WomenTalkSports.com is an online network that connects the very best blogs relating to women's sports. http://womentalksports.com Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:00:10 -0800This comes from an article by Jon Nyatawa, Special for USA TODAY:A year ago, Nebraska ended a season of disappointment with maybe its most frustrating display. The 'Huskers lost a second-round WNIT game at New Mexico 54-43, making 11 shots and committing 17 turnovers.The postgame feeling "was horrible," Turner remembered.But at that point, Yori was already thinking ahead. The preparation for next season starts now, she told a dejected group slated to return all but one player.The players listened. For the first time, every returnee stayed on campus for both five-week summer school sessions. They worked out together constantly. They played pickup games, including every other Sunday driving 50 miles to play members of the Creighton women's team.The 'Huskers also split into small groups, each mini-team making sure all of its members worked to improve."For the most part, everybody bought into it," Kelley said. "Everybody had a really good attitude, hence we're (undefeated)."Is it really that simple?In many ways, Yori says it is. "I've said it a lot: What we did in the offseason was what set us up to have this kind of season."But Nebraska still had work to do as practice began in October. Defense was at the top of the list.Yori's seven previous Nebraska teams all were in the lower half of the Big 12 in scoring defense and opponents' field goal percentage.Hoping to reverse the trend, Yori devoted several preseason practices to perfecting the basic principles of her help-and-recover man-to-man defense, something that requires five individuals executing flawlessly.Any mistake? Everybody ran."Before, we talked about it a lot, showed film a lot," Yori said. "Finally, this year, I said we've got to penalize them for our breakdowns. ... Some of them didn't like it very much early on."But all say they're better for it. The 'Huskers might not have pulled out a 65-56 win Jan. 17 at Baylor if they hadn't held the Bears to one field goal in the final five minutes. They forced eight turnovers in the last eight minutes Feb. 10 in a 67-60 win at Kansas. Three days later, they finished an 82-78 win at Missouri with five consecutive takeaways.They clinched the Big 12 regular-season title Feb. 24 with a 16-point victory at Oklahoma, mainly because the Sooners managed one free throw after taking a 63-62 lead with 3:33 remaining.Read the entire article at: http://bit.ly/bAnGhN http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/68/223577Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:47:00 -0800Last weekend, I rolled out to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, luckily in my big back yard of Houghton. The Michigan Tech team has been killing it the last few seasons, and I couldn’t miss the chance to watch them once again secure GLIAC Championship title. I knew it was going to be a close game against Northern Michigan, because Tech lost to them earlier in the season. After a whole heck of a lot of excitement and edge-of-my-seat screaming and cheering, the Huskies ended up winning 73-69, hammering out the last few minutes of the game with some key shots. I am looking forward to watching again on Friday night! Here’s some photos of the action, and some Youtube video at the end. I am so excited about this weekend’s games! If you’re in Houghton, make sure to get your tickets early. Michigan Tech, currently ranked first in the Midwest Region, will play the eighth-seeded Northern Kentucky in the SDC Wood Gym. http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/145/223669Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:07:00 -0800Trying to keep up here. Just landed in KC for the first two days of the Big 12 tourney for Fanhouse. Traveling Saturday to LA to arrive at the Galen Center in time for the semifinals of the Pac-10 Tournament. USC's Kayla Pedersen and USC's Briana Gilbreath. Photo courtesy of USC Athletics. Here’s the link to Pac-10 coaches all-conference honors. Individual awards to be announced at the Tournament banquet. http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031010aad.html Here’s the link to the media vote, a new addition at the behest of the coaches this year. If you ask me, and nobody did, the 15-player format is too many. http://www.pac-10.org/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/030910aae.html http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/94/223683Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:49:00 -0800I must be cautious in my choice of words. You see, in the UP, spring doesn’t come just once a year. Oh, no. Typically, spring comes, and we get all excited because we can bike outside, run on roads without Yaktraks, and even (dare I say it?) sunbathe on our back porches. And then we get a mid-April blizzard that layers a few feet of snow on the ground. But never you mind. Spring is one of my four favorite times of year! Ok, maybe five. Today I celebrated Spring #1 with a two-hour ride on 203. Nothing puts a winter’s worth of training on an indoor trainer into perspective than actually climbing 700ft elevation gain in about six miles. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. I haven’t had the opportunity to take my Jamis Xenith Race road bike out on the roads yet, and the trainer just doesn’t do it the justice it deserves. The bike is fast. Responsive. It transfers power so efficiently. I felt like I was floating over bumps in the road. And it is even a little twitchy (ok, its a lot twitchy, but that’s good, it’s a race bike!). I even careened down the hill going practically an order of magnitude faster, and I actually felt in control (sort of). I also got to test out my new shades on the bike (note the Trakkers green). They are actually called “team green” and they are custom made sunglasses (the HalfJackets by Oakley). I like ‘em. They stay put on my face, keep me from squinting outta control, and I barely feel them. Luckily, my buddy Erik has been out on the roads and he knew how clear 203 would be. It was perfect. There was very little gravel, and the traffic was minimal. It was fun riding past snowbanks, although it may have been better earlier this week when the snowbanks were a few feet taller. I guess that is what 50F weather will do. Before the ride, Erik and I met up at the pool for a little swim swam swum. I wasn’t too motivated, so I did a few 100s and dinked around with my video camera. Note to self: don’t forget your swim cap in your locker next time. I could have easily got out of the pool to grab it, but its always that much colder walking into the locker room, and I would have probably not returned. Speaking of swimming- My personal version of Swim Week is coming up in T-minus ten days. Hold on to your goggle straps as I attempt something I am not really looking forward to trying. Along with biking and running, Erik and I (along with Marg) have been hammering out hill repeats once a week up Ingot in Hancock. Our stretch is nearly a mile exactly, and it is quite a humbling feat. Nothing screams “Do more hills” than actually running up more hills. And to think, I used to be fast up them. I need to focus on attacking the hills, cuz that’s the way I was raised. So I leave you with a tired sack of sitbones, and the knowledge that my bike is back on its rack (my trainer, of course). The forecast for the rest of the week here in Houghton calls for 40F and rain, rain, rain. Goodbye snow. For now. http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/145/223668Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:34:00 -0800Chris Chelios, 48, is expected to be on the ice for the Atlanta Thrashers Thursday night after being called up from the minors. It’s not his first trip to the dance, of course. He holds the record for most NHL games played by a US player and the most  playoff games. I don’t entirely get it. I’ve always said that when I grow up I want to be retired, and I stopped playing contact sports when I was 22 because it hurt. Still, I have to respect a guy who has enthusiasm for a game when he has enough money to have kissed the agony goodbye years ago. He is not without things to do. He has a family, including sons playing hockey on the college and pro levels, restaurants, and a crowd of Hollywood friends to hang with. He chose to live with his parents in Chicago during his latest minor league stint rather than uproot his family. He chose long bus rides with the Wolves over the beach in Malibu. If that’s not love of the game, I don’t know what is. Though the comparison has been made, this doesn’t feel anything like Favre to me. He hasn’t been indecisive, created drama, or, to my knowledge, hawked ugly jeans. I understand the team wanting to bring in a veteran leader at this stage of the season, letting their other prospects continue to mature in the minors. And when he hits the ice in the playoffs he will be adding to his record of 266 playoff games. Chelios is still a few years behind the oldest player ever to retire, Gordie Howe, who played his final season with the Hartford Whalers at 51. Chelios has claimed that he is not chasing Howe’s record. [Photo] [Source] ~clumberkim http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/34/224785Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:33:00 -0800Let's review the Hall of Fame Probability calculator from our previous post. The calculator, used by Basketball-Reference.com, attempts to determine the probability of a given NBA player making the Naismith Hall of Fame given the player's statistics and accomplishments. I've always been interested in extending this calculator to the WNBA, and now I've finally been able to do it. pilight provided the MVP shares data and made some suggestions that I've incorporated into the final product. Of course, the WNBA and the NBA are not the same. Extending WNBA data to an NBA metric required overcoming some problems. As we go through the metric, we'll explain the glitches and the resolutions to those problems. Another problem - not really a problem, if you think about it - is that Hall of Fame selection for basketball depends upon factors other than one's pro career, regardless if one examines Naismith HOF or Women's Basketball HOF criteria. Contributions in college ball and the international career of a player can be considered whereas the HOF probability calculator ignores each of those. In the end, the number yielded by the HOF probability calculator is the probability that a player would make the (in our case) a hypothetical women's pro basketball HOF solely based on her professional career statistics. In real life, a player could have a probability significantly less than 100 percent but might be assured HOF selection given a strong college career or a coaching career - the HOF considers all contributions made by a player to the sport. With that in mind, let's look at each of the factors in the linear metric used by Basketball-Reference.com and check them for relevance. Player statistics: Player statistics are probably the most important part of any metric to determine player greatness - how good could a player be if her greatness doesn't show up in a box score? There must be dozens of metrics out there to evaluate player greatness; which one should be used? The answer is the "tried and true" metric of points per game/rebounds per game/assists per game, usually represented by numbers separated by slashes - 17.2/10.1/1.8. Any one who has worked with basketball metrics knows that numbers such as points per game can be misleading - point production depends on offensive pace. Your average player will have more points per game playing for the 2009 Phoenix Mercury than for the 2009 Indiana Fever. Statistics must be weighed by circumstances. Unfortunately, the average person doesn't weigh by circumstances. Bill James said that in the end a player's statistics are all that she has. Take say, Katie Smith. Everyone who has seen her knows that Smith's good. Smith, however, is getting long in the tooth and will probably retire in a couple of years, and all that women's basketball fans will have are memories of great games she played - and of course, her stats. However, people die. The cohort of fans that saw Katie Smith in a WNBA game will begin to progressively shrink after she retires, and in several decades will dwindle to the point where no one living has actually seen her play. (See: Cobb, Ty.) All we'll have are a few tantalizing film clips, and the bulk of the visual record will remain unviewed. As time passes, Smith's stat line - the only thing that will not change about her - will gain greater and greater prominence. The problem is that out of the statline, the only stats most people will care about are PPG/RPG/APG, deprived of context. What I admire about the HOF probability calculator is that it weights on the things that most fans consider to be important and not on the things statisticians consider to be important. Do we have to adjust these stats to make the metric work? Yes. The metric depends on a 48 minute game; the WNBA has always played for only 40 minutes. Stats have to be ballooned to 48 minutes by multiplying by 6/5. There is another problem in that the WNBA has not always used a 24 second clock - this problem is handled in another part of the metric. A final problem is that due to a set of indeterminate factors, assists are not as common in the WNBA as they are in the NBA. That part of the metric, sadly, can't be fixed and those players like Lindsay Whalen who can deal the dimes get shortchanged. Most Valuable Player Shares: We've already written about MVP Shares. A review of the idea: one looks at Most Valuable Player voting for any given year. The top voter getter in any year - the MVP - is given a full MVP share of "one (1)" for the year, and the runners up are given a fraction of a share based on how close they came to the player who was chosen MVP. A player's MVP shares are added across her career. This part of the metric determines what the working press thought of the player's career. Part of what makes a player a member of the Hall of Fame is good press. Players that made an impression on a city's beat reporters and HOF balloters get credit in the metric. All-Star Selections: The metric also positively weights players who for one reason or another were fan favorites. Creators of Hall of Fame metrics - of any sport - disdain All-Star selections, not wanting to turn their respective Halls of Fame into popularity contests. This doesn't make much sense, since in a manner of speaking being a member of the Hall of Fame is exactly like winning a popularity contest - the only difference is in the reasons given for being chosen Prom Queen, so to speak. A better way to put it is that fans of the sport fear that the Hall of Fame will be open to charismatic (but mediocre) players. Seeing as how the Naismith HOF has few women - players or otherwise - in their HOF and that the Women's Basketball HOF is just getting started, this isn't much of a concern...[i]yet[/i]. Filling a Hall of Fame is always difficult. You don't want to be like the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame where gaining membership is rather difficult, but you don't want to open the floodgates either where fans begin to talk about "weak Hall of Famers". You want the balance to be "just right". On the other hand, you have to give the fans credit for something. Most of the fans selections are spot on, but there are a few perpetual Hall of Famers, particularly in women's basketball where the players aren't well known and a visitor might cast an All-Star ballot for the few names he or she recognizes. However, players like that had to be doing something right to begin with to become so well-known. There are two problems in counting All-Star Game selections. The first is that the WNBA had one year - 2008 - where it held no All-Star Game. Another problem is that the WNBA has only been holding All-Star games since 1999 but the league has been around since 1997. pilight suggested that players who won medals in the Olympic Games should be given credit for an All-Star selection. I agreed, provided that the medal earned was bracketed by ABL/WNBA years on either side of their Olympic appearance. Lauren Jackson gets some honorary All-Star selections (but nothing earned before 2001). Beijing Becky Hammon gets an honorary All-Star selection for playing with the Russians. Technically, this method could be extended to the 1998 FIBA games to create some pseudo-All Stars. However, I don't have the data that I need. Besides, the ABL players had All-Star games before 1999; let's give those players an advantage for once. Height: Height is the only part of the metric with a negative coefficient - the taller you are, the more credit the metric takes away. It isn't because tall players aren't any good. The reason is that if you have player who is 5-foot-6 and a player who is 6-foot-6 and their stats are exactly alike, you assume that the smaller player is better because she did more with less. The problem is that WNBA are (obviously) not as tall as NBA players. I've thought about the height problem a lot. I found somewhere on line where it stated that female height is distributed the same way as male height - the probability that some female is 20 percent less than a female of average height is exactly the same as the probability that some male is 20 percent less than a male of average height. The only difference in both problems? The average heights. My conclusion was that the average ABL/WNBA player was 6'1" and the average NBA player was 6'7". I therefore granted each WNBA player an increase of six inches in height so that the NBA metric would work. pilight states that the difference in average heights is closer to seven inches that it is to six but I'm keeping the six inch difference for now. Last year played: After the 2005 season, the WNBA made two changes to the game - they abandoned the halves system in favor of quarters, and they dumped the 30-second college clock for the 24-second pro clock. The transition from 2005 to 2006 provides a useful benchmark between the two styles of play. Furthermore, if a player's pro career ended before 2005, there's a good chance that she got cheated out of some of her productive years. If she retired at age 35 in 2005, she was born in 1970 and by the time pro ball started again in the US she was 26 or 27. Therefore, if a player's career ended in 2005 or before, the player was granted a bonus in the metric. If your last year of play is 2005 or earlier, you get the bonus. If the year is later, you don't get the bonus. It's strictly an either-or proposition. If the league is still around in 2020, I might move the "switch" to give a bonus to any player whose career ended in 2009 or earlier - but for now, we stick with 2005. Rings: It's the old argument: "yeah, Chamique Holdsclaw is a great player, but how many rings does she have?" The idea is a simple one: great players win championships. They excel in the post-season, they elevate their teams, whatever you want to call it. How can one be a Hall of Famer without the hardware to prove it? It's simple - players get extra weight in the metric for championship rings, even if they were just the water-carriers on championship teams. (Ask Bill James about all the New York Giants players from the 1920s that ended up in the Hall of Fame.) Out of the 11 players who got a perfect score in the metric, only three of those players don't have a ring - and for two of those players, their career ended before the start of the 2006 season. Houston Comets fans will rejoice; New York Liberty fans not so much. The hard part is determining who got a ring - who was on the roster at the end of the season - and who wasn't. I did the best I could with that. (* * *) Now, we take all of these numbers, throw them into a blender, and have them spell "mother". The final number yielded is a number between 0 and 100. This number represents the probability that the player could get in a hypothetical Hall of Fame based solely on their professional career. Let's walk through the case of Player X. (Maybe you can even guess who Player X is.) Ms. X played 216 games, all in the WNBA so we don't have to worry about ABL rings or MVP shares. Her averages per game were 13.4 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game and 1.2 assists per game. (I've rounded the exact numbers, and exact numbers are used in the calcuation.) Multiplying each of these by 6/5 gives us 16.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 1.4 APG - these are what her numbers would be if she was an NBA player. What about MVP shares? She got 303 votes for MVP in 1998, but Cynthia Cooper got 426, so that's 303/426 = 0.71 shares. Add another 0.01 share for the three MVP votes she received in 1999. She never got any other votes, so she has a total of 0.72 MVP shares. All-Star Games? Only one. She was tagged in 1999 but was never called an All-Star again. Her listed height was 6'3", or 75 inches. We add six inches to that to make her an NBA player, giving her 81 on our inches metric. Was her last season before 2005? Her last season was in 2003, so she gets the "2005 and before bonus" which is equal to one (1). Any championship rings? Not a one. She gets a "zero" in the rings department. Now let's add everything: The sum is used as an exponent in the formua e^x/(1+e^x). We calculate e^0.203/(1+e^0.203) and get 0.551, which is a probability of 55 percent. In other words, given this player's professional career, the chances that that player would end up in the HOF based solely on her pro years is 55 percent. There are ten players on the list of perfect scores - each player got 100 percent in the metric, rounding up. One of these players is already in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Barring insanity in Knoxville, Tennessee, the other nine soon will be. In alphabetical order, those players are: Tamika Catchings: She's the only player in the Perfect Ten who doesn't have a ring and is still playing. She got very close in 2009, though. Clearly one of the great-uns. A freshman on the undefeated 1998 Tennessee NCAA Championship team. Also a member of the All-Decade Team. Cynthia Cooper: Coooooop. Four rings. What's so amazing about Cooper is that she lost a great hunk of her pro career and ended up with four rings in spite of it all. She's the only member of the Perfect Ten that's already in the Hall of Fame. All-Decade Team member. Yolanda Griffith: Those Sacramento Monarchs fans out there will Stand Up and Testify. She didn't have a college career at a Big Name University, but Griffith won an MVP award in WNBA and two Olympic gold medals Someday, Yo will be in Knoxville. Yo is also an All-Decade Team member. Lauren Jackson: The Aussie. Every year, fans in Seattle hold their breath in hopes that LJ will return. Even if she moves to the Outback and never touches American soil again - she's done enough. She's won a lot of silver for the Australian team and she is also an All-Decade Team member. Lisa Leslie: If she were Leroy Leslie, she would have averaged a double-double in the NBA. Some say she's a primadonna, but she sure belted out beautiful arias in the WNBA. A good argument could be made that Leslie is the Best Player Ever. All-Decade team member. Katie Smith: I think of her as the Lou Gehrig of the WNBA. The Iron Woman. Rings in two different pro leagues. The most games played out of the Elite Eleven. All-Decade team member. Sheryl Swoopes: If you say Coop, you must say Swoop(es). Game Texas Tech an NCAA championship in 1993. First women's basketball player to have a shoe named after her. She kept playing for as long as she could, and she still wants to play. We might not have seen the last of Swoopes. All-Decade team member. Diana Taurasi: For those who argue that Leslie is the best ever, there are voices from Phoenix saying "Dee ain't finished yet." The youngest player on the list. Led Connecticut to three straight NCAA championships. When she steps on the floor, fans say "that's the best player here" even if they know nothing about women's basketball - or, for that matter, basketball. All-Decade team honorable mention. Tina Thompson: When the sun goes cold and the earth is a lifeless rock floating freely in space, Katie Smith and Tina Thompson will still be playing one-on-one with the last basketball in existence. Second to Lisa Leslie in all-time points scored. All-Decade team member. Natalie Williams: I never knew how good Natalie Williams was. It sounds like I missed a lot. First woman to be named an All-American in basketball and volleyball. Great internatioal player. All around great athlete. ABL superstar.   All of the above received 100 percent on the Hall of Fame probability calculator. All of these women could get into a Hall of Fame based on their American pro career alone. But with names like this, you don't need a calculator to tell you they're great. Coming next: those players who fell short of 100 percent. Like, for example, that nameless player who got 99 percent. But she made it in anyway. http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/267/223707Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:08:00 -0800According to the WNBA website, Marion Jones has just signed a contract with the Tulsa Shock. Whether she'll make the team is another question but...she's been signed up."Watching her go through drills, I saw a player who's perfect for our system," Richardson said. "The one thing I do know is she can run, and any player on my team who wants to be successful needs to be able to run."Paulball vs. Nolanball? Well, the Shock don't have any players anyway - there are sill some big questions marks about who will be returning to the Shock this season - so unless someone has better suggestions, there's not much grounds for complaint.The news made the Times, at least. As a matter of fact, it was pretty big news in sports today. Like the WNBA or hate it, people couldn't stop talking about it. I wonder if Donna O used hypnosis on Richardson? http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/324/223674Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:19:00 -0800The first problem was deciding what to eat for dinner. After a large bowl of fresh fruit salad over late afternoon coffee with a friend, my inclination was to eat something light what with my master’s swim practice starting at 8:30 p.m. What sounded good? Cereal. And so I had two bowls of cereal for dinner followed by a yogurt. That was mistake No. 1. Foods one can tolerate before a workout are highly individual. For me, this was not a wise choice. By the third 250, which including sprinting the middle 50, my gastrointestinal system was not too pleased with me. My pace slowed to complete the workout, though I get the “fast 50s” at a hard pace, slowing down the moderate portions to, well, slow. But I survived the workout. Then I got out of the pool. And Swim Master Greg just shook his head at me. Swim Master Greg shot some video of my workout and showed it to me. Even after concentrating on form, even after really thinking about finishing my stroke … I wasn’t. It was clear, even on the tiny iPod nano screen — my arms were coming out of the water far too early. I still wasn’t finishing my stroke. I still was failing to capitalize on nearly 40 percent of my power. Frankly, I was bummed. Since Swim Master Greg pointed out the lack of power in my stroke, my workouts in the pool have been centered and focused on completing the entire motion, on using that extra push, on feeling the glide. My presence in the water felt different. My arms were sore and tired in different (and good) ways. I thought I was making progress. Alas, not much had changed. My first inclination? To repeat the totally useless phrase of “I suck” over and over again in my head. To decide that I’ll never get this right, so what’s the use? I suck at this. Trying to correct this is an exercise in futility. Oh, yeah, helpful thoughts (she wrote sarcastically). But the important thing I’ve learned is that thoughts are well, just thoughts. Why can’t I have another thought? Thoughts are pretty easy to change. The pattern of our thoughts may take some time to alter on a permanent basis, but the initial thought? Well, why don’t I choose another one? So instead of thinking that I suck, I thought how grateful I was to have a swim coach who paid attention to my stroke, who cares enough to help me correct it, who is patient enough to explain the same thing, over and over again, until I start to understand. I was grateful for the technology of the video camera, which was able to show me exactly what I was doing wrong  – and, let me not forget, the things I had started doing better. No longer tumbling into the free fall abyss of negativity which parts of my mind seem to enjoy so much, it became easy to find things to celebrate. My thoughts have turned toward eager — ready to get back in the pool and try some new approaches to getting the most out of my power. http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/446/224784Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:12:00 -0800Wow. It looks like training camp is going to be crowded. I didn't even know that the WNBA transactions page was active. And now it is. Things are finally heating up in the W.On February 25th, the Atlanta Dream signed point guard Erica White to a training camp contract. White graduated from Louisiana State in 2008 and was a second-round draft pick for the Houston Comets. During her brief time for the Comets, she averaged 3.6 points a game in 12 minutes of play, with 1.4 assist per game. That first year doesn't seem particularly amazing for White, but she played in all 34 games of the final Houston Comets season. She moved on to Indiana in 2009, where she lasted two games before Lin Dunn let her go. Right now, she's playing for the Hapoel Tel-Aviv team in Israel, averaging 16.7 points per game and 8.5 assists per game. Let's hope she brings that heat with her to Atlanta. Welcome, Erica!(Note: Erica White is only 5'3" tall. That's her listed height, so who knows how tall she really is? At last, someone that Ivory Latta towers over.)And today, the Dream signed Demetress Adams. Admas was a 6'4" forward out of South Carolina. She was a WNBA prospect but she went undrafted, and ended up in Spain........but not in the Liga Femenina. She ended up in the Liga Femenina 2, starting briefly with Extremadura Caceres before moving in Janaury to Burgos. For Burgos, she's scored 6.9 points per game, 6.9 rebounsd per game and 0.4 assists per game. She's only hitting 44 percent of her free throws (8-for-18). Maybe 166 minutes of play isn't enough to judge a player - but looking at this statline doesn't fill me with confidence. Still, Burgos is 19-3 in the LFB2 and will probably be promoted to the Liga Femenina at the end of the year after a two-year absence. Welcome, Demetress, and we hope you have a great training camp in April! http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/324/223673Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:52:00 -0800by : Jenna Goldberg Sources say Stephanie Gilmore is not a name soon forgotten. Checking the ASP archives alone- the 22-year old Australian from New South Wales has nabbed 3 consecutive ASP World Titles; one for every year she has competed on tour since 2007 (Also the first rookie in history to claim the ASP World Title in her first year on tour.) Combined with an incredible amount of ASP Dream Tour wins (11), style and a smile, Steph is the complete all-star status. After taking the Roxy Pro Gold Coast title for 2010, Steph holds the top position on tour with eight stops remaining. Surfing on her home turf of Gold Coast of Australia, Steph defended her title with good wave selection and the confidence of a fit and talented surfer. The remaining semi finalists of the Roxy Pro were no chance contenders- Melanie Bartels (HAW), and Coco Ho (HAW) also made it through to the semifinals in 2009, as well as 2005 ASP World Champion Chelsea Hedges who claimed a top score of the competition, 16.60 points out of a possible 20. Chelsea took a sabbatical from full-time competition in 2008 to become a mom, and has now rejoined the tour as a top competitor. “I’m enjoying and loving my surfing right now,” Chelsea,26, said. “I probably don’t get to surf as much as the other girls with free surfing. Being a mom is tough. It’s hard to get all those hours in the water. I’m lucky to get one surf a day, but at the same time, every surf I do have, I’m really amped, and I love every minute of it. I’m like a little kid again. I feel like Coco and Sally, and those girls - I’m just a bit older though.” Although she didn’t claim the Gold Coast title, Mel says she’s an improved competitive version of herself. We last saw Mel during the Van’s Triple Crown in Hawai’i this past winter. Since then she has hired a coach to improve her psyche on tour. “I’ve been having trouble mentally,” Mel said. “It’s not my surfing that I need help with. It’s more mentally so she (Coach Nancy Emerson) is helping me keep positive and surrounding me with positive vibes, and everyone has been supporting me and just believing in me. I’m beginning to believe in myself now, so you will see a different Mel on tour this year.” She isn’t the first top pro surfer to take a step back and check their mental state before returning to competition. On the men’s tour, both Bruce and Andy Irons have pulled themselves from the tour to focus on free surfing and to rediscover their passion. As her sixth year on tour, Mel is fired up to bring some titles home to Makaha, Hawai’i. North of Makaha, and beginning her second year on the ASP Tour, Sunset Beach local Coco is retaining her position as a top contender. After finishing third overall in 2009, Coco finishes in the top four of the Roxy Pro, sharing the number 3 spot on tour alongside Chelsea. The next stop on the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour will be the Rip Curl Women’s Pro presented by Ford New Fiesta at Bells Beach from March 30 through April 5, 2010. The final four from 2009 are Sally Fitzgibbons, Stephanie Gilmore, Silvana Lima and Sofia Mulanovich. After Steph and Sil battled it out in the finals, Sil was the one to take home the big bell (which is now tattooed on her ribs!) If that isn’t a reason to defend your title, I don’t know what is. 

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com 

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS: 
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.40
 2 – Melanie Bartels (HAW) 10.35 

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
 SF1: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.00 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 9.17 
SF2: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 13.00 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 10.30

 ASP WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After Roxy Pro Gold Coast)
 1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
 2 – Melanie Bartels (HAW)
 3 – Coco Ho (HAW) 
3 – Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 
5 – Silvana Lima (BRA)
 5 – Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
 5 – Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
 5 – Rebecca Woods (AUS) http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/428/224782Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:34:00 -0800 http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/431/223575Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:00:00 -0800UConn becomes the winningest women's basketball team in history:   While South Dakota State celebrates its victory in the Summit League tournament: http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/40/222523Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:47:00 -0800 The weekend of April 10-11 marks the dates of the 2nd annual Sunrise Classic bike races, presented by the ZMotion racing team. The circuit and criterium races seem a little too hard core for my racing ability, but I am thinking about racing in the time trial.  There is a 30 second staggered start for the time trial, so although I may be passed by faster racers starting after me, at least it's not a mass start. For the circuit race and downtown criterium, Cat 4 women race the same time as CAT 1-3. Sounds too intimidating for my blood. But I've done a couple of local time trials, that have a 1 minute staggered start time, so I think I would be okay to do the Sunrise Classic time trial without freaking out. Saturday, April 10 Bank Atlantic Center 1 Panther Parkway Sunrise, FL 33323 8 AM - start of circuit race 4 PM - start of time trial Sunday, April 11 Esplanade Park 400 SW 2nd St. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33021 8 AM - start of criterium Sunrise Classic Race Registration Cyclists can register for any of the Sunrise Classic events either through the USA Cycling website, or by visiting the Florida Cycling website.  Entry Fees $35 circuit race $15 time trial $35 downtown criterium Kids 9 and under race free No fee for spectators  A USA Cycling license is required to participate in any of these races. A one day license can be purchased for $10. Onsite registration starts at 7:30 AM For additional race details, visit the ZMotion website: www.zmotion.org. Here's a video of last years Sunrise Classic: Take care, Lynn Smythe AKA the Bike Diva http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/63/222493Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:50:00 -0800Wallace Renfro: "Profitability no indicator of importance of college athletics programs" The link above is worth a read as information with which to respond to people who say women's sports and/or Title IX hurt universities because they don't generate revenue. "There’s something wrong with that concept – that somehow or another, intercollegiate athletics is failing because it’s not paying its way," Renfro said at the workshop, which was held on the campus of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. "Take a look at a campus and take a look at the number of departments that don’t even come close to paying their way. They exist because the university believes it’s important to have those departments. "What you have in higher education is a very complex system of cross-subsidization. There are a few areas in a few places that make a lot of money. Those monies are used to help pay for those other things that universities believe they must have if they’re going to have comprehensive university. Imagine, for example, if people said we should cut history departments because they weren't profitable. That sounds rather Orwellian and thus frightening to me. http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/267/223302Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:04:00 -0800 While the horse racing takes center stage at the Kentucky Derby, the hats of derby spectators are definitely a close second. The colorful, overly embellished and over-sized headgear choices are always a sight to see. To celebrate the road to the 136th Kentucky Derby, Maggie Mae Designs and Old Friends have teamed up for an online shopping experience: "Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby." This unique Derby hat auction began November 1st and features six months of one-of-a-kind couture Derby hats created by Maggie Mae Designs to benefit Old Friends, a facility for retired horses. Maggie Mae designs are known for their custom couture millenry with hats that are perfectly crafted and tailored to suit each individual's tastes and needs. And what's even better is that all of the proceeds from this auction will benefit retired thoroughbred racehorses that are too old for racing or breeding. The auction of high-fashion hats will continue through April, as we get closer and closer to one of the most exciting few minutes in sports. Each time a new hat is introduced, bidding is conducted for 10 days on the Old Friends website at www.oldfriendsequine.org or at www.maggiemae.com.  Currently, the "Academy Award" hat seen below is the fifth hat up for bidding. "Academy Award" is a 24-year old stallion and one of the only surviving sons of Triple Crown winner Secretariat. And this gorgeous design is only a preview of what's to come as we reach Derby Day.   - Glam Gal - http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/365/222561Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:11:00 -0800