Thursday, September 25, 2008
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Thursday, September 25, 2008 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | Photo Gallery |
| Behind The Scoreboard Parity in the WNBA The NFL season is well underway along with the collegiate football slate and Major League Baseball is speeding to the playoffs. All of that is good fodder, but not today. I am sure that we’ll be mentioning the “retirement” of Yankee Stadium at a later day. But now is the time to let y’all know what is happening with the women of the WNBA who kicked off their season ender last Thursday. If you have been keeping up in the slightest, you have probably seen the repeat of the brawl between the Sparks and the Shock just before the Olympics kicked off. Early last week, Lisa Leslie, Ms. Everything in women’s professional basketball, was trying to explain her role in the melee on a talk show. She stated that her involvement was pretty much inadvertent, that she accidentally struck the Shock coach (she was smiling as she recounted the incident). Leslie was named Defensive Player of the Year. Leslie vowed that she was turning “everything over to my successor,” Candace Parker. Connecticut Sun Coach Mike Thibault was selected as Coach of the Year. He won previously in 2006. Thibault is credited with revamping the team and getting them to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference for the last six seasons. His Sun went 21-13 this year after he completely revamped the roster in 2007. They were the number two seed from the East. The early smart money is on the Detroit Shock and San Antonio Silver Stars in the finals. These predictions are based primarily on season records and strength of rosters. Yours truly can see the Shock being so highly rated; they have been champs before and besides, they have five former SEC players on their roster. I would not personally count out the Los Angeles Sparks at this point. Eight teams are selected for the semis, four teams from each conference. From the East it is Detroit vs Indiana (Fever); Connecticut vs New York (Liberty). The West has San Antonio vs Sacramento (Monarchs); Seattle (Storm) vs Los Angeles. This is a “best of three” series. Another reason why San Antone could be thought of so highly is because of its success against Eastern teams. The Silver Stars are 14-0 against the East. They have beaten Detroit twice this season. After Sunday’s games there were no shutouts. All series were tied 1-1. Someone could probably make a case for parity in the WNBA. |
      
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