(Guru's Note: Jumping rope was never our forte earlier in life, but there's no one less thing to do to keep Jonathan happy in the technological operation of this blog. We figured out how to jump pages on our own when the blog edition is somewhat lengthy, which this is about to be.
So after the first topic, simply click the link below that will appear to get to the end of the column.)
By Mel Greenberg
PHILADELPHIA _ It's quickly getting to the point that the end of the regular-season rivalry between Tennessee and Connecticut is becoming better for women's basketball than the actual competition, itself.
Think about it.
If the two were still scheduled to play each other, the anticipation and hype would not accelerate until the actual date of the game was near.
One reason is the world now consists of a few more threats to the national championship than just those two teams.
But since Tennessee coach Pat Summitt determined for reasons yet to be definitely clarified to cancel the series, the media, as well as message boards, has continued to debate the significance as well as the cause.
In early September, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said he would not have anything further to say until after the season and has told questioners to go chase Summitt.
Yet, last week at Big East Media Day in New York City, Auriemma was surrounded by reporters, of which some, not having access over the summer, quickly addressed the Tennessee-Connecticut breakup.
If anything new in his response, Auriemma noted the series was always good as a measuring stick of letting the coaches know where their teams stood in terms of the ultimate title chase.
He mentioned the attention, the increased media interviews, all of which occurs at the Women's Final Four.
Thus, if either or both teams held their poise in the lead-up and execution of the game, it bode well for March.
However, with a bunch of teams in the hunt this season, there are a number of games that could cause the same effect, depending on the records and rankings at the time of the matchup.
It seems that several years ago, the 1-2 Duke-Connecticut game had quite a bit of buildup as did the intra-Atlantic Coast Conference 1-2 showdown between Duke and North Carolina, when both were unbeaten.
Certainly, the Rutgers-Connecticut rivalry in the Big East, considering potential, and market location, could be just as big, especially with at least three potential matchups, besides one that could occur in the NCAA tournament.
Speaking of Rutgers, the other crowded interview table involved Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer and her players.
Stringer quickly tried to put a stop to further questions about last April's controversy that arose a day after the Scarlet Knights lost to Tennessee in the NCAA championship.
That's when national radio talk show host Don Imus made racial and sexual remarks about the Rutgers players that ultimately resulted in his firing and also enhanced the reputation of Stringer's team over the way they handled themselves in a nationally-televised press conference reacting to the Imus remarks.
Now, Stringer says, it's time to just talk about basketball.
Unfortunately, off the court at times the Rutgers program seems to appear like one of those whack-a-mole games at carnivals in which whenever the participant nails a mole back into their habitat, another pops up elsewhere.
Less than 24 hours after Stringer's remarks in New York, a new flap arose, although this one appeared to be nipped quickly in the bud.
ESPN had been preparing a piece on the recent sexual harrassment case involving New York Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas and former team employee Anucha Brown (Sanders), of which a jury in Manhattan ruled in her favor.
Stringer had been shown an edited acount of Thomas' deposition on tape in which he had said that there was a difference to a black man calling a black woman "bitch" than a white man making the same characterization.
The Hall of Fame coach took exception to his distinction and, to save space, you can read further details in their entirety at ESPN.com.
Then on Friday night, Thomas after an NBA game was asked about her reaction and Thomas claimed Stringer did not have the total context of his statement.
"It's easy to get what I said," ESPN.com quoted Thomas. "So don't speak out of ignorance, get the facts about what I said and not the portion that was taken out of context."
On Saturday, ESPN and Newsday reported Stringer and Thomas had spoken to each other and that Stringer apologized. "I responded to a question of which I had partial information and was not aware of the full text of Mr. Thomas' statement.
On a more positive note, last week Stringer was among a group of prominent women's basketball coaches named to a larger 100 most influential educators named by the Institute for International Sport.
The other women's basketball coaches are former Texas coach Jody Conradt, North Carolina State's Kay Yow, Tennessee's Pat Summitt, and Temple's Dawn Staley.
Now click the next line to "jump" to the rest of the blog.
WNBA Vacancies: Now There Are Three
Apparently Brian Winters couldn't make the Indiana Fever hot enough to suit his employers, despite finishing runnersup in the WNBA's Eastern Conference.
The Fever declined the option on his contract, Friday.
Winters, who coached the NBA's Vancouver team for a season, said he wants to remain in the profession and, according to a source familiar with the process, already interviewed for the vacancy with the WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury.
That job opened when Paul Westhead returned to the NBA to be an assistant to P.J. Carlesimo in Seattle.
Mercury assistant coach Corey Gaines is believed to be the leading candidate, but other contenders include former Auburn coach Joe Ciampi and former Stony Brook coach Maura McHugh. She also coached the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs.
One potential candidate in Indianapolis to replace Winters, is assistant coach Lin Dunn, who was head coach at Purdue, Seattle in the former ABL, and Portland.
The new Atlanta franchise will also have to name a coach.
USA Select Team Relegated to Silver
Is there hope for the collegiate crowd when the USA Select team begins barnstorming this week at Maryland on Wednesday night?
The Americans lost to CSKA Moscow 75-65 Saturday in the final of the FIBA World League tournament in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Former Phoenix Mercury star Maria Stepanova and Ilona Korstin each scored 16 points for CSKA Moscow, while the New York Liberty's Janel McCarville led the U.S. with 18 points and nine rebounds.
The USA was without most of its key post players expected to be on the roster next summer in Bejing, China, for the Olympics.
Casting a New Spell at Temple
Temple coach Dawn Staley always had a reputation for being magical during her career as a stellar point guard, beginning at Dobbins Tech in Philadelphia, on to the University of Virginia, the ABL, WNBA, and the Olympics.
Last week, the Owls announced a new spell, but it's nothing that Staley created.
"Dawnnae Roberts should be spelled with two "n's," not just one," read the release from team spokeswoman Aimee Cicero. "Evidently, her name was spelled wrong her entire high school career. Go figure."
Penn State Adds One
It's a three-hour plus drive from Philadelphia to the University Park campus of Penn State next to State College.
However, once on the scene, it was only a short walk for Archbishop Woods' Nicole Arcidiacono of Langhorne, Pa., onto the Nittany Lions' roster under new coach Coquese Washington, bringing the total to 11.
Arcidiacono, in her third semester, will be considered a freshman after spending last year on the club squad, which finished second. She was a three-time all-Catholic League selection.
Arcbishop Wood, incidentially, is the alma mater of one Debbie Black, who starred at St. Joseph's the ABL, and WNBA, and is now an assistant coach at Ohio State.
It is also the alma mater of Kelly Greenberg -- no relation -- who starred at La Salle and is currently head coach at Boston U. after holding a similar position at Penn.
Conference Picks Continue
Several other conferences announced preseason selections last week and since we haven't seen them posted anywhere else, the Guru will offer a public service this Sunday morning.
In the Southeastern Conference, the media picked to no one's surprise Tennessee, giving the Vols 28 first-place votes. The other two went to LSU, the second place pick, which has Van Chancellor beginning his first season. The rest of the picks, in order, were Georgia, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama.
Tennessee junior Candace Parker was named preseason player of the year with 28 each, the other two, one each, going to first team members senior Tasha Humphrey of Georgia and senior Sylvia Fowles of LSU. Tennessee's senior Alexis Hornbuckle and Auburn's junior DeWanna Bonner completed the first team.
The second team consisted of Arkansas' senior Lauren Ervin, Florida's junior Sha Brooks, Georgia's sophomore Ashley Houts, LSU's senior Erica White, and Vanderbilt's junior Christina Wirth.
The Patriot League league coaches gave 10 first-place votes to Bucknell, four to runnerup Army, one to third-place Holy Cross and one to fourth-place American. Fifth place went to Lehigh, followed by Lafayette and Navy tied for sixth, and Colgate eighth.
Player of the year went to Bucknell senior Hope Foster, who won the postseason award last spring. She was joined on the first team by American senior Liz Hayes, Army senior Cara Enright, Bucknell junior Amanda Brown, and Holy Cross sophomore Bethany O'Dell.
In the Big West, the coaches and media had separate polls, both picking UC Riverside as champions, and UC Santa Barbara runnerup. Riverside drew eight first-place votes from the coaches and nine from the media. Each group gave a first-place vote to UCSB.
The rest of the coaches ranking, beginning at third, were UC Davis, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Pacific, Cal State Northridge, and UC Irvine -- the last two tied at eighth. The media list, beginning at third, were Cal Poly, followed by a fourth-place tie between Long Beach and UC Davis, then wrapping up with Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, and Pacific.
The preseason team featured Long Beach State junior Karina Figuero, UC Santa Barbara seniors Jenna Green and Jessica Wilson, Cal State Fullerton junior Toni Thomas, and UC Riverside junior Seyram Gbewonyo and senior Kemie Nkele.
-- Mel
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