Here's a question

I got a question.
Why is it when I'm covering a football game at El Dorado and I'm sitting in the pressbox booth, people assume I'm not doing anything?
Numerous times adults have walked into the pressbox with young children. I hear them as they walk through the radio crew whisper to the children, "be quiet in here, these guys are working."
Then, they walk through the booth with the football coaches and say, "sssshhh! These are the coaches so be quiet so they can work."
Then, they park their loud rear ends in my booth and proceed to talk, laugh and chatter.
What the heck?
I'm trying to keep notes, statistics and a running play-by-play of the same game. Why do I not get the same respect as the other professionals, who are working?
I've laughed this off for awhile but I'm starting to get annoyed.
People assume if you work for a newspaper and are covering a game, they can just walk up to you and talk. They don't do that to radio or television people during a game.
Yet, those same jack arses will be the first to point out any mistakes they see in the newspaper the next day.
I know, nobody cares. I understand griping about it won't change anything. But, perhaps it will make me feel better about it . . .
Nope, I don't feel any better, yet.
When I finally SNAP, people better duck and cover because I'm emptying all the clips.

Next big thing?

Here's an article I read on WNBA.com about an Australian girl who might be the next big thing in women's basketball.

By Mike Hurst
September 20, 2007
A 12-YEAR-OLD Sydney girl has won a sporting scholarship to attend a top US boarding school after she recorded and emailed the school a video of herself playing basketball.
Her lucky break is reminiscent of the circumstances which led to a scholarship offer to nine-year-old Brisbane boy Rhain Davis after his grandfather mailed a DVD of the soccer prodigy to Manchester United in August.
In this instance, coaches at MonteVerde High in Florida liked what they saw and offered Tomilayo Akinpetide - "Tomi" to her friends - a scholarship valued at around $25,000 a year.
"I'm not worried or frightened," Tomi told The Daily Telegraph.
"I'm very excited. This is a chance to play at a higher level and that's good because I want to play in the WNBA." With the dedication Tomi has shown, she could well follow in the footsteps of Australia's Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor, who won Most Valuable Player awards in the US women's professional league this year.
"When I was six or seven my brothers started to play basketball and we all got up at 4am three days a week, caught a train to Burwood PCYC, worked out for 45 minutes, took the train home, showered, had breakfast and went to school. I loved it," Tomi said.
Edward Smith, the coach who started her in the game and still helps out, predicted: "Tomi will play for Australia. She will play professionally.
"They're going to take one look at her in the US - at her age and her ability - and she will be given every coaching resource available to her. She is a coach's dream."
At 175cm, Tomi has the height and athleticism to go with exceptional ball-handling skills, but even she is dwarfed by her big sister Tolu, 15, who is 184cm and has also won a scholarship at the same school.
Both girls play for the Rosellas club in the Northern Suburbs competition but turn out for Minto-based Macarthur Heat in the Sydney representative interdistrict competition.
Their brother, Femi, paved the way for the family two years ago when he was scouted on a holiday basketball tour to the US.
It was Femi who suggested his sisters apply for a scholarship to join him. And now, with the help of coach Smith, their other brother, Segun, has also won a scholarship to play basketball with a high school in Virginia.Tomi, Tolu and Segun, who live at Prestons in Sydney's south-west, will line up tomorrow to apply for US visas to start the adventure of their lives.

WNBA Finals are over

Okay, the WNBA Finals are over. As much as I tried, I just couldn't get into the games.
Phoenix beat Detroit 3-2, winning the fifth game on the Shock's homecourt.
Detroit, as it did periodically during the season, sleepwalked through much of the decisive game. I don't like Bill Laimbeer but I almost felt sorry for him on the sideline. When the players don't have the hunger to compete, the coach is pretty much helpless.
Like I said, I had a difficult time getting into the series. I don't like Laimbeer and hate his team's bullying style of basketball. Phoenix, on the other hand, plays a beautiful, free wheeling, fast breaking high-scoring style.
I love finesse.
But, for some reason I couldn't cheer too hard for the Mercury, either. It seemed as though the officials were giving Phoenix every break. It also seemed like the announcers were rooting for Phoenix.
All this made Detroit appear to be the underdog. All of Laimbeer's "us against the world" attitude finally caught up with his team. It really was Detroit against the world.
The Shock didn't get a break.
So, I couldn't feel too bad for the Shock and I couldn't feel too good for the Mercury, which made the series rather uninteresting.
That's too bad because the rest of the WNBA Playoffs were off the chain.
Oh by the way, how about Summerfield native Cheryl Ford, playing with a bad knee in Game 5. That was impressive. That young lady has a huge heart.
People in South Arkansas should be proud of her. She honed her skills and developed that competitive spirit right here.

Tennis trumps WNBA Finals

I tried to watch Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between Phoenix and Detroit, but had a hard time tearing myself away from the U.S. Open quarterfinal tennis match between Venus Williams and Serbian Jelena Jankovic.
I was switching back and forth until I finally decided to stick with the tennis. The match went to a third set tiebreaker with Venus finally winning. Both players were given a standing ovation. The atmosphere was electric with a packed stadium filled with celebrities.
The match was great with every point hotly contested. Even better was the contrasting demeanors of the players. Venus was serious with her game face firmly on display. Jankovic was the complete opposite, often smiling, almost laughing while waiting to return serve. She talked to the fans and was just thorougly entertaining.
The tennis was good, too. These ladies were knocking the crap out of the ball.
The end of the match was special as the announcer grabbed Jankovic before she left and shoved the microphone in her face. She showed complete class, congratulating Venus and acknowledging the best player won.
That was great considering Venus' sister Serena showed her butt a day earlier after a loss.
I'm not a tennis junkie, but I couldn't stop watching this match. I love great competition and I love gracious winners and losers even more.

LJ wins WNBA MVP

Okay, Lauren Jackson was just announced as the WNBA MVP. It was a close vote with my girl Becky Hammon finishing second and Diana Taurasi third.
Those who follow the women's game, know, Jackson is like Michael Jordan in that she's clearly the best player in the world. She could get the award every year because she will always be among the scoring and rebounding leaders.
Jackson led the WNBA in scoring and rebounds this season and, in one of the great mysteries of our time, was also named Defensive Player of the Year. Obviously, you could give her the MVP Award every year and it would be tough to argue.
But, her team didn't have a winning record. Her team didn't put up much of a fight in the playoffs. Was that her fault?
No, but how valuable was she if her team lost more than it won?
People who saw San Antonio in the playoffs know Hammon put that club on her back at times. If the MVP vote had been taken after the playoffs, Jackson probably would not have won.
To be fair, if I had to turn in a vote after the regular season, I might've voted for LJ as well.
Thankfully, the El Dorado News-Times gets to wait until after the season is over. For me, postseason carries more weight for these types of accolades than anything else.
Sure, I could give my Player of the Year Award to the girl who scores the most points on a mediocre team that fails to advance in the postseason. That would be the easy way.
But, I like to see who does what when the season is on the line. When it's do-or-die is when the cream rises.
Everyone has their own ideas of how these awards are given out. One reporter asked Jackson Wednesday during the MVP press conference specifically about Hammon. Jackson acknowledged Hammon and the other players who had outstanding seasons. Basically, the Australian's answer was, it was the media who voted. She didn't have anything to do with it.
Jackson is a classy player and said all of the right things. She even said she was surprised to win it.
I'm not surprised. I'm a tad disappointed, but not surprised.

Sick about the WNBA playoffs

I'm pretty sick about the WNBA Playoffs, right now.
Detroit is the dirtiest team in the league. Bill Laimbeer whines and complains and bullies referees more than any other coach I've ever seen. Yet, the Detroit Shock is once again in the finals.
To make matters worse, my team, San Antonio, won't be joining them there.
The Silver Stars were eliminated in two straight games by Phoenix.
Unfortunately, you probably didn't see either game because they were on ESPN Classic and NBA TV, respectively.
It's too bad. Both games were incredible. If people could've watched them, they could've changed a lot of opinions about the product the WNBA is putting on the floor. Phoenix won the games 102-100 and 98-92. Both of the high-scoring games showcased how the league and women's basketball has evolved and how entertaining it can be.
Unfortunately again, the games on national television have included Detroit and Indiana, two of the league's better teams, no doubt, but also two of the most defensive minded. They win games ugly. They're not pretty too watch. It's halfcourt, rock-em, sock-em, half football, half basketball.
While Phoenix and San Antonio were flying up and down the court, draining 3-pointers, throwing behind-the-back passes on the break and making nifty scoops to the hoop, Detroit and Indiana were walking the ball up the court, throwing elbows and shooting a combined 30 percent from the floor.
That's not a great advertisement for a sport that's struggling to draw fans.
The few people who watched Phoenix and San Antonio, will be back to watch more WNBA action. The games were THAT good.
It's too bad more people didn't have an opportunity to watch those games. It would've been great for the league.
As someone who has supported women's basketball for more than 17 years, I'm pretty sick about the playoffs, right now.