Rebecca Gray's Transition from Highshool BBall to College

Rebecca Gray's blog at Hoopgurlz.

This is a pretty interesting blog that I urge all high school bball players to read. She writes about her experiences transitioning from the high school game to the college game at North Carolina, under Coach Sylvia Haskell.

She writes well, her experienecs are interesting - highly recommended!

Tennessee vis Oklahoma

The Tennessee Lady Vols are currently playing Oklahoma. It's on ESPNU, which I don't get. I gotta tell you, I really hope the Lady Vols lose.

I really, really dislike the poor sportsmanship and egotism of the fans that post at The Summitt, but I wouldn't let that deter me from being a Lady Vol fan...but I'm afraid Pat Summitt's ditching of the UConn game - and more egregiously, refusing to say why - has cost her my respect.

So, come on Oklahoma!

Lady Vols lose to Team USA

The women's college basketball season is about to get under way. The exhibition season has started, 2 games where college teams go up against professional opponents. This year, it's been Team USA - the WNBA pros who will play in the Olympics.

They beat Maryland and UConn, and now they've neaten the Lady Vols - but only by 11 points.

Lady Vols article

To the right of the article is a link to see about three minutes of video of the game. Too bad it wasn't on TV...but ESPN was showing women's billiards instead...

What is it with guys? And gals?

The following is a link to Jason Caffey, an ex-basketball player who has fathered 8 children by 7 different women. He was only married to one.

Jason Caffey

Of course there's many factors at work here. He had to pay child support based on his earnings as an NBA player, and that money wasn't reduced once he retired and his income plummetted. (A lot of guys are taken to the cleaner like this, which is unfair. A guy shouldn't have to live in his car so that he can give all his money to his ex-wife and kids, when his ex-wife has a job and is making good money herself.)

But he's not the only "baby daddy" going around populating this planet with children whom he can't support. Travis Henry is another one with eight kids or so...Jeremy Kemp has about 12... and all of these are to women to whom he was not married.

Now, what I want to know is, after these guys have fathered about four kids, and if they're not going to wear a dollar condom, why oh why do they not just get "fixed?" They've already proven their virile, surely no one will hold it against them if they get themselves "fixed" after they've proven that fact?

But then there's the women. As a feminist, I believe that if a woman wants to have a child out of wedlock --- and can afford it so she will not be a burden on the welfare state -- then fine, have a child. But I have to admit I wonder if these women deliberately get pregnant so they can have a meal ticket for the rest of their lives.

I wonder if its possible to do a bit of research into these mothers, find out what their financial status was before they had sex with a certain athlete - without protection of any kind, apparantly (hello STDs as well as pregnancy) - and what their financial status is now. How many are professional women who use that child support money to support their kid, and how many sit at home living off the child support payment while the kid goes hungry?

Would be intersting to know.

But really, the father is the one really to blame. If he's too stupid to see what these women are doing to him...well, then he's pretty stupid.

Paul Byrd did nothing wrong, and the media should be ashamed

Guess what!

From 2002-2005, Paul Byrd took HGH, or Human Growth Hormone.

Guess what!

It wasn't a banned substance!

The news today has been full of reports that Byrd took HGH, and that his reputation has taken a hit. Well, gee, the only reason why his reputation has taken a hit is because the media is turning a non-story into a story. They keep detailing all these deliveries of HGH he got, and how much he paid for it... and don't emphasize that he was buying htis stuff openly - having it sent to the god-damned clubhouse! - because IT WAS NOT A BANNED SUBSTANCE when he was taking it. Indeed, it was prescribed to him.

The coverage on this has just been ridiculous.

I have to admit I haven't been following the steroid controversy, and I suppose I was very naive when I assumed that all the comments about these athletes taking steroids occurred AFTER steroids were banned.

But if they were taking HGH, and steroids, and other items, that were NOT BANNED at the time, then there is no damn story!

I apology for the R-ratedness of this post, but I am just furious right now.

Rafael Palmeiro is a different story - he swore he never took steroids, and then within a week tested positive - and he tested positive when steroids were banned.

Barry Bonds, he's been swearing all along he never took steroids - at least never knowingly... so if he's proved to be a liar - well, he's a liar, but that doesn't make him a cheater if he stopped doing it AFTER the substances were banned.

I really don't like the way baseball players have taken the defensive stance on this - if you used HGH or some other substance before it was banned, (especially if it was a doctor's prescription) say so and tell the media to go to hell. That's pretty much what Byrd did, and that's what every player - in the right - should have done.

An apology to Barry Bonds

Let me preface my comments by admitting that I don't follow every baseball team each season - just specific ones, the Minnesota Twins, the Seattle Mariners, and the Baltimore Orioles.

So although I've heard of the big stars of other teams, I'd never really seen them in action, except during an occasional glimpse during Baseball Tonight, etc.

So for years and years I've disliked Barry Bonds, because of his pathetic little schtick of standing at the plate and watching while his home run balls fly out of the park. What a jerk, I'd thought. (and continue to think.)

But he's not the biggest jerk in baseball, the biggest poseur in the game - that goes to Manny Ramirez.

Bonds at least just stands there, not really showing up anyone...Manny Ramirez stands there, and holds up both arms and poses. Then he looks at the pitcher like he wants to make eye contact...then he starts his baggy-uniformed trot around the bases.

So today, of course, in an elimination game, he hits what he thinks is a home run ball. David Ortiz, bad leg and all, is running as hard as he can round the bases and scores from firstl. What does Manny do? He stands and does his pose, then the ball hits on top of the yellow line of the fence (replays showed it hit on the line, not beyond the line), so good ol' Manny ends up with a single instead of a double or triple.

They ended up winning the game anyway, thanks to the hustle of other players, but it just irked me to see that.

And then there's his other sctick he does, which I've seen three times now in the last few days... he has this habit of running the bases and when he's on second trying to get home, he'll reach up and knock his helmet off, as if to make sure that the fans see him and know he's running so fast that he loses his helmet. Does he really think that they don't know that he knocks it off deliberately?

And finally, for a wonder, Jacoby Ellsbury gets into the game, if only for the last 2 innings. Based on Coco Crisp's output in these champeenship series, it's time to replace Crisp with Ellsbury. He'll be as good defensively, and his offense couldn't be any worse and might be better.

New WNBA team in Atlanta

The WNBA is expanding - a new team will open in Atlanta next year.

Atlanta announcement

A few fans are puzzled, as they do not consider Atlanta to be that "hot" of a sports town for mens' teams, let alone women's teams. And the WNBA team in Charlotte folded just last year.

Nevertheless, things do seem to be progressing for the WNBA, so lets all think positive thoughts, and hope Atlanta fans will flock to see their new professional sports team.