All women's basketball fans know about ACLs. But what do we know about what an athlete must do return to the court?

Michelle Smith of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the process in, "THE LONG ROAD BACK: ACL injuries exact as much a mental toll as a physical one on athletes."

It all begins with the shock of the injury, often a combination of grief and denial. The reverberations can ripple through the entire team, other players working through their fear that this could well happen to them - because it often does.

Those initial days are followed by the stark realities of surgery and months of rehab, compounded, particularly in-season, by the isolation of being the one left behind as everyone else moves on.

A little 'Essence-tial" reading: Carson is in the Daily News...

Carson, the Liberty's top pick in April's draft, is hoping she can help return the franchise to the level of success she remembers as a kid. She'll take her first step today when the Liberty debut its newest star at the Garden in the season opener against the Sun.

...and part of a NorthJersey.com story

The Liberty president has been a fixture at Rutgers games since the WNBA began, scouting the players in Scarlet Knights' uniforms and the opponents Rutgers brings in. All these years, Blazejowski has heard the exhortations from fans: "If you'll just take a Rutgers player. ..."

"We'd smile and say we'll see what happens," Blazejowski said.

And then she smiled, because this year, in the 12th WNBA draft, it finally happened. The Liberty drafted not just a Rutgers player, but one of the most adored — all-time games leader and Paterson native Essence Carson.

The new era of Storm basketball got off to a slow start, but a 22-1 run helped them go on to a 67-61 victory over the visiting Sky.

"That little spurt in the third and fourth quarter is what we envisioned when we put this team together," Brian Agler said. All of the Storm's All-Stars were a factor in the win. “We have five players in here who can make plays,” said Sue Bird, who finished with 13 points. “Every one of us has been the go-to player at some point in our careers and has had to make plays.

Kevin Pelton and Jayda Evans both live blogged during the game and gave their usual welcome observations from press row.

Chasity Melvin scored 15 points for the Sky, but Sylvia Fowles was limited to just over 15 mintues because of foul trouble.

There was no Yo or DeMya, but the Monarchs showed they still have a lot of weapons and defensive intensity in a 73-64 win over the Silver Stars.

Adrian Williams-Strong and Rebekkah Brunson combined for 23 points and 16 rebounds on the inside for Sacramento. Laura Harper had a solid debut 10 points, 5 rebounds and two blocks. "We need our rookies to play well," Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek said.

Ticha Penichiero was successful in running a faster paced offense and the Monarchs held the Silver Stars to under 33% from the floor on the defensive end. In her second season as head coach, the Monarchs finally appear to be Boucek's team.

Sophia Young was a bright spot for San Antonio with 22 points on 10-18 from the floor.

Both teams were without their best player, but the Fever still had Katie Douglas to rely on as they downed the Mystis 64-53.

Douglas scored 23 points in her Fever debut and her team outscored the Mystics by 12 in the final quarter. Lin Dunn on Douglas: [Katie] played a lot of minutes tonight. She knows how to score and will find a way to score. Now people should understand why we worked so hard to bring her here. Her defense caused some problems.”

The Fever's bench was also important to the victory. Four reserves were part of a critical 9-0 run for Indiana to start the fourth quarter.

Candace Parker showed why many are picking her team to win it all and why the Sparks may have turned down trade offers for multiple All-Stars for the rookie sensation Parker nearly had a triple double as L.A. held off Diana Taurasi, Cappie Pondexter and the Mercury in an entertaining 99-94 win.

As L.A. Times columnist Kurt Streeter writes - "How many times can you write the words fantastic, superb and perfect?"

For the Mercury, the team stayed close with their trademark syle of play and a a gutsy performance from Cappie Pondexter who scored 32 points after just arriving from Turkey. But Pondexter also picked up a late game technical foul that helped the Sparks seal the victory.

Despite the loss, Corey Gaines was pleased with the effort from his team. “They played hard. I can’t ask for more,” he said. “Cappie just flew in and Dee just flew in. We haven’t practiced together yet. I was happy.”

The Sun welcomed the Dream into the league with a dominating 100-68 win.

Atlanta got off to a good start and had some highlights for the franchise's first game. But the Sun proved to have too many weapons and reached the century mark for the first time at home. As Tamika Raymond commented, ”For us to pull out a win if any caliber, whether it's an expansion team or the team they picked to finish No. 1 in the east, it's a great win for us.”

Barbara Turner scored 15 points off the bench in her Sun debut and energized the crowd and her team. "She got that energy flowing in all of us," Tamika Whitmore said. "The crowd fed off her. We fed off her. We started to run more smoothly." Whitmore had a game high 22 points and Ashja Jones added 18. The Sun outrebounded the Dream 53-29. Their rebounding total was a team record.

Said Mike Thibault: “I don’t think we scratched the surface of what we can be.”

The season tipped off yesterday with Detroit crushing Houston 85-66. The Shock were able to use some of their new additions in a decisive second half run.

Deanna Nolas was limited to 17 minutes because of an ankle injury, so rookie Alexis Hornbuckle took advantage of the playing opportunity. “I thought Hornbuckle did a great job defensively for us,” Bill Laimbeer said. “Franchise record in steals - that’s pretty decent for a first-game rookie.”

Katie Smith set the pace offensively with a game high 21, while Cheryl Ford pulled down 11 rebounds. Smith's game seemed to benefit from a move to the wing. "I'm playing more of the No. 2 guard and small forward instead of point guard and that's more of a scoring opportunity," said Smith. "I'm just playing the game and looking for the defense gives me. I'm not just about scoring points. I'm about playing the game."

The Comets were led by Tina Thompson, Mwadi Mabika and Matee Ajavon.

A little love for the Liberty from Newsday.

Slam continues their W coverage with an IM interview with Candice Wiggins and a Goody interview with Katie Smith.

The Day's Mike DiMauro writes of Tamika's Inferno. That's Tamika Raymond.

More W season previews, some of them on radio (hence in a Web-friendly audio stream):

Lynx (and Timberwolves) statistics hero Paul Swanson talks to Blanche (about an hour and a half in-- you van fast-forward).

Clay talks to Only a Game.

Back in the print world, Miko tells the Courant what she expects from the Sun (and shows off her wheels). The same paper has its own preview.

Down San Antonio way, fans ask: can the Stars repeat last year's success? That paper (whose SASS coverage has improved) makes its own season preview an elegant Q&A.

Jayda fills new Storm fans in on the recent history of Seattle's team.

LJ on 2008: ""Everything has completely changed. I don't feel as much pressure as I've felt in a long time on the court, which is crazy. I feel like it's going to be good."

At Jayda's crosstown rival, sunny views surround the Storm's new owners, new veteran signees, new coach.

Says Sue Bird: "I really like the way Brian [Agler] has things going."

Look who's joined .com's Blog Squad.

Just wanna say, that someone telling me "there's no kvetching this week about coverage" is like waving a red flag at a bull -- occasional contrarian that I may be.

But, since I'm such a mensch, I won't, and will simply direct you to the appropriate links:

TV Guide "She Hoops to Conquer."

Mark at the AJC is "Wishing the Dream well."

Kelly "bangs of steel" Miller gets five questions.

The W adverts get better?

Ned writes about Asjha Jones getting acquainted with her brand new team. He also claims some full color stuff with previews and capsules... I expect Saturday Sun fans to confirm or deny such an occurrence.

Catch doesn't want Alana to feel bad, so she's going to miss the first two games too.

Lori gives Tamika Whitmore plenty of space to "Tell is like it is."

The Title IX blog points us to the cover page of the USA Today Sports page and a series of articles on Title IX retaliation cases (that, of course, the blog has been covering).

I repeat myself but hey, if it worked before, quote NH-M:

"In the past," noted Nancy Hogshead-Makar, associate professor at Florida Coastal School of Law and recipient of Duke University's one and only swimming scholarship (1978), "when women complained about pay or how their female athletes were being treated, they were really close to being fired. Whereas now they have this call for agitation against retaliation, so actually they have more job protection if they complain than if they don't."

Doris Burke gets the attention of the New York Times.

“Doris is insightful and passionate,” said Norby Williamson, an ESPN executive vice president who said it was an “easy decision” to add N.B.A. analysis to Burke’s portfolio, which already included women’s Final Four analyst. “She’s a good storyteller and energetic about her presentation. She’s earned the opportunity. She is articulate in a succinct and direct way that allows viewers inside.”

It's a preview-tastic day! Hays takes apart the East. Most surprising factoid from his column: only two current Shock players (Katie and Deanna) connected on even one three-pointer for Detroit last year.

Long Island's Newsday touts the young, hungry Lib. Notable Lib news not included in that column: the Dolans, who own the Liberty (and the Knicks and MSG and MSGTV) are going to own Newsday as well.

The WaPo tracks veteran movement around the league-- there's been more of it than most of us would expect.

It's all Candice in the Strib's Lynx/WNBA season preview (on the front page of the sports section in the print edition).

The online version of the paper even has bonus information on Candice.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer will be in Minneapolis for the Lynx home opener on Sunday, cheering Candice and the Lynx on.

DeMya got waived.

Northern Illinois' Carol Owens will coach the USA Women's U18 National team. GW's Joe McKeown and Marquette's Terri Mitchell will assist.

There will be 35 players vying for 12 roster spots during the June 9-12 team trials.

Ned over at the Day writes that Mike Thibault ain't goin' nowhere:

Mike Thibault has received job offers since he's been the head coach of the Connecticut Sun, whether it's joining an NBA staff or being a women's college basketball coach.

Thibault keeps turning them down, though, as he's already got a job he likes.

Another reason he ain't goin'? Both Mike and his assistants have gotten two-year extensions on their contracts.

Marie responds to the Sokolove article -

My problem is the way this story is framed. The subhead for the story (in the print edition) sets the tone: "Everyone wants girls to have as many opportunities in sports as boys. But can we live with the greater rate of injuries they suffer?"

I won't bother providing a number of obvious responses to the question.

She also notes that several NYTimes readers have used the "comments" section to point out flaws within the piece.

The Fever pick up Bernie Ngoyisa from the Sky; in exchange the Sky get K. B. Sharp.

USA Today's WNBA season preview is up.

It includes something on the new look Storm; they track all of the offseason All-Star moves; and predict each conference race.

Tot will sit for six to eighte weeks: broken toe.

In the same vein, the Bee says the Monarchs have been plagued by injuries.

In Mystics land, their first two games will be without Beard.

Alana Beard talks about the timing of her off-season surgery:

The smart move financially would have been to have the surgery at the start of the WNBA season so that she could do her usual trips abroad, with the additional bonus of being healthy in plenty of time to make her case to be chosen for the U.S. Olympic team this summer.

"A lot of people were in my ear: 'AB, you have to think about your future, you have a bright future ahead of you,"' Beard said. "And I said, 'Yeah, but I also have a team that's working their butts off to play this game and to win, and I couldn't give up on that.

So what happens when a funding referendum fails and a high school decides they must cut 17 of 29 varsity sports. (No, they don't blame Title IX, smarty pants!) A non-profit is created:

"We have a strong and wonderful tradition of athletics and activities here," said assistant superintendent Steve Razidlo, who will replace retiring superintendent Jerry Walseth this summer. "It was from that tradition that new patterns of thinking emerged that said, 'We value this so highly, and we can't afford to let it go.' "

The nonprofit group, Warrior Way Inc., has raised more than $330,000. The new funding plan uses investment proceeds from that money, along with drastically higher activity fees, to reduce the amount of public funding for sports and activities from 78 percent to 22 percent.

Shanna Crossley is out for the season: torn ACL.

afteratalanta chimes in on the new W ad campaign:

Will the new WNBA campaign work?

Doubtful. If it's aim is really to draw in male fans by pointing out to them how stupid their own comments on the women's game are (like there's no action, the league is stale, women are not physical enough, etc.) my suggestion is to try again.

The W's webcast schedule is up. Over 90 games - and free!

If you're a Liberty season subscriber, and you know anything about managing a subscriber base, you're painfully aware that New York has a habit of stumbling and bumbling when it comes to keeping their peeps informed (not to mention happy or feeling appreciated).

I mean why should I, a decade-long season subscriber, expect that the Liberty should have sent out an email to inform me of this event? (Happening TOMORROW!)

Folks -- this is subscription management 101. And it's the kind of stuff that makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

From the Title IX blog: Their fever's goin' up.

It is only our good taste that keeps us from keeping a little thermometer icon in the corner and raising the mercury every time someone files a gender discrimination lawsuit or complaint against Florida Gulf Coast University.

And more:

We comment on quite a few editorials that invoke Title IX. And we let, believe it or not, many just go by with a sigh and a shrug. But our very patient colleagues at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State have poured through three years worth (2002-2005) of editorials on Title IX in a recent study on how writers discuss and frame the law and its application.

The findings should not surprise anyone who is paying any attention. Despite the liberal rhetoric, despite what looks like support for gender equity, many editorialists continue to frame Title IX as beneficial to women and girls (that's the "support" part) but detrimental to men and boys. And as the study's authors state, such "faulty assumptions" will have long-term (and I would argue short-term as well) effects on the viability of the law.

Learn more about Seattle Storm CEO Karen Bryant

"The Storm is a beloved community asset, and that is in no small part due to Karen. She understands the game intuitively from having played it, but she's also got a strong business sense. She's a thoughtful and caring individual as well as being a top-notch executive, and that comes across to the people in our organization. the sponsors and businesses with whom we have relationships, and to the fans."

And Kelli's Back!!

From SI.com Anderson writes: Sparks Are Flying: This isn't your daddy's WNBA anymore, as independent owners take over key teams -- including L.A. -- and an influx of new and returning stars promise the most competitive season ever.

When the spirit moves her, Carla Christofferson, a former high school cheerleader and current co-owner of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, puts on the head and feet of the team's dog mascot, Sparky, and happily pads around the team's downtown offices, startling staff members. You can be sure former team owner Jerry Buss, 75, who's known more for chasing young women than for marketing them, never did anything like that.

No surprise, the Women's Sports Foundation (with a recently redesigned website) has a response to the NYTimes article by Sokolove.

From the article: "Advocates for women’s sports have had to keep a laser focus on one thing: making sure they have equal access to high-school and college sports. It’s hard to fight for equal rights while also broadcasting alarm about injuries that might suggest women are too delicate to play certain games or to play them at a high level of intensity."

Research conducted by The Women’s Sports Foundation and others clearly shows that girls involved in physical activities have a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem and, later in life, heart disease, and osteoporosis and breast cancer. Several hundred readers have posted reactionary comments on the piece. Read the full article and join the conversation below.

When last we heard from Coach Coale, she was blogging about her pet peeves and why basketball players can be like squirrels in the road.

These days, she's in Italy with her Oklahoma team, and she is checking in with a daily journal.

I walked away from Vatican City in awe of our ancestors and their uncanny attention to detail. I can't even fathom how much marble had been carved or how long it must have taken to carve it. I can't imagine that the sculptors had many types of tools but what amazes me most is not the intricate use of a hammer and a chisel but the deliverance of detail that had to come solely from the mind's eye. There was no photography! So, the image of a lion trapping its prey was from memory. The veins in the arms of the gods and the expression on the face of a frightened mother were created from observance. Not only were the artisans attentive to detail in the artistic endeavor itself but maybe even more so in the stuff of daily life. I'm reminded of how fast we go and how advantageous it might be to notice a little bit more along the way.

It's early in the process, but Mel id's who is (and isn't) interested in the Temple head coach position.

Annika is retiring.

Surprising? She's finally returning to form, and if she played for a few more years, she could challenge some significant records... but she isn't interested.

She is a Swede, after all. Lagom ar bast.

(Coming in June: Blogging the U.S. Open, Annika's last, from Interlachen.)

Ball State has their new coach: Kelly Packard.


It's a name that may be familiar to those who followed the NWBL. She coached Dave King's Colorado Chill (you may recall he was in the running for a WNBA team and did a Q&A with WHB) to a couple of championships.



A little tibit? While working for Triple Crown, she was Becky Hammon's manager.

The Strib's Rachel Blount talks USA Basketball with Lindsey Harding, Candice Wiggins and Anne Donovan.

"We're struggling," Donovan said. "We've never seen this in women's basketball. Because the rest of the world is catching up, we're going to have to change what we do in terms of carving out time for training camps."

More about Sokolove: the magazine cover, and the subtitle on that cover, were pretty indefensible (and pretty condescending too). I hadn't seen the cover when I linked to the piece (that's the marvel of Web-only previews). And I wish Sokolove had spoken with grownup women athletes who have come back from ACL tears, rather than just with teens and their worried parents. (Maybe his book has a Q&A with Katie Smith.)

On the other hand... if his article causes more parents and coaches at the junior high, high school, and club levels to learn about appropriate warmups and other injury-prevention programs-- thus reducing future ACL injuries, without reducing participation-- won't the piece have done more good than harm?

Speaking of good: Voepel is back, with a good league-wide preview, one graf per team. (On the other hand.. she's pretty snarky about the Lynx, isn't she?)

Whenever I see the word "epidemic" in a media story, my skepticism synapses begin firing uncontrollably. (If you're wondering why, see, e.g., here, here, here, and here.)

I had the same reaction this weekend reading Sokolove's article on injuries in women's sports, first noted Thursday by Steve, discussed this afternoon by Helen.

The article is filled with plenty of heart-wrenching anecdotes and hand-wringing quotes from worried parents (both staples of the epidemic reporting genre), but it's pretty thin on anything resembling statistics. And to the extent there are statistics -- like 0.25 per 1000 -- they don't sound anything like an epidemic.

Injuries are a problem in all sports, and certain types of injuries are more common in women's sports. We should do what we can to reduce them. But sensationalism, while useful for selling newspapers and books, isn't a helpful response.

For further disassembling, see Jezebel.

I'm glad the New York Times is giving women's sports injuries some attention.

But, reading Sokolove's piece (adapted from his upcoming book, “Warrior Girls: Protecting Our Daughters Against the Injury Epidemic in Women’s Sports,”) I did have some misgivings.

I found it intriguing that the day after the Sunday Magazine piece, the Times ran an article about a football player "Accepting the Costs of a Life in Football."

In the piece, former Cincinnati Bengals Reggie Williams who, years after his career, suffers pain and injury that threaten his leg and his life. Writes George Vecsey, "Williams knows that an alarming number of his peers are dying young, but he says he has no regrets about his violent occupation."

Thankfully, Title IX blog's response to the Times' piece on injuries was able to articulate my main concern:

The second concern is related to the tone of the piece. The cover art, of a girl with a bandaged head being bonked on the head with a soccer ball, with the words "Hurt Girls" above it, seems to diminish the female athletes, and at the same time not give a second thought to boys who suffer serious injuries in sports.

Soccer (here and abroad) has done this sort of thing for years, but it's still going to look weird in the W: next week, all week, you'll see the McDonald's logo on every jersey, for every team.

Donna promises, or warns us about, more jersey-front deals in the future: "There are more partners out there... It could happen."

Want some team-by-team previews? You can find previews for the Sun and the Fever over at Off-Court now.

You can also get longer previews for the Fever, the Merc, the Sky and the Comets (with more almost surely to come) over at Full Court, though only Clay's take on the Merc can be read in full by non-subscribers as yet. (Much of the paid-subscriber-only content at Full Court becomes free with age.)

Want more Storm news? Pelton is blogging again: the new-look, new-ownership Storm appears to have retained his services. Good for them. And for us. And for him.

Another (believably) optimistic story about the finances of the W, based (almost certainly) on the same teleconference that brought us the Reuters piece below: the Hartford Courant endorses President Orender's take.

"We understand that men tend to govern the conversation when it comes to sports," she says, "and I think the WNBA is starting to bring change to that. We had growing pains, but what is emerging now is the fruit of that labor."

Also from Donna: hints at a franchise in Albuquerque within the next couple of years, and a strong suggestion that this year's schedule won't include an All-Star game.

Reuters chronicles optimism, in Secaucus and around the W, re: Candace Parker's power to draw new fans.

Sparks co-owner Kathy Goodman: "We look at it as a classically undervalued asset."

In Atlanta, Dream owner Ron Terwilliger talks about the asset he now controls.

"We are launching in a recession," he says. "Sponsorships have not been what I had hoped... But I've got a very long view of this team."

Crazy fact from an earlier chat with Terwilliger: the Atlanta market supposedly gives the WNBA higher TV ratings than any other market, even counting the markets (Seattle, New York, etc.) with a fine fan base for their own teams.

So, riding on the subway this afternoon, I see a guy wearing a Washington University at St. Louis men's baseball t-shirt, and while I thought about going over and saying "You've got a great women's basketball program," I didn't.

And I'm thinking, "Whimp."

And then I see that the University is giving an honorary degree to Phylis Schlafly (h/t afteratalanta).

And I'm thinking, "WTF?!?!"

Seems the campus is in an uproar -- and, for those who aren't "of a certain age" and are wondering who the heck is this Schlafly broad, click here.

Of course, you'll remember where the 2009 Final Four will be held: St. Louis.

Says the Title IX blog:

I guess, as I have pointed out so many times before, if sports writers across the country cannot accurately explain Title IX, it shouldn't be expected that the guy who wants to be the next leader of the country can either.

Who's got their facts wrong? Click here.

In honor of Mother's Day tomorrow, the Chicago Tribune's Melissa Isaacson talks motherhood for pro athletes including Jia Perkins and Lisa Leslie.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune talks to Vanessa Hayden-Johnson about her return to the Lynx after having daughter Zyon Brianna

Fans like this Lynx advert, and ponder coming up with their own for the W.

You may remember us blogging about Howard Payne and their coach Chris Kielsmeier (turned around the program in 8 years, undefeated D-III National Champions this year).

Congrats go out to Coach K, who has just accepted the head coach position at Wayne State.

News and gossip from Sparkland: Lisa Leslie's book is out.

Marianne Stanley will return to L.A. as an assistant under coach Cooper (a job she held in 2000, before departing for DC).

Finally, and hearteningly: at least one June road game, on the East Coast, involving L.A. is reportedly close to selling out right now. That's hearsay, of course, but isn't it cool? (Have you heard similar rumors? If so, from where?)

Looks like Semeka Randall will become head coach at Ohio.