After four forfeits and a police presence on the court at their most recent match, the last thing Blaire Fleming and the San Jose State volleyball team needed was a transphobic blowhard with a national platform fanning the flames of the culture wars against them with meaningless gestures.
With the media spotlight shining on the SJSU volleyball team, Riley Gaines decided that now was the time for a publicity stunt to focus the story on its most important subject: herself.
Once Utah State became the latest school to forfeit a match against SJSU, Gaines paid their volleyball team a visit to deliver custom-made “Medals of Courage.”
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In doing so, Gaines created a new innovation for her right-wing media colleagues to celebrate: the non-participation trophy.
As someone who made an entire career out of a fifth-place tie, Gaines was very familiar with getting rewarded for accomplishing nothing.
It bears repeating that public speculation about Fleming’s gender identity is being fueled entirely by rumors generated by anti-trans publications. Fleming has not issued any public statements on the subject.
Despite that fact, in today’s culture wars, all that’s needed to start a mob against someone like Fleming is hearsay and a connection to someone with a platform like Gaines.
Utah State’s volleyball team chose add their names to the likes of Boise State and Wyoming and forfeiting their match with SJSU. By making that choice, they helped to stoke outrage against Fleming and her teammates to the point where SJSU needed extra security just to play their next match.
Or, as Gaines apparently defines that: “courage.”
It also appears that during Utah State’s meeting with Gaines, their players learned how to parrot her talking points.
Following their encounter, USU freshman Kaylie Kofe told OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske, “Hearing her say how proud she was of us and instilling confidence in our decision to stand up for what is right really gave me comfort. There’s a lot hate going around, but after talking to Riley, I can’t help but be proud of myself and my team for contributing and helping make a difference in the world.”
If any Utah State players are taking a course in Orwellian Language, someone might want to remind them that the point is not to use it in real life.
While Gaines and Utah State were celebrating their unprecedented act of courage by avoiding SJSU, Colorado State’s volleyball team actually showed up for their match and beat them in straight sets.
And they didn’t even get a medal. Guess they forgot Gaines’ most important lesson for making a difference in the world: 90% of success is not showing up.
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