After Atalanta

I wasn't as invested in the Women's College World Series this year. I turned it on when I was around. I went to one regional game. But I left the bar where I was watching game 1 of the championships on Monday night because I cared more about eating leftover pizza than seeing who won. Last night I watched intermittently and had it on before I went to bed. I was pretty sure UCLA had it wrapped up when I turned it off in the bottom of the fifth. And I only went to bed because spin class on Wednesday comes early at 6:15 and since I am the instructor I kind of need to be "on." But it was an exciting game. There was a two-run homer in the first. There were pitching changes all over the place. There were bases loaded. One grand slam. Not too very long ago, in the days of Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman, scores were low and games were all about pitching duels. Commentators talked about potentially tired arms, conditioning of pitchers' legs, and techniques batters were usin...

I love this weekend of the year, so many sports (but unfortunately so much yardwork that takes me away from the television). Anyway, I have been catching the Women's College World Series and noticed a few things: 1. Will we ever reach a day when women are not called basemen? 2. PAC-10--not so dominant any more. OK mostly it was this guy who noticed that; I don't usually pay attention to such things. 3. There are still a lot of men coaching women's softball. 4. Softball has an inferiority complex: One of the commentators noted the other day that in regulation softball they only play 7 innings. As compared to...? I will say it again: the softball/baseball comparison hurts softball. 5. In last night's elimination game, Alabama was down 2-0 to Arizona State (the reigning champion). The 'Bama coach pulled his senior star player for a first-year lefty pinch hitter with the bases loaded. She hit a grand slam! And it didn't make Sports Center! 6. But Georgia's Bria...

The WCWS is upon us. Check out ESPN's Graham Hays for an analysis of what to expect. I was surprised to see that Washington's Daniel Lawrie was one of the top two pitchers in the country this year. I saw her play in the regionals and opposing teams were definitely hitting off of her. Anyway, looking forward to seeing some of the tournament when I return. (Not big into softball here. But my father did sit next to a young English on the plane who said softball was big in England.)

So I mis-wrote Florida's coach's name. It's Tim Walton. But the real reason for this post is something one of the commentators said this evening in the early innings of the A&M/Florida game (we're now in extra innings). I think it was Beth Mowins--it doesn't really matter, though--who mentioned that Florida has only been playing softball for 12 years. In other words, it's a fairly new program without a storied history like some of the other teams in the series. But then she said that the SEC has really grown softball when, in the early 90s, some SEC schools took their football money and started softball programs. Several problems with this statement. One, I'm not sure how true it actually is. It certainly is not true that the SEC just woke up in the 90s and said, "hey all this money we're making from football--let's give it the girls; just 'cause we like 'em." It's not a coincidence that softball programs grew at a time whe...

Lots o' softball on this weekend. My prediction about Arizona not 3-peating has proven true--not that it was that much of a stretch. Looked liked #1 seeds the Florida Gators might get knocked out but they have rallied and it looks like they are almost certainly going to push previously undefeated A&M (who have now become my favorites because UCLA got knocked out--note to coaches--find pitchers who can FIELD the ball, too) to a second game tonight. Head coach of the Gators, Tim Murphy, is not surprised at the success of his team, of course. He said the other day that the athletic department does an exceptional job supporting the softball program. He said they have just as many resources as the football team. Hmmm...interesting comparison. Now, I don't know what things are like in Florida, and most teams that make it to the WCWS have to be well-supported by their universities. But as well as the DI football program? I suppose it could be true--or at least the softball team co...

UPDATE: Still haven't found my pics but many thanks to Diane who sent me back one of my Srebotnik pics from last year's US Open. Mostly this post is motivated by the fact that I have all these pics I take at tennis tournaments and never seem to use except to send to Diane over at Women Who Serve who uses them in the appropriate posts. So here it is: my picture of Katatina Srebotnik who ousted Serena Williams today at Roland Garros. I, for some reason, really like Srebotnik. She has that certain female athlete swagger that I find attractive. I saw her at the US Open last summer which is where this picture is from. [As I write it, big sister Venus Williams is teetering on the edge of upset as well. Maybe by the time I finish writing there will be a result.] I don't have pictures of this but it does go with the theme. At yesterday's Women's College World Series--first day of play--number 1 seed Florida was upset by Louisiana-Lafayette. Also, Arizona State upset Bama th...

No, not because of the day off. My semester is over so every weekend is a three-day weekend in the summer. (Well, as any academic knows, that's not really true. What really happens is that you keep on going forgetting that certain days are holidays and become really confused when you can't find any place open for lunch and why there was so much traffic in the middle of the day which is what happened to me yesterday.) Anyway Memorial Day weekend is a great time for sports. I watched a fair amount of softball this weekend and on Sunday found myself happily ensconced on the couch toggling between Serena Williams's first round match at Roland Garros and the Women's College World Series. There was golf on as well with the Corning Classic concluding in New York though I didn't actually get to see any of it. I was even mildly interested in the Indy500 given Danica Patrick's potential. I followed the results on the ESPN ticker but before I could change over to watch (b...