Sunday tidbits

• Justine Henin and Raphael Nadal are the women's and men's 2007 French Open singles champions. It's a three-peat for them both. Browsing through stories about Henin's win I found that the American media focused on two things: Henin's reunion with her estranged family members--all her siblings were at the final; and Ivanovic's nerves. The non-Americna media actually wrote about Henin's play and success. Despite the gushing over Henin's family situation, some commentators still take issue with her behavior. Mary Carillo, during today's men's final, chided her for not attending the International Tennis Federation Awards this past week.


• Check out Women Who Serve for an interesting story about the special presentation to the men's winner and the lack of anything special for the women--a situation remedied by Martina Navratilova. Navratilova and a Slovak artist are making art using paint soaked tennis balls. Pieces were given to the women's singles and doubles winners.


• Forgot to follow up on the WCWS. Arizona won. I had predicted a very close game three similar to game two. And though both teams went out and focused on how to hit the opposing pitcher's pitches, Arizona was the team that executed. They scored five runs in one inning. That's back-to-back titles for Arizona who will rely again next year on pitcher Taryne Mowatt. Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott is off to the national team presumably. Cutting down the pitching staff for the Beijing Olympics will be tough with stars like Abbott, Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, Alicia Hollowell and maybe even Lisa Fernandez (not sure if she is intending on going out for the team). I was surprised to hear no one mention the cutting of softball from the Olympics. Last year there was some mention of the campaign to get Olympic softball back f0r 2016. Nothing this year. I wonder if they've just given up hope.


• I came across more condemnation of the WNBA's letter-writing campaign meant to encourage media outlets to cover the WNBA. It's a female sportswriter discussing how "desperate" this makes the WNBA seem. Hello? They are desperate; the WNBA operates in a patriarchal sports-crazed culture that judges all things based on a male-created standard.


• The LPGA Championship is in its final round as I write. I think I am going to miss the end (I have tix to see Kate Clinton!) which looks to be amazing given that there are about 5 people that are in contention right now. [UPDATE: Suzann Pettersen won by a shot. It's her first major championship and she, even though she is young, was due after a disastrous finish at the Kraft Nabisco Championship where she squandered the lead.]


• No more regular season women's basketball games between Connecticut and Tennessee. For some as-yet-unknown reason Tennessee has decided not to renew the deal for two regular season meetings between the perennial powerhouses. It's a big mystery given that these games are two of the most popular in women's basketball. One is covered by ESPN and the other CBS. Connecticut has made a deal with LSU to take over Tennessee's spot.