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.