Pitching Our Way Back into the Olympics

Today's blog is a guest post from high school student Lydia Dunbar. She had a high school assignment to write about something important to her. She chose softball, specifically why it should be brought back to the Olympics. And unlike C and R, she even provides the links at the end where she got stuff. And unlike C and R again, she actually edited it carefully and there are NO typos! Such a change of pace! And really unlike C and R, she listens to All Things Considered on low volume instead of watching reality TV.

Okay, here's more from Lydia.

"The reason I wrote an article about softball in the Olympics and why it should be reinstated is because softball is a topic that is very important to me. I have been playing since I was six years old (I am seventeen now) and I remember how exciting it was to watch the USA Olympic team execute perfect plays in the infield and make spectacular throws from the outfield. I just think that Olympic softball players provide an inspiration for younger girls to become better softball players. Jennie Finch, the starting Olympic pitcher, is a phenomenal player and I remember when I was growing up I really wanted to pitch like her. I don't pitch anymore, but I still love watching how fast she throws the ball."

After removing all her nice MLA formatting, here is her article in its entirety:

Pitching Our Way Back into the Olympics

Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman are two of the best pitchers on the United States Olympic softball team. Of course that was not always the case. Like many other celebrities, they grew into fame by becoming increasingly better athletes. These two women inspire many people by their admirable dedication to the sport of softball and how they represented their country when softball was an Olympic sport. For that reason, softball should be reinstated back into the Olympics because it provides opportunities for females, life lessons, and an occasion for equality in the Olympics.

Softball, which was an Olympic sport from 1996 to 2008, was full of the best athletes during its time in the Olympics. The US team for example, won the Gold Medal every year except when Japan won Gold in the 2008 Olympics. The dedication these women put into the sport is admired by many young girls who dream of playing the sport as well. It gives girls and women opportunities to participate in a sport they love and want to compete professionally. In some countries such as Afghanistan where female inclusion is less common, softball “has been instrumental in allowing women and girls to play a sport in some of the most restricted countries” (Zinser). Without softball in the Olympics, there is less inspiration spreading to younger generations of girls who dream of playing professionally. Softball in the Olympics has been proven to be motivation for thousands of girls to participate in the sport, therefore it should be returned to the Olympics.

Like any other sport, softball requires good sportsmanship, teamwork, and dedication. The US Olympic softball team is full of athletes who exemplify these qualities. The coach of the US Olympic softball team drilled into the athletes’ heads that they were going to dominate. “That’s all we were going to do is dominate. And that’s what we did” Crystal Bustos says in an interview on All Things Considered. The fact that the US team had the determination to win the Gold every year from 1996 to 2008 is admirable, and lots of girls and women look up to the “dream team” of the Olympic Sport. Softball is an inspirational sport for many athletes determined to play for their country.

Softball and baseball are two very similar sports with just a few differences. Both were in the Olympics at some point in time, which offered an opportunity for minor league athletes of both genders to play in a world event. If for instance the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to put only one of the two sports back into the games, that would draw back from gender equality, which is one of the focuses of the IOC, according to Kelly Whiteside in her  article Why 3 Key Sports Will (or Won’t) Make Games. By having one sport, baseball or softball, reinstated back into the Olympics, that would draw attention to the lack of the other one. If that is the case, the IOC should strive to reestablish both sports to the 2020 Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games consist of sports that do not seem as popular as the American past time. There is synchronized swimming which does not seem nearly as well-liked as Softball. Other female sports, such as tennis, gymnastics, track and field, volleyball, and more are a big deal for girls and teenagers who dream of representing their country. People love watching these sports because they are a competition of the best female athletes. Whether it is a team sport or individual, it is still an exciting event, therefore softball, a team sport, should be put back into the Olympics because it is another one of those sports that is exciting to watch and aspire to be.

In conclusion, softball should be added back into the Olympics because it is inspiration for athletes to try to play and represent their country in a world event. Softball is a sport that motivates women and girls to participate in extracurricular activities, and it strives for gender equality and teaches people life lessons. One way for the IOC to see the impact of such sport in the Olympics is provide programs for children to work on their skills and encourage them to continue to their best of ability.

-Lydia Dunbar

Bio
My name is Lydia Dunbar, I am a high school junior. I am currently enrolled in AP English 11 which focuses on the English language. I do enjoy English very much, but my favorite class is science. I enjoyed writing this article because it is a topic very close to my heart. When I was younger, I wanted to be an Olympic softball player and I always admired Jennie Finch, the starting pitcher for the United States Olympic team. I hope people are inspired by my article to see the importance of reinstating softball back into the Olympics.

Works Cited
"Baseball, Softball Still Taking Swings for 2020 Olympics." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/2014/05/31/Baseball-softball-still-taking-swings-for-2020-Olympics/stories/201405310115

Baseball Softball Hopeful of Reinstatement to Olympics." FOX Sports. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/baseball-softball-hopeful-of-reinstatement-to-olympics-012314


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Reachup With Brandi Chastain in Celebrity Soccer Game in San Jose

Hey Bay Area Women’s Soccer fans, mark your calendars for September 22, 2012, for Soccer Legend Brandi Chastain’s All-Star Celebrity Soccer match for charity and post game Radio Disney Concert at San Jose Municipal Stadium (home of the minor league baseball team the San Jose Giants) in San Jose. Akin to the retirement party Brandi threw for herself in the fall of 2010, Brandi has asked her friends to come play soccer and raise some money for her Reachup! Foundation.

And what friends Brandi has. Scheduled to come are Soccer legends Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Tisha Venturini Hoch and Leslie Osborne. Other non-soccer players scheduled to attend are Kristi Yamaguchi and her husband, some guy named Bret Hadican. Think he skates or somethin’ (just teasing you Bret and Kristi, Bret Hedican played over 100 games in the NHL for various teams and is now does NHL analyst for the San Jose Sharks).

Also scheduled to come are: Joe Nedney (San Francisco 49ers kicker), Kristy Leskinen (skier), Leanne Pelosi (snowboarding) Mike Ricci (also NHL hockey) and a former Stanford volleyball player and Olympian by the name of Ogonna Nneka Nnamani, currently studying to be a doctor, and you know we love anyone named Nneka!

Other soccer women include: Sissi (Brazil soccer superstar, must be if she has one name), Meagan McCray (soccer), Meghan Maiwald (deaf soccer goalie), Veronica Zepada Cashman (soccer), Carrie Dew (soccer), and Lisa Nanez (soccer and Middle School Directory, so if anyone can order you around, it will be her).

And you can’t have great soccer players without some coaches, although these guys get to put their money where their mouths are, as they have to play. Scheduled to appear are Paul Ratciliffe, (Stanford Women’s Soccer Head Coach and defending National Champs, and I know his mom, so if her gets out of line, I’m tellin’), Jeff Leightman, (San Jose State Women’s head soccer coach) and Neil McGuire (Cal Berkeley Women’s head soccer coach). Sissi also coaches, but C and R still think of her as the great player she was.

You can find more info and bios on these great people here: Although the link worked on my newer laptop, it would not on my older desk top, so good luck.

About Brandi Chastaisn Reach up Foundatoin, formed with business partner Joan Oloof, from the press release:
“What Dr. Oloff and I have come to realize is how young girls continue to crave inspiration and connections with mentors. The ReachuP! Foundation was created to provide a community where young girls can be inspired, empowered and challenged to reach beyond what they feel their limitations may be,” said Chastain. Proceeds from the all star match will support the ReachuP! Foundation. We produce content and programs that encourage girls to develop the skills necessary to make healthy lifestyle choices, become true champions and challenge young girls to reach for their dreams. The all star match will also support like-minded organizations in the local community.

A new wrinkle will be an after game concert, hosted by Radio Disney. From the press release:
Radio Disney AM 1310 will be on-site with interactive entertainment and Radio Disney’s Ultimate Field Day activities encouraging kids and families to be active through a variety of organized, recreational activities including Soccer Goal Kick Stations, Miniature Golf Put-Put Holes, Jump Rope Village and more. Radio Disney AM 1310 will culminate the day of fun starting at 5:45 p.m. with on-stage entertainment from the Radio Disney AM 1310 Road Crew. Then, at 6:45 p.m., popular Radio Disney artists will take the stage for performances and Q&A sessions. Damian Otchere from the popular musical talent competition “N.B.T.” (Next BIG Thing) will take the stage first followed by a headline performance by singer, actor, dancer, songwriter and star of Disney Channel’s “Good Luck Charlie.” Shane Harper. (And what are they going to do when that baby starts getting older in "Good Luck Charlie"?).

The timeline goes something like this (Still a little unclear):
Noon to 2 PM, free on Ultimate field events (the Disney thing?)
Brandi Chastain will host a soccer clinic-taking place at the stadium from 2:00 – 3:00 PM.  Participation in the clinic requires separate tickets which cost $50, and can be purchased at www.reachupworld.com.
Then soccer game at 4 PM (Time is a little unclear).
5:45 PM starts on-stage entertainment from the Radio Disney AM 1310 Road Crew.
6:45 PM, popular Radio Disney artists will take the stage for performances and Q & A.
Will pass on more info as we find out. If you are in the Bay Area, come on out.

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Olympic Hang Over

Now that the Olympics are over and there’s been some time to digest, I feel a little disappointed about the Olympics. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to be proud of if you follow American women sports.

What has C and R so rankled was NBC and their coverage. Their choice to not show events live really dampened the experience that we were all watching together. Isn’t the Olympics supposed to be a global experience? When we started watching previous Olympics years before the Internet, the events were not broadcast live, but we didn’t have any outlet to get advanced results. Now with the Internet and social media in particular, you could know the results before they happened. Yes, one could stay off the Internet, but the fact they showed the East Coast the events first and then the West Coast later made it really maddening. Couldn’t the USA at least share in the experience like Monday night Football shown in all time zones at once? Plus the “Prime Time” viewing of 8 PM to 12 Midnight made for bleary-eyed hours the next day at work. Couldn’t NBC have cut their crappy syndicated reruns at 7 PM and let us go to bed at 11? And…and, the coverage was so scant for most events. Pole vaulting and long jump maybe got 10 minutes each. Plus, each extended moment was sliced and packaged with commercials at just the right spot to draw out the “drama”, that it made us sick. Sports do not need any more help with drama from you, NBC, thank you very much. Let them run as they unfold.

Don’t get us wrong and paint us as a Gloomy Gus, there was a lot to cheer about, such as:

American women outnumber their male counterparts for the first time in like, forever, and out-medalled them, too, winning 59 medals, 29 of them gold to US men’s 45 overall, 17 Golds. If the America women were their own country they would have come in third on Gold globally, and fifth overall for medals.

And it is not just the statistics, it’s the way they dominated. Women’s gymnasts, track and field, and swimmers were outstanding. Women’s Soccer gave us thrilling come-from-behind wins and avengied their World Cup loss to Japan. US Women won a water polo Gold for the first time ever, behind a 19 year old who has yet to play in college!! (Maggie Steffans, and yeah, she’s going to Stanford!). Women’s basketball won a record fifth-straight Gold Medal, something never before accomplished by any women team sports in the Olympics. Women’s beach volleyball, a team of two, and the same two, Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh, won three Golds in a row. Do you know how hard that is to stay on top for 12 years?

Women got to participate in the sport of Boxing for the first time in the Olympics, yay! C and R hate boxing as a sport as the winner is the one who inflicts more physical punishing and bruising of their opponent. What other sport can claim that? Boo. Plus the building evidence that it greatly contributes to later brain damage of the participating athletes men or women, further makes us not be able to get behind the sport.

At first it was announced that for the first time ever, all attending nations were sending women athletes. Then it turns out after the Olympics that tiny Nauru did not, so much for that hyperbole. But, everyone else will point out, international pressure got Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei to send women for the first time. Yay! They had to wear heavy attire that covered their whole bodies and heads, could not walk unescorted without a male escort and could not talk to other men. This is progress? By “allowing” these women athletes, these countries want you to forget that women back home are heavily oppressed, and in Saudi Arabia, women cannot drive, walk freely, or legally exercise, let alone play on sports teams. Boo. Think about that as you grab your ball and water bottle and head out in your shorts and tank top to go do your sport.

Saudi Arabia in particular did not support, nor want, or even acknowledge their two women athletes, one who was an American college track athlete, Sarah Attar. Attar runs track for Pepperdine University in California. It really galls C and R that when Saudi Arabia announced Sarah Attar as one of their athletes, at the same time the International Olympic Committee pressured Pepperdine to take photos of Attar competing in shorts and tank top off of their school website. Why did they give in? This is America, not Saudi Arabia? It’s okay to show your skin here.

It was reported the Saudi Arabian women received death threats from their own countrymen, and a twitter hashtag described the two athletes as “Prostitutes of the Olympics.” Other Internet articles stated that the hard-line clerics of that country are more resolved than ever to keep women from participating in sports, and have effectively made things worse (don’t know how much worse it can get). Still, the flip side of the coin is "every step forward counts,” says one Saudi journalist.

So it was a bit of a mixed bag for C and R to “watch” heavily edited, taped-delayed, prepackaged, heavily commercialized, pro-American Olympic events, even if it usually resulted in an American woman getting a medal draped around her neck.

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Women’s Basketball Go Undefeated to Win Gold Medal at World University Games

Summer is not traditionally women’s basketball time, but the World University Games held in Shenzhen China this August gave us some basketball sunshine. The World University Games host a variety of sports and are held every other year. The women’s basketball team, made up of college all stars including Stanford’s very own Nneka And Chiney Ogwumike, went undefeated. In the Gold Medal game, they beat Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) by a score of 101 to 66.

Nneka certainly saved the best for last, scoring 24 points to lead all scores and added 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Chiney chipped in 10 points and 6 rebounds. It was Nneka’s third USA Basketball Gold Medal, having won gold at the U19 World Championships in 2009 and the U18 FIBA Americas Championship game in 2008. Little sis Chiney has two USA Basketball Gold Medals, this one and the one she earned at the U18 Americas Championship game in 2010.



Here’s what USA coach Bill Fennelly had to say about Nneka, culled from the USA Basketball site, along with all photos:

“We wanted to go to Nneka (Ogwumike) early and often, and we did,” said Bill Fennelly, USA World University Games Team and Iowa State University head coach. “I think (tonight’s game) was even better than the game she played two years ago (in the U19 World Championship gold medal game). I think that says a lot about her, not just her talent, but her commitment and focus. You want your best players to step up at the biggest times, and a gold medal game is a good time to step up and do the things you can do.”

It certainly helped that Team USA had a distinct height advantage over their opponent. Taiwan averages 5’9 and USA over six feet at 6’1. They kept throwing it inside, mostly to Nneka and Team USA outscored them 62-22 in the paint.

What motivated Nneka in this game? Listen (or read for yourself, from USA Basketball):
“Yesterday against Australia, I was in a lot of foul trouble, but my teammates held it down. Today I wanted to redeem myself and let them understand that they can lean on me. I just really wanted to play hard. Play for four quarters and to win the gold medal.”

Nneka was also asked what it was like to play with her sister. She said to play on team USA and win a Gold Medal with her sister “was great.” We know what you mean. See both of you back in the US and in the Fall.

No Guarantees in Life…

In sports, nothing is certain. Just ask the United States Women’s National Soccer Team, fresh off losing the Women’s World Cup (or winning the silver medal, take your half of glass). Or just ask the Brazilian Women’s National Soccer Team, who lost to the United States in overtime-penalty kicks in the semi-finals, after Brazil lead for 122 minutes.

So we were looking forward to seeing the Summer SF Pro Am championships this coming weekend, secure that the “Stanford-lite” team would be there. First they had a play-off game the week before, and what with injuries, one star shooter out of town (Tinkle went to Vegas), overtime and players fouling out left and right and playing with four, and bada bing bada boom, Stanford is out of the championship game (See Judy Richter’s account). Dare we say shades of last year? No we don’t dare because this game had completely different set of circumstances.

So back to our original premise, in sports, nothing is certain. When the US Women’s National Team lost such a roller coaster, overtime-penalty kick game in the World Cup Finals, Stanford Women’s Basketball player Nneka Ogumike posted on her Twitter account “Those women battled hard. It's not over and it's not done, but this fight was worth the run. I know the feeling.” Apt words from someone who felt their pain. (You know we would bring up social media sooner of later, what with our adolescent infatuation with all things Twitter or Facebook).

So even though Stanford was a perennial top 5 team last year, there are no guarantees for the upcoming season. Stanford fans have gotten used to the Cardinal having their way in the Pac-10, oh excuse me Pac-12, that it could be a year of ups and downs. Preseason polls have been non-existent, we think all the sports writers are still recovering from Women’s World Cup Fever, but at the end of last year, everyone was touting Baylor and barely had Stanford in the top ten. We’ll see how that shakes out in the fall. But with a huge crop of rookies for Stanford (six) we are not so sure of things as in past years. And that’s exactly why we follow sports. Nothing is certain, nothing is guaranteed, but we love watching talented, hard-working athletes try their hardest.

Tweetering, We Mean Teetering on the Brink of a Championship

C and R are so excited, we can hardly stand it. Tomorrow the United States Women’s National Soccer Team plays in the Women’s World Cup final against sweetheart Japan. Never mind that the whole world is supporting the plucky Japanese team that are playing for their country after a devastating earthquake and Tsunami and the Americans are being viewed as big bullies, we are still rooting for Team USA.

And the coverage! Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we barely get any mention of the two professional women’s leagues, the WNBA and the Women’s Professional Soccer league. Heck, the WNBA just released their All Star Lineups and our paper didn’t even mention it at all.

But a USA Team in a final is a USA Team in a final, and the late bandwagon jumper-on-ers are out in full force, thank you very much NY Times. But what’s been fun for C and R has been the social media we just became a part of (talk about being in the right place at the right time). Facebook has been kinda tame with straight reporting of news-type articles. So it’s been Twitter where the excitement is!

It’s so funny, because when we joined Facebook and Twitter (@StanfordWBBBlog), we thought Twitter was pointless, 140 characters at a time. But it turns out people (and athletes we like to follow) feel freer to express quirky and humorous thoughts. And the best part is we can tailor what we see on Twitter to our tastes. Take that mainstream media. We like sports, men’s and women’s don’t get us wrong. We just didn’t want to fall into a rut be following the traditional mainstream media outlets that ignore women’s sports most of the time. ESPN and Sportscenter? Nope, not following you on Twitter. EspnW and US Women’s National Team? Sign us up.

Tall Abby Wambach with her awesome headers joined Twitter today and in five hours had over 13,500 followers and counting. Wow, it was like watching the National Debt counter roll up and up. And then people got cute. We are also following Abby Wambach’s head (not affiliated or endorsed by the real Abby Wambach you understand, just someone’s idea of a lark, and Fun-nay!). This lead to discovering not one, but two people tweeting as Megan Rapinoe’s hair. They had us lmao, well, laughing anyway. Then there’s Amy LePeilbet’s headband, jealous of her hair. Silly, funny, playful. And tailor-made for us. Yes, we’re digging the social media scene.

Well, see ya tomorrow at the Women’s World Cup. No, we won’t be in Germany, but you can turn on the game and then Twitter and hear fan reaction from around the Twittersphere.

If you prefer the old-fashioned way, connect live:
If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and want to get together, Brandi' Chastain's Foundation, BAWSI is having a viewing party for the Women's World Cup, details below and on BAWSI’s Facebook page:

Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI)
There's been lots of excitement about BAWSI's Women's world Cup viewing party on Sunday morning, and it looks like we may even have some media joining us. We're hoping to have some painted faces, American flags, and red, white and blue home-made signs rooting the team on. Game coverage begins at 11:00 am at Neto's Market & Grill: 1313 Franklin St, Santa Clara, CA 95050. Join us! All are welcome.

Most. Thrilling. Soccer. Game. Ever.

How’s your summer going? C and R are exhausted from watching the USA’s Women’s World Cup quarterfinal victory over Brazil today! (And we just sat on a couch. Those soccer players had to play123 minutes.) Yes that’s right, the game went into overtime, with penalty kicks and everything. Dramatic as all get out. Bad refs, yellow cards galore, tall headers and Solo saves, it was amazing.

We can’t really do the game justice, nor add any superlatives to what has already been written. But that won’t stop us from blabbing on about the game.

To open the game, Team USA scored in the second minute. Abby Wambach, who we were chiding on Twitter for being the unluckiest forward at the World Cup this year, scored. Or did she? Replays showed the Brazilian defender accidentally kicked it in. (We have joked for years that in other soccer-crazed countries they shoot you for it, based on real life incidents in Central and South America, but then R said this is women’s soccer, so she is safe. Don’t know whether to laugh at that one or not). But a goal is a goal and it inflated the Americans 1 - nil, to use the correct terminology.

Then, in the second half, the center referee got involved. Yellow cards were been given out indiscriminately (By our count, eight yellow cards and one red). There was flopping on both sides to be sure, but eight cards?

Now, Marta for Brazil is very dangerous, and Team USA was using two players to track her.  When she got loose in the box, the US’s Rachel Buehler tangled with her and brought her down. Probably was a penalty kick, at worst a yellow card for Buelher. But the ref went all the way to red. Buelher was sent off the field and the US was not allowed to replace her. Watch and judge for yourself.

To make matters worse, US goalie Hope Solo stopped the point-blank penalty kick. But the ref said she moved off the line, or else one of the US players moved in the box too early, she was not clear which. Either way, Brazil got to retake the penalty kick. Solo argued the call and got a yellow card for the effort. So Brazil sent up Marta and she drilled it home. The score was tied and Team USA had to play a man down, ten versus eleven for the next twenty minutes. Against the best scorer in the world. “Pressure Makes Us”, says Team USA in the commercials? But what will it make?

Team USA played inspired ball. They were the ones on the attack for most of the second half even though they were short a player. After 90 minutes the game was tied and the rules stated they would play two 15 minutes periods and whichever team was ahead would win. Minutes into the first overtime period, Marta put her team ahead with an amazing backward lob to the far post. Replays show that Brazil was just a teeny bit off sides on the pass into Marta, but since C and R hate the off sides rule anyway, what can you do? Now Team USA was up a creek without a goal, down 2-1.

Okay, you had to see the flopping and stalling the Brazilians were doing, it was bizarre. At one point around the 117th minute, a defender went down (the clock still runs) and they brought out a stretcher, strapped her down and carried her off. As soon as the stretcher got out of bounds, she unstrapped herself and got up. A soccer miracle! She was given a yellow card and the ref said she was going to add extra minutes to the end of the game. (Remember that)

With the time running out, the 30 minutes passed with the USA losing still 2-1. They have now played one hundred and twenty minutes, fifty of them with only ten players. The ref gave three extra minutes for Brazil's stalling. One hundred and twenty one minutes, one hundred and twenty two minutes… With seconds left, Megan Rapinoe kicked a long ball towards goal. Tall, tall Abby Wambach fearlessly leaped in the air a second before the Brazilian goalie’s outstretched hands could get there and headed the ball squarely in the net. She tied the game with seconds left.

Here, watch for yourself:



Make sure you watch the third replay; it shows just how slam-bang it was over the goalie’s outstretched hands.

Now, penalty kicks. “Did we mention this was the 12th anniversary of soccer great Brandi Chastain’s penalty kick winner in the Women’s’ World Cup in 1999?” said the announcer. And Brandi was in the booth now? Oh yeah, good karma for Team USA. Both teams make their first two goals. Then, just like in 1999 against China, on the third shot, goalie Hope Solo correctly guessed which way the Brazil player was going and blocked the shot. Team USA up 3-2. Each team makes another goal, so the penalty kick score is 4-3. If this last USA player makes it, it’s over. She calmly places the ball in the corner. Team USA wins. Ali Krieger becomes this decade’s Brandi Chastain, although she didn’t take off her shirt. Team USA back from the dead, wins the match. It was the most amazing and bizarre thing we have ever seen.

To top it all off, we won wristbands from Brandi Chastain’s charity, Reach Up and Facebook (knew social media would pay off!). Take a gander here. They look like cookie cutters of the iconic moment when Brandi scored the goal and whipped off her shirt, but they are rubber bracelets you wear on your wrists. They are popular with all the kids, and now C and R have them. Jealous much? We have extras; maybe if you are nice to C and R we will send you some, too.

Stanford Stuff--Coaches and Players

Lots happening in the off-season for Stanford Women’s Basketball. First of all, they hired Trina Patterson as assistant coach. Patterson has a ton of head coaching experience, so at first C and R couldn’t figure out why she would step back to an assistant role. But then half the coaching world would give their right arm to learn at the master’s feet, those feet belonging to Stanford Head Coach Tara Vanderveer. Oh hear, let Trina tell you in her own words and more elegantly, quoted from the official Stanford website:
"Tara is one of the finest coaches in the country and I could not be more excited to work with her, the players and the staff. I will embrace the culture at Stanford which highlights a world-class education with world-class athletics. I look forward to working hard and bringing energy, knowledge and passion."

In other basketball news, sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike were named as finalists for the USA Basketball World University Games Team. They will return to the Olympic Training center in late July to finalize the roster and go to the World University Games in China in mid August. They will be hanging around with (or as C and R like to think of it, spying on) other college standouts and such as Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame (if only she chose Stanford!) Jackie Gemelos of USC (current Pac-12 foe), Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnsonof Tennessee (What’s Pat Summit really like?) and Odyssey Simms of current consensus number one Baylor. Hmm, notice no Texas A&M players in that mix of finalists.

May and June starts the graduation season all over this land and C and R would be remiss if they didn’t give a little shout out to our good basketball friend P’s niece for graduating from nursing school at San Jose State! Congrats!

Spring Basketball Just Isn’t the Same

May (Friday the )13th- Spring Basketball Just Isn’t the Same
Has this been the slowest women’s college basketball off-season in the history of the world, or what? Maybe because we had such high hopes last year and knew we had a potential title team, and feel a little cheated we didn’t even make it to the championship game. But lets not dwell on the negative, and you can reread all the great things the Stanford Women’s Basketball team accomplished the past season. (Psst, it’s a lot!)

So the best way to fix a basketball jones (somebody set a pick for me on the free throw line…) is to find out what the players are up to in the off-season. Former Stanford players and newly drafted WNBA players Kayla Pdersen and Jeanette Pohlen will hit training camp May 15th. And here are 15 reasons to be excited about the upcoming 15th season for the WNBA, courtesy of the WNBA. (Warning, there is no mention of any Stanford players in the article, well except for our girl Candice Wiggins gets a shout-out.).

Sigh, and yet… it’s hard to get excited about pro training camp because, well, we don’t have a pro women’s team within 500 miles of us. We can‘t go see training camp or hang out and watch the players at training camp or ask for autographs after training camp because even though the Bay Are has 11teen million people crammed together on the peninsula and has a devoted core group who watch women’s basketball with tons of disposable income to buy a $25 dollar t-shirt and a five dollar hot dog, we can’t get a team. Oh sure, we can live vivaciously through the WNBA puff pieces and the players’ twitter accounts, whatever that is, but its not the same as seeing your team live.

Speaking of twitter, a little birdie told me that Kayla Pedersen called a certain young fan on her 10th birthday and made her day! And speaking of Kayla Pedersen, which we actually were, she has a new website coming out soon called kaylapedersen.com. Stay tuned to C and R to find out when it goes live (Because why should you check the actual source or anything, hee hee.)

JAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaayne
Speaking of pros, as we were a while ago, the WNBA and Team USA basketball veterans had a three-day training camp in Vegas with head coach Geno Auriemma. Here, let’s let former Stanford Cardinal player Jayne Appel tell you about it. As to what she did in Vegas… she slept.

So what are the current Stanford women’s basketball players up to, you ask C and R? Well, Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike get what amounts to free high level coaching and training by being invited to USA basketball to represent the US at the World University Games. They have represented USA basketball a bunch of times already. They go May 22-25 to work out with the other collegians, follow Chiney on twitter, if you can understand any of it.

Sadly, that’s all we have to report. Fall can’t get here quick enough!

USA Basketball is Vegas Bound, Baby

So with WNBA training camp starting May 15th, what are the veterans doing to get ready for training camp. Well, if you are a select few, you are practicing with Geno Auriemma on the US National Team’s traing camp May 10-12. In Vegas (what happens in Vegas….).

And just who is practicing? Only our two faves, former Stanford Women’s Basketball players Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel. And twenty-two other women, none of any importance….

Here’s an interesting side note. Last year right after the NCAA tournament ended, Geno wanted some competition to scrimmage against his US team so he invited a full squad of some WNBA players and some collegiate players. Stanford’s’ very own Kayla Pedersen was on that team last year. C and R wondered at that time why Brittney Griner was not included. We wanted to start a totally unsubstantiated rumor that Geno didn’t want to bring in Brittney because he still considered her a work in progress and he didn’t want to be the one to give her pointers to get her better because his UConn team was going to play her the following season (hee hee). Well, we have to kill that rumor before we start it because this year he DID invite BG to training camp. Also invited was Courtney Vandersloot, whose stock has risen in the basketball world from that NCAA play-off game vs. Stanford. Both Brittney and Vandy are “special guests” and could play their way on to the team and the Olympics next year.

Here’s Geno talking, quoted from the National Team Website.
“I can’t wait to get these guys on the court in Vegas,” said Geno Auriemma, 2009-12 USA National Team and University of Connecticut head coach. “This is going to be the first time we’ve had this many together and healthy at a training camp, and it’ll be interesting to see how bad some of these guys want to make the Olympic team, how much they hustle, fight for rebounds, I’m really looking forward to that.

“Then you add in the two new kids, Griner and Vandersloot. I’m anxious to see how they interact with some of the veterans. Certainly they’re a couple of great players, but I’m excited to see them go up against our National Team and try to earn their spot in our pool.”

Ah, turning it in to a competition and pitting the women against each other, eh Geno? Well, C and R wish all of them a healthy training session and a successful upcoming basketball season no matter what their level.

Taurasi is Cleared!

ESPN reports that Diana Taurasi's suspension is lifted! The doping charges have been dropped and she can play in the 2012 Olympics. And, oh, the Turkish team that dropped her contract like a hot potato after the already suspect Turkish lab came up with the positive test result says all is forgiven and she can come back and play and win them a championship. Diana said no thanks.

Funny, Taurasi was just saying at the end of the WNBA season last summer she needed some time off from basketball. She had been playing basketball year round going from WNBA to overseas and now USA basketball was filling any free time she did have and it was getting to be too much. Careful what you wish for.
C and R are glad she was cleared and back in the USA, and can play for the USA!

Basketball Things of Note

Coupla basketball things happened this weekend we wanted to note, sorry it took C and R awhile to get around to it, it was mostly because C was sore for two days after going to a friend’s birthday party at the Sky High Trampoline place (Ever play dodge ball on a trampoline? It’s harder than it sounds).

So thing number one, Notre Dame almost, almost beat UConn! The score was 79-76. Ever since that Stanford loss (hee hee), UConn has lost that air of invincibility and teams now believe they can beat UConn. Last year, UConn had so many weapons that could score that most teams went in mentally with a defeatist attitude and the game was decided before it was played. Now teams are requesting the Stanford-UConn tape and going over it with a fine tooth comb.

Thing number two is sadder. Diana Taurasi’s second sample was tested and confirmed to have the banned stimulant modafinil.

ESPN’s Mechelle Voepelgives a good analysis of how these things work:
-Deny taking the drug
-Wait for the B sample to be tested
-If second sample comes back positive, claim the lab is bad
-Then the Athlete denies taking anything on purpose
-Then a hearing and a penalty

However, if Taurasi is banned for more than 6 months, then she may not attend the 2012 Olympics. Bummer.

Getting back to the lab being “bad”, Taurasi and her lawyer do have a case. According to Mechelle, the "Turkish lab that tested Taurasi's samples was suspended by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for a two-month period in 2009 before being accredited again." And ESPN also reports two of Taurasi's teammates on her Turkish team Fenerbahce "have resisted doping tests in Turkey because they also do not trust the lab that tests the samples. Australian player Penny Taylor and Czech teammate Hana Horakova provided samples only after the Turkish federation agreed to send them to Germany for testing at a lab in Cologne."

Diana Taurasi’s contract has now been voided by her Turkish team.

I don't think the girl has gone more than two days without playing basketball since grade school. The irony is she was complaining just last year that she has been playing year around in the WNBA, then overseas where she gets more money and Olympic qualifying games, and that she was tired might need time off… hecka a way to do it.

Say It Ain’t So, Diana!

C and R favorite of favorites, so much that we overlook the fact she came from UConn, Diana Taurasi, has bee reported to have tested positive for a banned drug while playing basketball in the country of Turkey. Of course, all issues of privacy went out the window when the news was leaked, but like Pandora’s box, it’s out and in the news.


The first reports from her lawyer was that is it NOT a steroid. Okay, that piqued C and R’s interest enough that we dug deeper. Now it is being reported she tested positive for a stimulate, modafinil. Modafinil is used to counter excessive sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift-work sleep disorder or sleep apnea, according to the website for the prescription drug Provigil. Man, she must have trouble staying awake over there is Turkey. To make matters worse, this very stimulate has been involved in several BALCO doping cases, most notably sprinter Kelli White. And we all know that BALCO was all about coming up with new and improved ways to HIDE steroid use. Sigh.

Taurasi has been suspended from European play and asked for her “B” sample to be tested. If the “B” sample is also positive, it could put her in jeopardy for the US National Team and Olympic lay in 2012. Augh!

Say it ain’t so.

Basketball Women are World Champs

The US Women are World Champions. They won the gold medal at the FIBA World Championships. Former Stanford Women’s Basketball player Jayne Apple was on the team. She played two minutes of the final game. Didn’t score.

It’s weird, Head coach Geno Auriemma, of the school that shall not be named, picks her to be on the team even though she did not have a good WNBA rookie year, defending his pick saying he needs her size and the intangibles she brings and then doesn’t use her. She averaged just  7.4 minutes per game in the nine game tournament. Maybe he and the team just like having her around. C and R did when she played for Stanford!

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Brandi's Game

C and R are still on cloud nine after hanging out back stage with the world class athletes that came out to support soccer great Brandi Chastain in her retirement game. You know, think about it, how many pro athletes careers end with them standing at a podium in the off season, tears in their eyes and a sob in their voice as they announce they are retiring from a sport they love and that has defined them from early childhood? What a horrible way to go. Brandi, on the other hand, had the right idea, to be surrounded by those who love her, cheered on by her legions of fans, playing the sport she loves in the field that feels like home, in a big party-like atmosphere, and raising money for her new charity. At one point, she said it was like being at a wedding! Just think if Minnesota would arrange a game like this for Brett Favre, have him throw for 568 yards and 6 touchdowns, then he would retire quietly, happy to go.

BTW, Brandi played for both sides, so she could play with her all friends, ala the great Pele at his retirement soccer game in NYC, and if you don’t know Pele is, how can you call yourself a soccer fan? Go Google it, we’ll wait.

C and R asked a few of the players if there was any plan to “let” Brandi score, as it was her retirement game, and everyone one of them said, “NO way!” or words to that affect. Fierce competitors, one and all, but geez, even C and R know you let the hometown favorite score. We mean, come on, when Brandi, who normally plays defender, was placed in the forward spot, you have to let her score!

She had a shot on goal when she played for the red team, she shot wide right, but football great Brent Jones was there to bang it in. Unfortunately, he was offside, as he was for most of the game. Brandi went over to plead her case to the line judge to no avail. We kept laughing when Brent would run past the defenders with his hand up for the ball, like he would for the 49ers. Problem is, you can run past the defense in football, but not in futbol, or American soccer. He was offside most every play!

Finally, when Brandi switched teams and the forward line featured the great Mia Hamm and her, the defense, which included Brandi’s brother, let her shoot. Unfortunately, it kept going to the goalie. Finally, someone clued in the goalie and she let it go, and a Brandi shot found the back of the net with a few minutes to spare.

It was cute at the end of regulation, the game was declared a tie and penalty shots were called for. You’ll recall, Brandi made the famous penalty kick in the Women’s World Cup in 1999 to win it for the US and took off her shirt to show off her sports bra. Everyone made their kick in this game, although Brazil’s Sissi missed, so Brandi demanded a rekick, and since it was Brandi’s party, she got a rekick. Before Brandi’s penalty shot, she hugged the goalie, and probably whispered, “let this one go in, too.” Left footed, she kicked the shot, the goalie dove over the ball without touching it and it found the back of the net.

Then more speeches and Brandi became the first woman athlete to have her number retired at Mitty, where she played high school soccer, and got her number retired at Santa Clara, where she finished her college career.

Anyway, here are some highlights in a night of highlights as observed by C and R:
Julie Inkster:
Golfing great, 50 years old, never played a lick of soccer in her life, played with her hat on, running away from the ball and trouble to preserve her body!

Brent Jones:
Three championship rings for the 49ers. No shin guards. We told him he is playing with world-class soccer players, and he said he would probably get hammered, but tough guy Brent went out there anyway.

Team’s Strategy:
We listened in and Brandi was starting as a defensive back with her stepson and the coach told them not to get in a fight.

Cindy Parlow:
Scored the game's first goal.

Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Tisha Venturini, Tiffany Milbrett, Mia Hamm, Cindy Parlow, all friends from the 1999 World Cup team and Olympic Gold Medal teams, looking as trim and as fit as ever, and could give the rest of the world a run for their money.

Mia Hamm:
C’s hero for years, Multiple Women’s World Cup winner, Multiple Gold Medal Winner, most goals scored for a national team member, men’s or women’s, yes got her autograph thank you very much, saw her make numerous runs at the goal, and they still trust her for the corner kick.

You know who the real stars were, though? It was the girls who participated in the before-game clinic with the players as coaches. The age groups were approximately 10-18, and these girls were highly skilled and well versed in the fundamentals of soccer. It was cool to see these girls so skilled and so enjoying being out there. C and R hope these girls stick with it and see where soccer can take them, like it did for Brandi.

Brandi said she would like to get into coaching down the road and “give back” to those who have supported her. She certainly has the passion and enthusiasm for the game and the young players. We wish her well in her next endeavor, her life “after soccer”.

“Then I will have two fillings…”

Hi, C here, and I just wanted to let you know no one wrote in to say they knew the Brandi Chastain “I will have two fillings” line, so I guess you REALLY have to be a women’s soccer fan to get the reference. Anyhoo, it was from a commercial for the 1999 World Cup about playing as a team. It was great 11 years ago and it’s still great now. When I first saw it in 1999, I want around for six months saying to everyone who asked me a question, “And I will have two fillings.” That’s how much of a women’s soccer geek I was…am…still is…still am…am…
Enjoy Brandi and Mia Hamm and company courtesy from the You Tube.



Quick, can you name the US goalie seen in the commercial? No fair using the Internet! Don't forget to buy tickets to see Brandi October 2nd. For more information, including ticket purchase information, go to Reach Up World Foundation.

Barn-Stormin’ Brandi Chastain!

Hey, this just came in over the wires. Brandi Chastain (who faithful readers like mom will know, C and R have actually met her several times, and C even shot craps with Brandi!) yes, that Brandi, is retiring from Women’s Professional Soccer and having a soccer game/party to celebrate. You get to pay money to see her play soccer with her friends. Who are her friends? Oh, only Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Aly Wagner, you know, just the All Star cast of the US Women’s National Team, that’s all. And your money goes to Brandi’s new charity. (New charity, is she still involved with BAWSI?).

Heck, C and R would play money just to see Mia Hamm play soccer against five year olds. She has been a personal favorite of C’s, for years. Wait, R says Mia has been a personal favorite of HERS for years. Oh yeah, C was a fan of Mia before Brandi kicked the overtime penalty shot against China in 1999 to win the World Cup. In fact, C is such a big fan of the Women’s US National Team that she even has the Sports Illustrated cover photos of Brandi celebrating in her bra directly after that moment in the drawer by her bedside (no kidding). In facto again, C is such a fan of Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain AND women’s soccer (boy, you can tell who wrote this blog, can’t you) that C challenges all our readers to see if they can explain this quote…. “Then I will have two fillings….”

First person who writes in gets a women’s sports Information red rubber bracelet like “Live Strong” except it is red. And says Women’s Sports Information. Go ahead, try and cheat and Google it. It’s so obscure that it’s not on the web and only a true, true fan of women’s soccer would know the reference. Oh shoot, I just found it on You Tube. Okay, no fair cheating. No Internet. You either know it or you don’t.

Oops, enough clowning around, C and R are not doing our job here. We are supposed to be helping promote Brandi’s retirement game and make money for her charity. She played her college career at Santa Clara, and is married to Santa Clara’s women’s soccer head coach, where do you think the game is going to be? Yes, at Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara. C has taken her girl’s and boy’s soccer teams to see Santa Clara games at Buck Shaw over the years and it is just such a fun time. You are close to the field and get to see a lot of action, not a bad seat in the house. Wait, let’s do this proper and actually let you peak at the press release.

Brandi Chastain Benefit Soccer Game Oct. 2, 2010

Female soccer icon Brandi Chastain--best known for her game-winning penalty kick again China in the 1999 Women's World Cup followed by the celebratory ripping off of her jersey-- will be honored in a Testimonial Soccer Match on Oct. 2, 2010 at 6 PM at the Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara.

Soccer celebrities and athletes playing in this special, coed game include Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Tisha Venturini , Kristine Lilly, Eric Wynalda, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner, Ethan Zohn, Tab Ramos, Marcelo Balboa and others.

At the game, Brandi will launch her new Reach Up! foundation, aimed to inspire young girls to make healthy choices. Gently used soccer gear will be collected and donated through a partnership with US Soccer foundation.

The Reach Up! Village, a tent filled with food and fun pregame activities, will open at 3 p.m. Also, Brandi and some teammates will hold a special pre-game clinic for 200 participants at 4 p.m. Game at 6 PM. For more information, including ticket purchase information, go to Reach Up World Foundation.

Help spread the word, forward the press release to anyone who is interested in women’s soccer, to your local soccer leagues, schools, clubs, and kid-friendly groups.. Tell them C and R will be there!

Jayne’s Made the Grade!

C and R got some good news today. Former Stanford women’s basketball star and current favorite of R, Jayne Appel was added to the USA Basketball Women's National Team pool. She gets to join another former Stanford star and current favorite of C, Candice Wiggins (although isn’t she injured and out for the season?).

Hold the phone, Jayne’s not on the team yet. She was one of four players added to the players who MIGHT be selected. The three other players and Jayne are all post players.

"Certainly one of the positions that we are trying to shore up is in the post," coach Geno Auriemma said. "With Candace Parker not being available because of her operation, these four additions give us a lot of options to choose from. I'm anxious to see how they fit in. And depending on who's available because of the (WNBA) playoffs, I think it's important to have as many options as possible."

So these selected members of the USA National Team will meet on Sept. 4 in Washington, D.C. for its final training camp ahead of its departure for Europe to compete at the FIBA World Championship. The 12 players for the 2012 Olympic team will be decided from that play.

When Jayne was asked how it felt to be named to training camp after sitting out the first two due to injury (foot stress fracture), she said, “It’s kind of more of a sigh of relief, after having gone to the camps when I wasn’t able to play and having to watch on the sidelines. It makes it even more worthwhile. It also helped me want to be a part of it even more and makes me want to be able to contribute more into the future.”

She also was asked what she could bring to this team, especially since she is not having a great rookie season in the WNBA. She answered she will bring, “Whatever they need. Whether it be rebounding, if it’s giving energy off the bench, being that player who pushes other players every day in practice. Really anything that coach Auriemma wants me to do, I’ll do it.” See, not everyone has to be the superstar. Sometimes the superstar needs someone cheering them on! And I do like the comment that she can be the practice player to push the superstars and be contributing that way, like Sarah Boothe did last season for her.

Although Jayne has limited experience playing overseas (she played overseas a smattering of times, in the U18 USA team in the Pan American games and in the USA Youth Developmental Festival), she was asked to comment on the international style of play. She gave what C and R consider a Stanford-type answer. Rather than comment on the more physical play everyone else mentions, she said the team must also worry about a different battle off the court. “You’re in different countries, you have to get used to the different atmospheres, things like that. But if you keep that circle close within the team, as long as you do that you’ll be fine.” We love that she is mentioning how hard it is to travel someplace new and compete, and how important team chemistry and trusting you fellow players is to doing well. A detail few players mention. Hmmm, wonder if Jayne wants to be a coach some day?

Jayne in the WNBA

The following conversation took place on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 between Stanford Women’s Basketball fanatics C and R. Let’s start when C called R at her home, not on her fancy cell phone.

Ring Ring

R: Hello…

C: Hey, it’s me. What are you doing?

R: Exercising and watching Jayne not play.

C: What? You’re exercising!
(No just kidding, R walks on her treadmill most days and has the calf muscles to prove it- let’s replay from the beginning)

Ring Ring

R: Hello…

C: Hey, it’s me. What are you doing?

R: Watching Jayne not play.

C: What? Women’s Basketball is on TV?
(no, no, no…the coverage of the WNBA has gotten pretty good. The powers that be show game on ESPN or the second ESPN channel and now they are doing double headers. C and R have both noticed that the announcers are very knowledgeable and they try to broadcast the coaches talking to players at half time, which is cool. And the games themselves are pretty exciting. Let’s start again)

Ring RING

R: Hello…

C: Hey, it’s me. What are you doing?

R: Watching Jayne not play.

C: What?

R: The Antonio Silver Stars are playing the New York Liberty…

C: …With ex-Stanford Nicole Powell…

R: Yes, and former Stanford as of a few months ago Jayne Appel is riding the bench… Hey, there’s Jayne on TV

C: Is she in the game?

R: Still on the bench but the cameras love her no matter where she stands.

C: Or sits.

R: Wait, she’s going in... has the ball..

C: Did she shoot?

R: No, she’s involved in the play… looking good…. But still looks like a rookie.

C: Bummer.

R: She’s doing the Tara VanDerveer moves.

C: What is that?

R: She’s using her head, she set a pick at the top of the screen, she knows what she is doing, but everyone else can run and jump higher than her. She just boxed out well, but can’t jump for the ball.

C: Poor thing, she must still be hurting with her injuries. She could jump at Stanford. Do you feel she is contributing when she is on the floor?

R: Yes, she is contributing, maybe it won’t show up in the stat columns, but she is helping the team.

C: Well, that’s good. I hope she can heal in the off-season.

R: Closing seconds, NY Liberty and Nicole Powell won. Hey, they just said Phoenix with Diana Taurasi playing Seattle and Lauren Jackson next.

C: Cool! Love Taurisi

R: Love Taurisi (that's Ta-RA-see, with an "A")

C: How did you know how I spelled it if this is a phone conversation?

R: What?

C: What? Anyhoo, Remember when the USA National Team came to Stanford to play them and Tau-RA-si looked like a woman among girls?

R: Yes. She was amazing, so fast and powerful. Well, now that Jayne is off my screen, I need to go back to workin’ out.

C: Don’t forget we are going to see the Stanford freshmen play in the championship game in San Francisco in the Pro-Am summer league a week from this Saturday.

R: You mean August 7th?

C: Yes that weekend.

R: Oh, I won’t forget it, the championship game, best 2 out of 3. That should be fun.

C: And (to our junior bloggers) it’s free.

R: See ya there!

C: I’ll let you get back to your treadmill.

R: Only 40 more minutes left.

C: Rock on, man.

Slow Summer

Is it July already? How’s your summer going? Ours is a little slow going, and we haven’t been to SF yet to watch the Stanford young uns in the pro-am league yet, although R did get the letter to buy the Stanford season tickets, so yay, that makes us fell like college basketball is right around the corner.

In other basketball news, Jayne Appel finished in the top ten for All Star voting, or whatever you want to call this game between Team USA and WNBA All Stars.  So C and R read that if you are voted in the game and are already a Team USA member, you get to play for Team USA. Well, Jayne was at the last 2 USA training camps, although she was injured and yet her name was not on the Team USA roster. It is being reported on the WNBA site that Jayne will practice along side Team USA in the mini-training camp before the All Star game “in hopes of being added to the squad at a later date”. Hmmm. Noticed there were 7 former or current (Maya Moore) UConn players on Team USA roster. Oh, did we forget to mention the USA head coach is the head coach of UConn?

Plus, Team USA will scrimmage the Australian National Team the day after the All Star game, yet the game is not opened to the public. Double hmmmm. Man, they have a captive women’s basketball audience in town watching the All Star game and the next day Team USA plays Australia and you don’t think to sell tickets, T-Shirts, televise it and advertise and make money!?!! Are we missing something?

C and R are bummed the Candices are out of training camp (The Candi?). Candice Wiggins and Candace Parker are both injured and out for the year.

In other news that just might affect basketball…
We forgot to give you the finalized count of teams defecting to the PAC-10. Just the two. Colorado jumped right away and when the big schools in Texas and Oklahoma didn’t budge, the PAC-10 got Utah to have an even dozen. Now there is talk of implementing the change in 2011. The San Fran Chronicle said The PAC-12 was thinking of having two conferences and drawing a line somewhere in Mountain View, so Stanford and CAL would still play each other but UCLA will be in the other division and that was probably going to be our closest rival for the next few years. The funny thing was the PAC-10 was hoping to bring in higher profile schools to make more money off of their football games, and when that failed miserably, the teams are going to lose even more money from the (non) match ups. Utah vs. Stanford in football? Does that sound like a guaranteed sell out at Stanford to you?

Have a cool Fourth if we don’t hear from you, and don’t blow off any fingers. Let us know if you have seen any of the Stanford Pro Am games.