Women's Sports Blog

Alabama, Georgia Advance To Super Regionals

My cursory coverage of current events continues.  Only a few more days until I can concentrate on blogging again.  Thanks for being patient. 

Anyhow, these two softball teams blew through the competition and will be joined by several more today.  Regionals are round-robin double-elimination (not the same thing), which is fairer than single-elimination but more grueling and takes longer.  If the tourney were single-elimination Texas would have been national champs a few times during the Osterman era, that's for sure. 

The Parker Scores 34 In First Pro Game

Overhyped?  Someone get her a dictionary, 'cause she's having some trouble with the definition of the word.  LA squeaked past defending champs Phoenix in their opener. 

As many have already noted, catch the WNBA season pass and watch streaming video online here.

What's The Spanish For 'Bite Me'?

Lorena's expressing that sentiment with her driver right now, as she's stormed back from a small lull in her season to lead the rain-shortened Sybase Classic (held in toney Upper Montclair) by one stroke over Brittany Lang.  Christina Kim, who's quietly having an awesome season, is tied for third. 

Steroids At The Track

Well, naysayers, this isn't hitting home runs. It isn't allegedly autonomous, choosing subjects in an allegedly free market economy.  It's horses being exploited by their owners for monetary gain.  Either way you look at it, steroids contributed to the death of the most promising filly in recent memory.  Either Big Brown was being loaded with them and Eight Belles wasn't, which is unlikely but is what her trainer claims, in which case it was physically impossible for her to keep up, or they were both on steroids and it increased the chance that her chest muscle mass would be too much for her matchstick legs.  So we can ban these substances and start breeding racehorses for some sanity and a frame their physiology can support, or they die in even greater numbers than they already do today.  Just to let you know, the thoroughbreds which aren't sent off for stud are killed.  Yes, they take a million-dollar animal and slaughter it.  What a great 'sport.' 

Another Take On The Henin Retirement

Viewed from another angle, it could smack of petulance, no?  "If I can't win, I'm going to take my ball and go home."  And I'm sure the steroid thing is going to rear its head somehow.  I still prefer my nicer interpretation. 

Wambach Interview Moderately Revealing

She's on her way back into fans' good graces, is my guess.   This A.P. interview breaks some new ground.

After several years of being forced to be anal-retetive enough to suck up furniture, the players seem to be unbending under Pia's regime.  Wambach says one thing that I'm fairly sure gave the PR people fits, which is cheering.  She comes across as more open and vulnerable than arrogant here.  And she admits some mild regret for the aftermath of the Hope debacle.  The article's author does a nice job summarizing what went wrong there; too bad then that Abby's game gets described as Mia's game plus size, which kind of wrecks the illusion of knowing anything about soccer.

According to John Oliver, every time someone around the world uses the word 'soccer,' an English person dies.  So clap your hands very hard and maybe you can revive the one I just dropped. 

Of, For The Love of Pete....

I thought that I had posted Graham Hayes' retelling of the amazing collegiate softball story more than a week ago, and it turns out I never replaced the place holder in the html.  It's fixed now. 

Div I. Softball Tourney Schedule

Courtesty of Ultimate College Softball.  Play begins this weekend!

The Dream Of Playing Football

After all my pontificating about how pro sports aren't life, here's yet another group of women who are trying to get the right to earn a living, and more power to them.  Papa Louie sent me a note about this New York Times piece, remarking that he found most poignant the 'little girls who would sleep with footballs.' 

Photos Of The Day: Henin and Sorenstam

Justine announces her retirement (AP/Geert Vaden Wjingaert, which incidentally is the most Flemish name ever in the Book of Things Flemish); Annika Sorenstam throws out of the first pitch at the Mets game the night she announced her retirement (Chris McGrath/Getty).