that wants to take over the team to have an opportunity to coach without the conditions I’ve had to deal with for so many years.”

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Cori Close and Tara VanDerveer say Title IX inequities persist and must be challenged

CHARGERS

From Helene Elliott: White trash bags were everywhere, on the floor and on seats, stuffed full of shirts, shoes,and the contents of lockers emptied on Sunday by players who won’t need those lockers again until next season.

The day after the Chargers coughed up a 27-point lead and lost to Jacksonville in the AFC wild-card round was a day of packing and reckoning, for coming to terms with a loss that was inexplicable but also very much in character for a franchise that has become expert at falling painfully just short of success.

If it were up to players, coach Brandon Staley would keep his job. Defensive end Morgan Fox said he’s “supremely confident” in Staley for keeping them together while they went through a minefield of injuries. Safety Derwin James Jr. said he’d happily endorse Staley if asked by team executives.

“Hell, yeah. Definitely. That’s my guy,” James said. “I feel like he’s put a lot into it and a lot of guys believe in him in the locker room. I definitely believe in him and he’s going to get it right.”

Quarterback Justin Herbert harmonized with the chorus.

“We believe in coach Staley and the front office 100%. Everyone would be lucky to have a coach like Staley,” Herbert said. “He’s been an incredible leader. He’s got the respect of everyone on our team.

“He’s genuine. He’s himself and we believe in him, and he’s been the same person the past two years. It didn’t go our way this year, but we took a big step forward and we believe in this coaching staff, this team, we’ve got the right pieces, we’ve just got to put them together. We’ve got to execute better.”

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CHARGERS POLL

Should Brandon Staley remain coach of the Chargers? Vote here and let us know.

NFL PLAYOFF RESULTS, SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Wild-card round
Monday’s result
Dallas 31, Tampa Bay 14

Divisional round
Saturday
Jacksonville at Kansas City, 1:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
New York Giants at Philadelphia, 5:15 p.m., Fox, Fox Deportes

Sunday
Cincinnati at Buffalo, Noon, CBS, Paramount+
Dallas at San Francisco, 3:30 p.m., Fox, Fox Deportes

Conference championship
Sunday, January 29

NFC: Noon, FOX, FOX Deportes
AFC: 3:30 p.m., CBS, Paramount+

Super Bowl
Sunday, February 12, Fox

NFL divisional playoff primer: Cowboys and 49ers set for showdown

LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: The last two games for the Lakers were crushing.

They were left in a state of despair both times. They were close games the Lakers were unable to win both times. They were games the Lakers can still feel the sting of both defeats.

But the beauty of the NBA is there is another day and another game, and that’s what the Lakers had to look forward to on Monday night when they faced the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena.

This time, LeBron James refused to let the Lakers lose a game that was still too-close-for-comfort against the young, energetic and talented Rockets in which both teams were playing back-to-back games.

It took James producing a season-high 48 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Lakes to pull out a 140-132 victory over the Rockets as LA snapped a three-game losing streak.

James has scored 40 points or more for the third time this season, the 72nd time of his illustrious 20-year career during the regular season and 100th of his career including playoffs.

He scored 20 points in the fourth, including four free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the game.

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UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: Pick a scenario, any scenario.

A taut game that comes down to the last possession. A rout before halftime. Down by double digits early. Ahead comfortably after a huge opening run.

Top players struggle. Shots don’t fall. There’s a huge second-half letdown. Barely any production from reserves. A starter goes down for weeks because of an injury.

What’s the common thread?

UCLA has prevailed in every situation.

No matter what has gone right or wrong, the seventh-ranked Bruins have won every game over the last 7½ weeks.

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ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: David and Dominic Fletcher spent some time this offseason visiting the place their mother grew up in for the first time.

As players for Team Italy in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, the brothers from Cypress went on a tour of the country with some of their teammates. The purpose of the tour was to bring more awareness and excitement about the sport to a country in which it is not popular.

The group made a surprise stop in Florence just for the Fletcher brothers, allowing them to meet and have dinner with cousins from Fernanda Fletcher’s side of the family.

“Our mom taught us Italian when we were young,” Dominic said. “We kind of grew up speaking Italian and then over the years lost little bits and pieces. We still speak decent Italian. It was good enough to be able to have a decent conversation with our family.”

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SPARKS

From Dan Loumena: The Sparks, and its new leadership, began the offseason rebuild of the roster by acquiring veteran guard Jasmine Thomas on Monday in a multiple-player trade with the Connecticut Sun.

Thomas, a 12-year veteran who played seven seasons with the Sun under new Sparks coach Curt Miller, was acquired along with the 10th overall selection in the 2023 WNBA draft. The Sparks sent center Olivia Nelson-Ododa, forward Jasmine Walker and the reserved rights to guard Kianna Smith to the Sun.

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Four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore officially retires at 33

DUCKS

Jake Guentzel scored 33 seconds into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins staged a late rally to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Ducks on Monday night.

The Penguins squandered a third-period lead but Bryan Rust tied it with 25 seconds remaining in regulation and Guentzel won it with his 18th goal of the season as Pittsburgh snapped a two-game slide.

John Klingberg’s shorthanded goal with 8:46 left in regulation pulled the Ducks even and when Trevor Zegras pounded home a shot from the slot a little more than four minutes later, Anaheim found itself with a chance to win just its fifth road game of the season.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1961 — The Cincinnati Royals’ 22-year-old rookie sensation, Oscar Robertson, becomes the youngest player to receive NBA All-Star MVP honors. Robertson scores 23 points and hands out 14 assists in a 153-131 victory for the West at Syracuse.

1971 — The first Super Bowl under the NFL-AFL merger ends with Baltimore rookie Jim O’Brien kicking a 32-yard field goal for a 16-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

1986 — Tim Witherspoon wins a majority decision over Tony Tubbs at the Omni in Atlanta to win the WBA heavyweight title.

1988 — The Denver Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns for the second straight year in the AFC championship game. Defensive back Jeremiah Castille strips running back Earnest Byner at the Denver 3-yard line with 65 seconds left in the game to preserve a 38-33 victory.

1995 — The Rams announce they’re leaving Southern California after 49 years and moving to St. Louis.

1996 — Detroit’s Steve Yzerman becomes the 22nd player in NHL history to score 500 goals as the Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2.

2003 — Joe Nieuwendyk scores his 500th career goal in New Jersey’s 2-1 victory over Carolina.

2004 — New Jersey’s Patrik Elias ties an NHL record by scoring his fourth overtime goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Washington.

2010 — Jeremy Abbott earns a trip to the Olympics by winning his second national men’s figuring skating title. Abbott’s wins in a landslide with a score of 263.66 points, 25 more than Evan Lysacek.

2011 — West Virginia of the Big East moves into the men’s poll for the first time this season to tie the record of nine teams from one conference in the Top 25. There were nine Big East teams ranked for one week in January 2009.

2011 — Fifth-ranked Pittsburgh scores the first 19 points only to lose the lead, then comes back behind Nasir Robinson’s 21 points to hand No. 3 Syracuse its first loss with a 74-66 victory.

2014 — Five-time champion Serena Williams becomes the winningest woman at the Australian Open, notching career win No. 61 as she advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova.

2016 — The Carolina Panthers builds a 31-0 halftime lead before barely holding off Seattle’s relentless comeback, beating the Seahawks 31-24 to advance to the NFC championship game.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

“The Fumble.” Broncos vs. Browns for the AFC title. Watch and listen here.