Tara-isms: Words of Wisdom From a Hall of Fame Bound Coach

Stanford Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this Friday, August 12th. She is currently only one of seven women to be inducted into that hallowed Hall, so that makes it even more special. You can watch Live Coverage if you get the NBA channel (hint, our good friend P does, please tape it for us), starts at 3 PM Stanford time, with enshrinement Ceremony starting at 4 PM Stanford time.

Former and current Stanford players and coaches have been reminiscing on social media, mostly Twitter, about “Tara-isms.” Tara-isms, or Taraisms are sayings only Tara VanDerveer’s creative mind could come up with to “school” her players.

Taraisms are not new. First of all, Tara has been coaching for 32 years and counting, so there ya go. Plus, C and R are veterans of many Senior Night tributes and the players like to share their favorite Taraisms.

Jilllian Harmon (class of 2008) shared our favorites. She was the original storyteller, at least to our ears, of “Prayer Basketball!” She said in one of her first Stanford practices, she was making a long pass (and she claimed her arm was bumped) and it didn’t go as planned and Coach Tara yelled out, “Jill, this isn’t Prayer Basketball. We don’t just throw the ball and PRAY someone will catch it!”

Jill also told the crowd about, “don’t be a squirrel caught on the wrong side of a tree!” But so many other former players have quoted this, perhaps she says it to all defensive players who are on the wrong side of the offensive player, and does that happen a lot in practice?

Assistant Coach Kate Paye has had the benefit of being a player to receive Taraisms as well as a courtside seat to them, so to speak. She shared the most on her Twitter account. (Acknowledgements to players and coaches who give Taraisms on Twitter are listed below-comments from C and R in parentheses) .

Taraisms from former Stanford player and current Stanford coach Kaye Paye
-The “S” doesn’t stand for stupid. (Several players remembered hearing this one!)
-Mind over mattress.
-You don't have to be best friends, but you do have to be best teammates.
-It's not the start of the race but the finish.
-Mental is to physical as 4 is to 1. (Several different players liked to point out that Tara wanted to prepare them for the “thinking part” of basketball)
-You want to have fun, try winning.... that's fun! (Again shared by several and so apt!)
-Sometimes you're the dog and sometimes you're the fire hydrant. (Okey-dokey!)
-Basketball is a team sport. If you’re into individual things, take up tennis!
-Basketball was invented as a team sport, it’s always been a team sport, and it always will be a team sport. (Along the same vein-must have been some hot doggers she needed to take care of!)
-This is not a democracy. (Love this one and will use it on kids and students)
-Christmas is over; quit standing around like a decoration. (hee hee)
-Excuses are like belly buttons…everyone has one.
-FINISH! (Not sure if a Taraism, but several players said you just had to hear her voice)
-Got to put the hammer down.
-Sleep nights. (C always says you can sleep when you’re dead. Plus the players are so young and have boundless energy, why are they tired?)
-I was born at night, but it wasn't last night! (Tara’s no dummy!)

Former Stanford player Jayne Appel
-Don't be running like a station wagon if you have the ability to be like a Ferrari on the court. (Wow, that is so cool! Also probably why Jayne ran so hard on fast breaks!)
-You can't be a light switch and turn your game off and on, it has to be on all the time (Very Good!)

Former Stanford Player Angela Taylor
-Why use a water pistol when you have a cannon?

Former Stanford Player and Assistant Coach Charmin Smith
-A repetition of error shows a lack of intelligence (We all could use this quote-many other players remember this one, too, such as Vanessa Nygaard, so it must have occurred a lot!)

Former Stanford player Ros Gold Onwude was on fire with her Taraisms. We think she appreciated Tara’s wit the most!
-They already made the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and you’re NOT in it! (Remembered by Ros Gold-Onwude and JJ Hones)
Don’t be a pig and hog the ball!
LESS is More.
-When I was playing I used to love guarding weak Wilma because I could help in and get steals!
-You have to be more than a one trick pony! (On having more than one “go to” move)
-There's too much mustard on your hotdog. (Ros said this was said on showoff/fancy moves)
-You don't want to be “the nice girls from Stanford.” (Ros said Tara was telling them to be tough)
What offense are you running? Mumbo Jumbo?!!! Be a point guard! Run the play! (I think that was specific to Ros!)
-That play’s not for you! The play is called money! Not funny! (For Ros only?)
-This play is called “Motion”….not “SLOW Motion” (For Ros only again?)
-No, no no, Candice, just play dummy D on her, she's not ready for real D yet. (We are sure Ros and Tara had a great relationship!)

Former Stanford Player Jeanette Pohlen
-Even a blind squirrel can find a nut (Guess Tara likes the squirrel and nut thing!)
Former Stanford Player Melanie Murphy
-You’re making million dollar moves but taking nickel shots (We can only imagine)

Former Stanford Player JJ Hones
-If there’s a fire in the house, get off the porch! (JJ said this was in reference to the ball in the key and helping in, and it took her “a sec to get it.” C and R still don’t get it, maybe meaning if the other team has the ball is in the key, you better go and get it before they score?)
-JJ shared this one, not so much a Taraism, but a way of life, “Tara would yell ‘YOU CAN’T DO THAT!’ Cue sub asap”

David Siegel at Hoop Feed.com gathered several former players and got them to talk on his show Dishin & Swishin to give “A Tribute to Tara VanDerveer.” Several Taraisms were mentioned. Here, due to the modern marvel of modern technology, you can listen to the Tara podcast your very own self.

In the Tribute, Candice Wiggins talked about quotes that motivated her, “Hungry lions hunt best,”  (about drive) and “Pressure creates diamonds.” The latter helped her in Stanford NCAA playoff runs.

Vanessa Nygaard shared many gems. One she remembered was when Tara would shout, “get your big toe off the line,” in reference to stepping on the three point line and making the shot go from 3 points to 2. “Worst shot in basketball, worst shot in basketball!” Tara would call out, Vanessa remembered.

In the Tribute, Vanessa Nygaard (we think that was her voice) shared she was not a great student and one day she was jawing with teammates about how far away she could hit a shoot, from off the court, from the doorway, and then Vanessa bragged, “I like to shoot from the library!” And Tara quipped right back, “you don’t even know where the library is!” Fast thinker, that Tara.

And great coach. Acknowledged basketball genius, and funny to boot!

* Special thanks to these player and coaches (And there Twitter handles)
Ros Gold-Onwude (@ROSGO21)
Candice Wiggins (@CandiceWiggins)
Kate Paye (@KatePaye)
Jayne Appel (@JayneAppel
Mel Murphy (@melmel0)
Jeanette Pohlen (@JFP32)
Charmin Smith (@21Charmin)
JJ Hones (@jj_hones)
Angela Taylor (@AFTAylor22)

**PS
Don’t forget to check out Tara VanDerveer through the 2000s, including pictures, from the Official Stanford website.

Tara VanDerveer Going to the Basketball Hall of Fame!

Sorry it has been awhile since we wrote a blog (apologies to good friend P).  Just, we’re on summer vacation and Twitter is so much easier to blurt out somethin’ short and silly. Or just retweet what others say so we don’t have to think of anything original. (We got our chops busted for that recently!). However, it is fun to follow what those youngster Stanford players are saying and doing. Keeps us young, too, and Goodness knows we could use some of that youth elixir!

Anyhoo, Stanford University Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer is set to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this Friday, August 12th. Stanford is doing their best to promote the heck out of it, and we surely appreciate that. So check out the special Tara VanDerveer page they created. It will chronicle her 32 years and counting of coaching, one “that has featured Olympic Gold, NCAA titles, conference titles, and national coach of the year honors.” (Don’t forget the 800+ college wins!) The page also includes the “bittersweet” morning when she found out about the HOF induction, that day in April last year right after her team was eliminated in teh Final Four by Texas Tech.

Highlights of the page include pictures of Tara throughout the decades. The first installment features pictures form the 1970’s and C for one is glad to see the tall socks. So cool, so retro, so ahead or behind the times, C can’t take her eyes off them! Probably because they remind C of her basketball playing days (and how the high stirrup socks would slip out of her Converses because she had flat feet and no arch to anchor them to her feet!). But we digress…

Keep checking back to the page to get more photos throughout the decades and other goodies. Oh, there has been a call through social media to publish “Tara-isms.” Those are sayings only Tara could come up with to “teach” (torture) a player. Such as the one Tara told Jillian Harmon on her first day wearing a Stanford uniform. “Jill, this isn’t prayer basketball. We don’t just throw the ball in the air and pray someone will catch it!” And Jillian has also shared this classic about being on the wrong side of a screen. “Jill, don’t be a squirrel on the wrong side of a tree!”

Or this one remembered by Ros Gold-Onwude and JJ Hones; “They already made the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and you’re NOT in it!” Ros had many memories of Tara-isms such as: “Don’t be a pig and hog the ball” and “LESS is More.” To all point guards everywhere: “What offense are you running? Mumbo Jumbo?!!! Be a point guard! Run the play!”

To quote Ros Gold Onwude again, “Along with basketball genius, she’s said a lot of funny things over the years.” And won a lot of games. And mentored a lot of young women. And is going to the Hall. Congrats to the one and only TVD!

Stanford Celebrates Senior Night, Final Home Game Vs. Cal

The Cal-Stanford game is ramping up nicely. It will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Stanford’s very own Ros Gold-Onwude will be providing color commentary for the TV! Set your Tivos.
Help celebrate Senior Night. Ashley Cimino, Hannah Donaghe, Melanie Murphy, Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen will be honored. The official Stanford Women’s basketball website says their will be a celebration after the game, but with the game starting at 8 PM and being on TV, the game will be waayyy late, so we’ll see if the tribute is long.

Oh, check out the Cal Golden Bears Blog. They have a write up about the first Stanford-Cal game (Psst, Stanford won 2-1) and tie it in nicely with the history of women’s basketball at Cal and Stanford.

See ya there!

UConn - Stanford Game Sold Out!

Thursday’s Stanford Women’s Basketball team’s game vs. number 1 in the country UConn is sold out. However, if you did not secure your ticket like C and R (well, R, she has the season’s tickets), we have seen scalpers outside of Maples during big games like this, so maybe you will get lucky. And, if you can’t go to the game, this one is being televised on ESPN 2.

So, the national papers were kinda hum ho about Stanford’s win against Xavier. It seemed to C and R they already discounted that game and were looking ahead to the UConn game. The game where Stanford played their best game all year. The game where number 9 Stanford knocked off number 4 Xavier. A game where number 9 beat number 4 by 37 points. You can’t discount a game like that.

C and R were encouraged by that win because it means at least we have a chance with UConn with the team that showed up Tuesday. And remember, this is essentially the same team that held UConn to 12 first half points in the championship game. (The two Stanford players missing from that game are defense specialist Ros Gold-Onwude, and center Jayne Apple, who went scoreless for the first time in her college career). Annnnnd, Stanford’s Jeannette Pohlen and Kayla Pedersen were the last two players to beat UConn in 2008!

Travel safely to the game, come early, and expect long lines at the concession stands. Plan on eating out for dinner.

(Belated) Stanford End of the Year Banquet

And now, back by popular demand, J and K, the Junior Bloggers! This is actually a promised piece on the end of the year awards banquet that they are JUST SUBMITTING to C and R. Guess they can’t use the excuse, “The dog ate my homework.” Maybe they can use “a computer viruses ate my paper” excuse. J and K said to look at it as a “summer treat” to tide you over until college basketball starts up again. J would write some of the report and send it to K who would add her comments. K is in RED and J is in Blue (we think). They both write in black and the blue is NOT a hyper link. Got it? All typos, texting lingo, emoticons and bad grammer stuff are theirs, unless they are caused by C's fat fingers typing. C and R love that they argue almost as much as we do.

Oh, some back story info, J and K have brought signs to various games and have been recognized by the various players. They also have stalked the players so well and so much (like good junior stalkers) that the players recognize them. Way to go, they are well on their way to making the C and R Stalking Hall of Fame. Oh, here are some visuals to go with the descriptions in the story compliments of the Stanford Fast Break Club, the group that always seems to have their cameras handy.

Junior Blogger Report on the End of theYear Banquet

K and I got to the banquet as fast as we could – which, granted, was not very fast. Not only are we unable to drive – so we had to put up with our parents going the speed limit – but we had to put up with damp hair, broken blow-dryers, fashion crises and butterflies in our stomachs.  Hey I went really fast considering I had softball right before, literally. Yah well I was the one who hadn't had time to blow-dry her hair because the blow-dryer I was trying to use was... um... not fully functional :) We arrived at about 6:00, half an hour before the dinner was scheduled to start and halfway through the ‘mingle’ time. We stepped in the door after making each other laugh in an effort to rid ourselves of those pesky butterflies. First thing we see - Nneka, very pretty in a grey top and a black skirt, wearing silver necklaces (Nnek-laces?) that we complimented. She laughed and said thanks. She was very nice, dubbing me the girl from the plane and K the girl from the restaurant. Lovely. It was funny though! She definitely has a good sense of humor. My mom kind of started that one.. "Wow, you're so pretty!!!" "Thanks.. hey! You're those girls...." Haha :) Oh ya. Happened many times that night. "Hi! You're pretty!/ Cool/ So good!!!" "Thanks...." then their eyes light up and they go, as K said, "Hey! You're those girls..." LOL

After talking to Kayla and getting our name tags, we meandered a little bit, sneaking looks at players’ name tags to try and see what table number they were at. K had paid extra to sit at a player table, #19, and we had quite a time of it trying to figure out whose table she was at. I gave her a huge scare when I mistakenly read Jeanette’s #13 as #19, so K started freaking out and hyperventilating until I said, “No! Sorry! Sorry! Not her number! She’s 13!” And K glared at me. You killed me on that one. I definitely had my hopes up and you just CRUSHED them. DUDE give me a break I seriously thought it said nineteen! The three looked like a nine okay?! Then we both started freaking out about whose table she was out. Then we saw Sarah Boothe looking at us and trying not to laugh. I guess we were acting pretty nutty. Nothing unusual. And guess whose table K (and later me) wound up sitting at? Yep. Sarah’s. Oh boy. She was a good sport, though, and didn’t mention how insane she must have found us. She didn't even talk to us! One picture and a hello. Okay, awesome. Thanks a lot. Haha. K! Come on. It's not her fault that she was being distracted like for the WHOLE NIGHT by this person who kept talking to her. Geez. Stop hogging the players!! Goodness.

We then went over to assistant coach Bobbie Kelsey and talked to her. We told her that we thought she was very funny and that we loved her and Amy Tucker’s Superhoopsters episode. She must have though we were insane as well, quoting the videos and giggling nervously. She was very nice, though, laughing with us and only shooing us away when she had to – I guess we still come after all those older fans. Hmph. Some things never change! However, we think we come first in the players’ eyes. When we went over and talked to Jeanette, she was very nice and talked to us multiple times. Of course, I had to drag K over to see her, because she’s just a little shy around her idol… hahaha (emoticon thingie that doesn't translate to the blog)  No. I was not shy. I talked to her. I am definitely not shy. Dude! I had to literally DRAG you over there! And I kept saying "Let's go talk to Jeanette!" and you're like "No. That's okay. Let's get sodas." "Nope, let's wait." "But there are people near her!" "But maybe it'll seem too forward this early..." Luckily, to the last one I remembered my sense of humor and said "Goodness, K! You're saying she's cool, not asking her out!!" But no, we were very nice and complimentary and told her we loved her outfit (a pretty floral top and a grey band-aid skirt). She blushed a little – she seems very modest – but returned the compliment and talked to us for what seemed like forever because we were so scared of saying something really stupid in front of her – but was only about five minutes. And she told me she had something for me, which actually made my whole entire life.  And then you go and tear your quadricep and so you can't go to camp and get it. Smart, K. Smart. And YES I know I promised to get it from her. And take her that stupid poster. So I'm gonna look like a total obsessed kid before they even realize it's ME!!! Still. Five minutes with a player – that’s definitely worth $60. And then… we saw Ros.

And let me explain before K jumps in with her annoying comments. Ros was rocking a really pretty red, black, and white cheetah-patterned dress. And I saw her, got something very close to stage fright, went ‘Oh shoot!’ and proceeded to duck behind K. And K, supportive friend that she is, got an evil grin on her face, grabbed my arm, and said “Let’s go talk to her!” Need I say that we did? She was very nice too. She said, “Hey, poster girls!” and we said, “Hi!”. And engaged her in very witty (we thought) conversation. We’ve learned that throw in a lot of compliments and they start to like you. Ros was very nice, laughing with – at? – us and telling me to keep bringing my “ROSALYN” poster to the games so she has a lasting legacy or something. What was I to do? I agreed! So if you see a Ros poster next year, that would be why. I won't even comment here. I wasn't that bad. So, don't sass me. OK what am I supposed to do? Say "Ya, that'd be cool, but you're not cool enough for me to even PRETEND to want to do that." Ya right. Like that'd happen. So shut your mouth and DON'T SASS ME!!

We then talked to Kayla – wow, they didn’t call it ‘social hour’ for nothing – who was looking great in a skirt and pink top. She smiled at us, said “Hey, the poster girls!” and talked to us for a little bit. We left her in peace pleased, flattered, and totally and completely in awe. And then we looked at each other quizzically. For hadn’t Ros just called us the Poster Girls? We think we may have a team name. Oh great. And now we can’t figure out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

After talking to Kayla we entered the dining room. Wow. Fancy. K and I were suitably impressed. We ducked out of JJ’s way – who had decked out her crutches in fuschia and black tape that matched her outfit, very classy – and split up to our respective tables. We looked at our booklets for a while – not only did they say our names on them, but they had little notes from all the players to the seniors, which was a very nice and personal touch – and then paid full attention to Tara as she started to talk. We thing she summed up the evening pretty well when she said that “It’s a bittersweet evening.” And it was.

She introduced all the classes together. Freshmen first, and then sophomores, etc. She said something nice and something encouraging about every player. K and I were looking at each other and mouthing “So true! Aw! Awwww!” at each other until K’s mom very kindly switched with me so I was sitting with K at Sarah’s table. So then we didn’t just have to mouth it – we could say it! And the best part of the evening (in my opinion) was when Tara introduced Jeanette. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Judging from that laugh I think K remembers what's coming. Not that she could forget, of course. Just pay attention to the story :) Now, before I say what happened, bear in mind that we were both sort of punch-drunk and excited and were, as we always are, a little bit insane. So Tara introduces Jeanette and says, “Jeanette’s biggest fan is here tonight…” and K rises halfway out of her seat and yells “THAT’S ME!” Everyone turns and stares at her, and Tara finishes her sentence. “Tonight… (That’s me!)… her mom.”. Jeanette starts laughing up on stage along with the rest of the Juniors, and so does the audience. To be fair I don't think Jeanette was really laughing on purpose. It was just not very easy not to laugh. Hahaha :D K sinks very low in her seat and tries to not look at anyone but me – especially not at Sarah, who’s trying very hard not to laugh at K but who’s failing miserably. That was horrible. Oh god. And also Tara looks at me as she says that.. What am I supposed to think? Well maybe Tara was trying to secretly tell you in her head "Keep quiet weird poster girl I'm not talking about you." Oh. Funny. Very witty, J. Hahaha, but that definitely gave you quite the laugh. Of course it did!! The entire ROOM was laughing at you! Thanks, J. Thanks again. Did I say at? I meant with! The whole room was laughing with you! Haha :) The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventfully, with speeches from the seniors – Jayne gained much admiration in our eyes for toughing out the speech even though she cried a little bit multiple times. Add that to our admiration of her for toughing out the game against the School-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named with a stress fracture in her foot and she’s got two pretty big fans!

Editors note-
Did either of you ever go to the Stanford Basketball Camp and get the “thing Jeanette had for you???? Inquiring minds (and our fans) want to know.

Stanford Awards Ceremony Part I

OMG, the Stanford Women’s Basketball end of the year banquet was yesterday, and although C and R couldn’t be there, bummer of bummers, our intrepid NOF (number one fan) could (and she plugged our blog to Nneka Ogwumike! When we get T-shirts made, we are giving her a free one!). Here is her report, edited by us, which means lots of typos, with C and R’s (unnecessary and obtrusive) comments in parenthesis.

Hi, C and R,

I wish you could have come to the banquet (us too!), it was a lot of fun. There were somewhere between 250 and 300 people there, fans, players, staff --which is extensive, including bus driver and Jimmy V--, family. It's very different seeing everyone out of uniform - players in mufti, fans dressed up - only Tara looks the same in her suits.

We chatted with people we recognized and stared at the players as they arrived. They look so different dressed up and with their hair down!! Jayne was there and looked great in sweater and jeans. Jeanette arrived in a short, tight skirt and what seemed like six inch heels. Kayla looked lovely, and much more slender--and somehow taller!-- than I expected in a tee shirt and skirt with sandals. Hannah had a very tight, short black dress and long scarf. It was interesting to see what they each chose to wear. JJ was on crutches but still looking fab in short skirt and tank top..... (okay, we don’t want to be one of those blogs that concentrates on women’s fashions when it comes to women athletes, but we love visualizing what these young women choose to wear when not in uniform, so there, it’s appropriate).

So we gawked at people, but only talked with other fans prior to the dinner starting. But we had paid EXTRA to sit at a table with a player, so were kind of excited to see who that would be when we went in to the main dining room. Amazing!!! We were at Nneka's table!! (AHHHGH, you’re killin’ us!!) It was incredible. She looked great in a gray top, short, full black skirt and lots of silver necklaces. She was charming and gracious to everyone at the table, none of whom she had previously met (OMG, we think she is amazing and no wonder we love her so much!!). We rotated people around during the different courses so everyone would get a chance to sit next to her, I felt like a really amateur stalker (good girl) because when my turn came I only had silly questions about her courses, plans for the summer, etc. She had an allergic reaction to something in the salad, so had to go off in search of allergy medicine and couldn't eat any more of the meal, and boy, was she a good sport about all of that, even though her stomach was hurting and she couldn't swallow... (we suspect the pinenuts). BTW, I did ask if she read your blog (good girl again). She said no,(ECK!) she hadn't heard of it, but sounded interested... (Hee hee, a big C and R shout out to you, Nneka, if your there, look at the archives for this year because we think you are in every post, we also think you are great and we are the stalkers who with our little girl’s team got your autograph many times this year!)

Tara did a very nice job with all the thank yous, introductions and commentaries about each member of the team. She told us she was worried about being emotional because she choked up writing her notes, but she toughed it out in the event. It was very moving when she thanked the three seniors--JJ and Mel came up with the Juniors to be introduced, so they are definitely coming back (YES!). Tara said that in her thirty plus years of coaching, the best gift she ever got from a player came from Michelle Harrison, and she brought it to show us. It was a picture Michelle drew of Tara's dog, Scout, a thirteen year old golden retriever. It was a great picture and it obviously means a lot to Tara. She told about how exciting it was when Jayne accepted and how she could remember it so clearly she knew what she was wearing that day. She also told the very cute story of Jayne asking her to keep it secret because Jayne wanted her dad to find out where she was going when he read it in the papers--those Appels are jokers!. Tara was also very effusive about Ros and what an awesome defensive player she is. She went through game by game, how Ros stopped the top scorers. The three seniors each spoke and I cried when Jayne talked--like at least half the room (BAWHAHA, please pass the tissues, C and R are bawling right now just imaging it).

This year they did not do individual awards because they felt it was a total team effort (Wow, cool!). But the team did vote for the famous and historic Lizard Lung award, which went to Hannah Donague, the first time it ever went to an upper classman. Sarah Boothe told about when they were getting ready to go to Italy, and they were all reminded what they needed to bring, including a passport, and Hannah was confused because she thought they needed a different passport for each country they were going to... And when they went to play in Washington, Hannah asked what time zone it was in... And, three months after the fact, Hannah had no idea what was going on with Tiger Woods... Sounded like there was a lot more to the award, actually, the team was clearly all in support of this...

And they showed a highlights video. It was nice. But kind of sad too. God, we'll miss Jayne. And Ros. But Jayne... (Jayne!) But Sarah will be back. And we're gonna have a great team. And lots of people will step up... Oh, well, back to the off season.

Hope you guys are well. Take care. See you in November at the first game.
Cheers. –SA
(NOF)

This weekend, we here from our junior bloggers how the awards ceremony went from their eighth-grade point of view. They first had to have a sleepover to write it, gosh, isn’t that cute!

Stanford’s Elite Eight Win

Zero Seconds After the Game Ended:
Are you kidding me?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!!

Ten Seconds After the Game Ended:
Jeanette Pohlen just wrote herself into the Stanford History Books!

Four Seconds Before the Game Ended:
C pulls out her automatic external defibrillator and shocks R’s heart back to working. Apparently it stopped when there were about 12 seconds left and C and R watched in horror as not one but two, two wide-open Xavier shots right under the basket missed their mark. Two shots, two lay up shots with the game tied 53-53 with about 12 seconds left missed by Stanford’s Sweet Sixteen’s opponent Xavier. Two shots missed by the same Xavier player, Dee Dee Jernigan, who was on the block wide open, for goodness sakes. The basketball gods were with Stanford and the medical gods were with R as she recovered to watch Jeanette Pohlen race the floor and make that incredible shot.

Twenty Seven Seconds Before the Game Ended:
Kayla Pedersen, with ice in her veins, hits a jumper at the top of the free throw line to TIE it at 53 each. Stanford was actually losing at that time. In fact, C and R can’t remember Stanford being down in the second half all season long, except for our one loss at UConn. All the stats about that game don’t apply. Stanford hadn’t played in a close game all season long. Stanford hadn’t lost by more than 8, the announcer said, all season long.

Time Out with Four Seconds Before the Game Ended:
After Xavier missed those two shots, Kayla Pedersen grabbed the rebound and called timeout. Kayla had been our stalwart all night. She scored 18 points, including the shot to tie it at 53, and grabbed 10 boards. None bigger than the one after TWO misses by Xavier that would have won the game. She was a huge presence on defense and made smart plays all game long. Kudos to JJ Hones for her help on defense against their big trees.

Four Seconds Before the Game Ended:
Kayla Pedersen inbounds the ball to Jeanette Pohlen. All other Stanford players stay in the backcourt so the Xavier defenders stay back there, too. No one is guarding the basket. The Xavier player on Jeanette is their small guard so there is a mismatch. Jeanette streaks up the sidelines and C and R are worried they can trap here there but the second Xavier defender plays off in case she passes. Jeannette keeps going for broke, C and R think she is going to pull up for a jumper and the Xavier player must have thought so too, so is not on her tightly. The Xavier defenders are starting to catch on she is not going to pass and are frantically trying to react to Pohlen now, but she is out in front of them. Jeannette keeps going all the way to the basket and is only one-on-one, her against the smaller guard, and scoops it with 0.1 seconds left. The ball kisses the glass and bounces around the rim before falling in to win the game with no time left! Stanford wins 55-53.

Are you kidding me?!

So in that time out, did head coach Tara VanDerveer draw up that incredible play or was it all Jeanette Pohlen’s idea? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fifteen Seconds After the Game Ended:
C and R tivo and re-tivo, to review the play. At first C was not sure Pohlen got it off in time, but upon further review, yes indeed she got it off. Incredible! That basket was her only one in the second half. She had one basket in the first half around the 16 and a half minute mark in the FIRST HALF! (C and R feel like screaming so we are typing all caps a lot! Sorry.)

Twenty Minutes Before the Game Ended:
(We know, the jerking around of time is making us a little nauseous, too. Bear with us.) Stanford just shot 25% in the first half, a season low. Stanford also made 24 points in the first half, which tied a season low (Stanford also had 24 against Utah and Fresno State). The reason? We think playing against two players 6’6 and 6’5 had a lot to do with it. They made us miss and even alter our shots, ala Britteny Griner (although they played better than Griner at 6’8-- the Baylor game was ugly to watch and Brittney is inconsistent.) They especially gave Nneka Ogwumike fits on her shot down low, although she would still finish with 16 points. Also, Xavier played a one-three-one half court defense against us, and C and R don’t remember that defense on us all year. It put their big, athletic center at the free throw line to stop things forward and back and really matched up well against our triangle offense.

Thirty-Seven Minutes Before the Game Ended:
ESPN finally tunes into the Stanford game with 3 minutes already gone because they had to stay with the other game and show Kim Mulky crying because her Baylor team knocked off Duke even though they played poorly and did not deserve to win that game. By the time we get to Stanford, the score is tied 4-4 and Nneka Ogwumike has all of Stanford’s points. Then she makes a free throw to have all 5 of Stanford’s points.

Seven and A Half Minutes Before the Game Ended:
Tara finally adjusts to the one-three-one half court defense and puts two trees down low instead of one, and Nneka and Kayla could work against their one player guarding the basket for a score. Tara is the best at making second half adjustments.

Six Minutes Before the Game Ended:
C refills the pretzel and salt and vinegar potato chip bowls. C and R in their anxiety have eaten every salty snack in the house.

Five minutes and 32 seconds Before the Game Ended:
Xavier center Ta’Shia Phillips fouls out. Good Call refs!

Five minutes Before the Game Ended:
How ‘bout that block by Ros Gold-Onwude?

Four Minutes Before the Game Ended:
Stanford center Jayne Appel fouls out. Bad Call ref! Well, at least the refs called the game consistently tight the whole 40 minutes. It was only Jayne’s second time fouling out all season. She would finish with eight points and for four excruciating minutes had to wonder if this was her last game in a Stanford uniform. And seriously, wasn’t that fifth call a bad call? She laid her hands on the other player’s back. Strange call.

One Minute and Ten Seconds Before the Game Ended:
Our Big Freshman, Joslyn Tinkle, makes the basket of her young life to tie it at 51. It would be the only points of the game for her. We shook the tinkle bells.

One Minute Before the Game Ended:
C pauses live TV to make a potty break. At first C and R were bummed they couldn’t be there live in Sacramento to see the game, but then they were able to show their own replays and dissect and discuss the game at great length by pausing and rewinding the game. Kinda cool. Plus both of us said a few swear words and the fans at Arco might not have liked to been around us, and maybe would have stuck their fingers in their ears and that of their children.

Four Seconds Before the Game Ended:
Jeannette Pohlen drives the length of the floor and lays the ball in to win the game… oh yeah, we already told you that. C and R’s adrenaline level is just now coming down. Stanford plays the winner of, oh we don’t know or care, we made it to the Final Four. See ya Easter Sunday!

More Stanford Final Four Madness at the original C and R's Stanford Women's Basketball Blog

Junior Bloggers

Well now, to continue C and R’s vacation from blogging (SUCH hard work), we are opening up the spotlight on two junior bloggers, J and K (and their friends, L, M, N, O, P—sorry, just a little punchy, lack of sleep and all). No, these junior bloggers are, like, well, um, okay, like, see, dude, and, facebook and stuff.
No really, these two could be C and R incarnate with their stalking abilities, except they are waaaaay smarter and more articulate than C and R ever were, or shall be. And they make less typos. These two blogger/stalkers have lived in Palo Alto their while lives. Here, let them tell it… you could call us Palo Altans. We've both lived in Palo Alto our whole life, and we've both been playing ball as long as we can remember. But because we're from Palo Alto, which is home to Stanford grads, their families, and really high-achieving schools, we're both like Stanford academia-maniac JJ Hones and, as Nneka Ogwumike puts it, we both have to put the 'stud' in studious.

They come to every home game their schedule allows, provided they don’t have practice or homework or have to clean their rooms. As they like to say about each other, they are the two crazy fans on opposite sides of the stadium holding reversible posters and texting each other from across the stadium like all good teenagers ;)

See, they are always writing those texting symbols- we don’t even know what these symbols mean, and we can’t tilt our heads sideways or else some brain cells might fall out—C

So here is what J wrote about some recent “fan encounters”, with comments from K in Red and more comments from J in Blue, if C can program the text correctly. I think J gets extra credit at school for being a “published writer”. And we love that they fight/argue just like C and R! (At first C and R thought they should edit their account, but what the heck, no one edits us-so enjoy)

About those fan encounters: K and I were at the game on Senior Night and we were holding up posters. Mine said "Rosalyn #21" and K's said "Jeanette #23". Rosalyn was Pac-10 Player of the Week and they announced it during a time-out, so I dutifully held up my Ros poster. Much to my surprise, I got on camera! The JumboTron zoomed in on the poster :D After they'd finished, I pointed across the stadium towards K, and then K (and her poster) got on the JumboTron as well! Okay, okay, okay. Hold up. This whole first paragraph is about ROS. Hahaha. 'Cause she rocks. Hahaha. We need to be a little more diverse; maybe throw in a little Jeanette? Just sayin'. *Sigh* And then someone - maybe Ashley? or Hannah? Someone like that pretty much slapped Jeanette and pointed up to the JumboTron. She looked up and went BRIGHT red. It was very funny :) Before that, after the whole starting line-up thing, Ros was jogging back toward the bench and someone (Michelle or Ashley or someone) nudged her and said something. She looked up and grinned at me holding up the poster and beaming like I'd swallowed an LED or something! Then, with about 30 seconds left in the game, we went down to behind the players' bench and started screaming like crazy. When everyone jogged around with the victory balls, I was screaming "ROS! ROS! ROS! ROS!" and K was screaming for Jeanette. Ros was out of victory balls when she saw us, but she jogged over and high-fived me. Of course, that miracle shut both of us up for a minute... but only for a minute! We then commenced screaming for Jeanette so K could get a high five, but Jeanette didn't come over. She did, however, look at K, grin, and do the two-finger-guns salute. K was shaking, and then she started shaking me and yelling "She saw! She smiled! She saw! She smiled!" over and over and over... and over... and over.... LOL Jeanette TOTALLY did smile and wave (and blush I might add) and it was freaking AWESOME. Don't make fun of me :) Yeah, she looked pretty embarrassed. Good job, K! Embarrassing Stanford teammates like any good fan! Haha jk; I think you made her day ;)

We, overly emotional teenagers, nearly started crying during the Senior Tribute, and compromised by whispering "I'm gonna cry!" to each other when the seniors were talking and taking the pictures. After the big thing on court, we followed them down to Arrillaga Family Sports Center - Hahahaha remember when Jeanette walked in, me being me, I gasped really loud and everybody within a 5 foot radius turned around and looked - - Oh yeah, that was funny. And we were right near Kate Paye and Bobbie Kelsey and they looked at us and sorta fought back smiles - where the seniors talked for a while. They were telling really funny stories, so K and I kept whispering "That's a knee-slapper" and slapping each other's thighs and then howling with laughter [very quietly so we wouldn't be disruptive, ;) ;) ] And also during the speeches when Michelle went "and thanks to all my fans" she looked at us and smiled because she remembered us. :) Oh yeah, we had met her before after we won our championship game because one of our teammates goes to the same church as her. We love our perks, haha!

After, I dragged K to go get Ros' signature, and we waited as she talked to some people (I think she knew them... so we automatically demoted ourselves to last place in line). When she finally saw us (holding the posters) she smiled and said, "Thanks for the support, guys!" When I asked for her signature on the poster (and pulled out a classic red Sharpie), she grinned and said, "Of course! You know, I saw that poster right before the game. I looked up and smiled; did you see?" after she had signed it and we had pictures taken with her. I said "Yes!" and K muttered, "Of course she did. Why else would she have texted me the whole game???" Ros must have heard her, because she sort of smiled and was trying not to laugh when she was saved by some other people she knew. We actually kinda had a conversation with Ros. She asked our names and stuff. Jeanette not as much, but there's still hope. Yeah, she asked if we played, and we said yeah, and that we love her because she's proving that there can be fabulous players under 6 ft., haha :)

K and I wandered out of the Center, K annoyed she hadn't seen Jeanette and I mortified that K had said that to Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, whom K knows is my idol! J embarrassed me in front of Jeanette too....! K kept going, "You made me miss Jeanette! You made me miss Jeanette!" and I kept apologizing as we walked out. I then grabbed K's arm and said "Dude... we just walked past Jeanette!" K half-screamed "REALLY?!?!?!?" and ran back inside. Sure enough, she was there, and K stood - well, more 'bounced' really - in line and then asked Jeanette for her signature and a picture. She signed K's poster - I was too embarrassed to ask Jeanette to sign a Ros poster, and besides she's 6" and her height is intimidating - and we both got pictures with her. Okay, here's where I might have kinda-sorta-maybe gotten my revenge on K by embarrassing her... Jeanette: Where do you want me to sign it?? Me: Umm, yeah thats cool you can pick. Haha, anywhere? Jeanette: Oh, okay. Me: *bounces up and down* J: K's gonna take this home and hang it up on her wall forever. Okay, it was funny. Ros got a laugh at my expense and Jeanette got a laugh at your expense. We're even. Haha ;) When K and I finally did get out of the Sports Center, K screamed "SHE SIGNED MY POSTER!!!!" and commenced dancing wildly in front of tons of people. Oh yeah, and as I'm dancing Jayne runs out, looks at me weird, then runs to Maples. OH LORD. Hahahahahaha :) It was funny though! She dragged me along with her, so I danced, very embarrassed - I mean, what if Ros had run out or something??That would've been even more mortifying - and laughed at her ecstasy. It was definitely the highlight of our month.

Now, I know K's going to comment here, so I'll keep it short. The next day my parents and I went to a popular restaurant at about nine am because I figured 1) the players and their families would probably be there after Senior Night and 2) hopefully college students would be out and about by then. We sort of know the manager, so we asked him if he knew if any players were coming. He said yes, that Lindy, her mom, her dad, and her grandmother were coming for her grandmother's birthday, and asked if I was blind because Jeanette Pohlen was sitting right there. Trust me, if her face wasn't so defined, I would never have recognized her. I'm sure K would have - yes, I would've - but I nearly didn't!! I was too shy to ask for her autograph, since I had just seen her last night, so I just watched in awe as she walked past after she had finished breakfast with her parents on her way out of the restaurant. My parents and I sat down, and who should come (after I'd anxiously watched the door for ages!) but Lindy LaRocque.

After much anxiousness on my part I went and asked for her autograph, which she did graciously and talked for a minute or two. She's actually pretty witty! I stammered a "Thank you", told her that we loved her threes and her awesome slide-and-steal against Cal last year on Candice's birthday, and departed. I then forced my dad to switch places with me so I wouldn't be in Lindy's line of vision. (What? I was embarrassed!) When we were leaving, Lindy waved and said "I'll see you at the next game!" Apparently, I went a lovely shade of magenta, and I said, "Yeah, of course," and rushed out. I was starstruck. Hahaha!!! And then I get a text from K saying that I was awful for getting her autograph without her, which is hardly fair because I did ask K if she could come. Okay, that actually wasn't fair AT ALL that you got to meet Lindy. I had a semi-final basketball game. I'm sorry! Hahaha :) Yeah, you should be sorry. Haha jk, jk. But I was so shy! I'm never shy! If I had had a partner in crime it would have been so much easier ;) We are on the prowl for any more possible celebrity sightings, and are planning on invading the many nail salons in town sometime soon, because we always see Jayne and Jeanette with nail polish on. We are also planning to stalk that restaurant, and we'll be down behind the bench at the end of Saturday's game, hoping for a high five or a red victory ball!

~ J & K, junior bloggers