Top female athlete?

The Associated Press continued its annual insult to female athletes everywhere last week when it named Serena Williams as its Female Athlete of the Year.
Actually, choosing Serena Williams as the top female athlete in the world over the past 12 months is never that far fetched. She is the best female tennis player in the world, regardless of where the official rankings put her.
In this country, the only women recognized as athletes are tennis players. So, whoever the top female tennis player is will automatically be the top female athlete.
The Associated Press drove this point home when it revealed Kim Clijsters as its third choice as Female Athlete of the Year. Clijsters was certainly a feel-good story, retiring, having a baby then returning to win the U.S. Open.
But, the third best athlete in the world?
Of course, that's still better than the runner-up - Zenyatta. That's right, a freaking horse was named the second best female athlete in the world.
All women should be insulted, even the ladies who work at PETA.
It just galls me that tennis is the only acceptable sport in this country, according to the AP. That's just so ... wrong!
It's unfortunate, I guess, that the real top female athlete in the world is probably not an American. That honor, if done fairly, would probably go to either Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini or Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva. They are the female counterparts to Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt in their respective sports.
If you have to pick an American, and in this country, you do, I can still come up with a couple other choices.
I'm not a big fan of hers but WNBA MVP Diana Taurasi had a pretty good year. Ignoring the whole DUI thing, she led her team to a championship, led the league in scoring, won MVP and is coming off an Olympic gold medal year.
Like I said, we can ignore the drunk driving especially since AP didn't count Serena's U.S. Open tirade against a lines person in its evaluation.
To be fair to the Associated Press, if foreign athletes can't win the award, which apparently they can't on the women's side, it leaves fairly slim pickings. No golfer stood out and Danica Patrick didn't exactly dominate her sport.
The media in this country still considers the WNBA a joke. To recognize one of its players as an athlete, much less world's best female athlete, would give the league credibility. Lord knows no one at the AP would ever do that.
So, perhaps there was no Female Athlete of the Year. Then again, here's my choice - Gina Carano.
Yes, mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, to me, would've been a great choice. Sure, she lost her big fight to the Brazilian Cyborg, but she, almost singlehandedly, has that sport on the map for women. She was and is the face of women's mixed martial arts. More importantly, she sold a pay-per-view event. Her face, her name, her skill sold out an arena and carried a fight card.
Carano grabbed the spotlight and, even in defeat, she did something with it. She made people watch and, more importantly, those that watched will watch her again.
If the WNBA had delivered as well in its debut season, the league would be a lot better off today.
So, for what she's done in her sport, laying the groundwork for, potentially, a solid future for women's mixed martial arts, Gina Carano should've been named Female Athlete of the Year.
Hey, at least when she threatened to kill someone, it wasn't against the rules.

The pain of losing

Basketball season has only just begun and teams have already started to rollercoaster. Norphlet's girls suffered through an 0-3 start, playing sporadically with about a game a week. Finally, the Lady Leopards got to play back-to-back games, winning two before falling in the finals of Magnolia's tournament Saturday.
Parkers Chapel jumped out to a 6-0 start but has dropped two of its last three, including one to Norphlet after handing the Lady Leopards their first two losses of the season.
El Dorado and Strong seem to be steady Eddie and congratulations to Henry Harrell at Junction City for their 2-1 start to the season. I'm not really feeling Smackover, right now. Hopefully, the Lady Bucks will get better.
So, what does all this mean for the season?
Nothing.
Who you beat and who you lose to in November and December mean nothing at the end of the year. The only thing that matters is how those early-season wins and losses help you later on.
He won't admit it, but I still firmly believe former Union coach Gary Don Smith lost a game on purpose in the SAU Tournament just to get his team's attention. Like I said, he would never admit it because coaches are paid to win games, not lose them.
But, he had said his girls were starting to think they were pretty darn good and were getting hard to coach. The Lady Cyclones lost to a team that shouldn't have beaten them, nearly self-destructed in the next practice.
That team went on to play in the state finals.
I tell this story because losses in December should make a team desperate not for the taste of victory but to avoid the bitter losses. In the end, I still think the best motivation isn't the promise of victory but the pain of a loss.
Losing hurts. Once it happens, you never want it to happen again.
Basketball is a long, grueling season. All these teams will win again and most will lose again, too. It's not who you beat or who beats you, but how you handle it that matters.
At the end of the season, the team that hates to lose the most will usually win.

The week from hell

If you see me around town with a dazed look on my face, just walk on by. Don't say a word because I probably don't see you and definitely won't hear you.
This week is going to be week that sends me into retirement.
Monday, I covered El Dorado's girls in the Simmons First Oil Belt Tournament. The Lady Wildcats are good but watching them stone Dollarway 35-0 in the first quarter was not pleasant.
Monday night, I started feeling the beginnings of an illness. Great!
Tonight, I'm off to Norphlet to watch the Lady Leopards take on Strong. These are potentially the two top girls teams in the conference so it's a game I need to see. Unfortunately, a few miles away Parkers Chapel takes on Nevada in a game I'd like to see as well. Dadgummit.
Wednesday, I have a trip to Magnolia planned to watch the Lady Trojans in the SAU Tournament.
On Thursday, it's back to El Dorado for another tournament game. El Dorado vs Neville should be much more entertaining than Monday's debacle.
When Friday gets here, hopefully I'll go back to Magnolia to see Parkers Chapel take on Magnolia. That would be worth the drive as the Lady Trojans would play their third game in four days.
Let's see, Saturday is the 6A State championship football game. I told you guys El Dorado's football team was the real deal. The Wildcats face Pine Bluff at noon at War Memorial Stadium. Find a way, boys.
If I hustle, I can make it back to Union County in time to watch the finals of El Dorado's basketball tournament Saturday evening. Lest we forget, SAU's tournament will also crown a champion Saturday night.
Obviously, I'm going to miss some things this week that I'd really like to see. I'm slurping NyQuil and popping DayQuil pills along with orange juice so hopefully I can make as many events as possible.
So, if you see me and speak to me and I don't speak back. Don't hold it against me. I'm actually working this week and my body might not be used to it.