Keyboard Quarterbacks

Back in 2004, I was in Busch Stadium the night the Red Sox won the Series in St. Louis, and have nothing but good memories. (Well, with one exception: Watching Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore cavort on the field in what I presume was fake euphoria - they were filming the lame ending to 'Fever Pitch' - came closest to spoiling a perfect moment).

But the one memory that always comes back to me is how the Cardinal fans behaved during the ninth inning that night. Hyperactive Sox fans were all over the place, jamming the aisles on the third base side of the stadium, and pushing as close to the dugout as possible as the final out approached.

And, God bless them, just about every Cardinal fans obliged them politely. Many gave up their seats, and, over and over, you'd see them turn to the nearest giddy Red Sox fan and extend their hand.

"Congratulations," one kind, older fella said to me. "Good for Boston. You deserve this."

Now, as someone who has been the jerk at Fenway far too often over the years, and endured the Moron Show at Yankee Stadium many times, there was a real lesson here:

Midwesterners are insane.

Every time I've ever visited the Bronx, Yankee fans always perform as advertised - over-the-top obnoxious, even borderline violent. And, as long as I escape physical harm, I always appreciate it. It's part of the show.

The first time I ever sat in the Yankee Stadium bleachers was for a Sox-Yanks game in the late 90s. It was like 110 degrees, they still served beer in the bleachers, and after finally reaching our seats in center field, a buddy of mine observed, 'I've never felt so unsafe in America.'

On Friday night, I took a video camera to the Bronx to capture some of the, um, spirit before the Dice-K/Pettite game. Yankee fans were just as intense as ever, maybe more. Not as confident as they used to be, maybe, but definitely louder.

But then, even Cardinals fans might throw a fit if they had to wait eight days for a win.

By Karen Bailis

People magazine agrees with Don Imus, at least on some level.

The magazine called Tennessee women’s basketball phenom Candace Parker one of its 100 most beautiful people of 2007. I’m sure she’s flattered, but I’m not sure she felt the same way when Imus called her team “cute” compared with what he and his band of idiots called Rutgers. I’m also sure she’d much rather be known as MVP of the Final Four, which she is, and, of course, as NCAA champion, which she is.

Parker’s looking glam in the People pages amid snaps of the usual sexy suspects Halle Berry, Eva Longoria (sans makeup!) and Jennifer Garner. The only other athletes so honored are Laila Ali, who’s been spending more time dancing with the stars than in the boxing ring, and beach volleyballer Gabrielle Reese. I could find nary a male athlete.

Good for Parker that she looks as good in makeup and a dress as she does throwing down in her sweaty orange-and-white baggy tank and knee-length shorts.

But does it matter? Well, yeah, if she wants to cash in after college. As perhaps the best to play the game, she’ll make roughly $30,000 as a rookie in the WNBA. She’ll make about $80,000 more if she plays overseas. But as perhaps the best to play the game and have a pretty face, she could stand to make millions on Madison Avenue.

Let’s hope that by the time she joins the pro ranks, which could be as soon as next season, the WNBA and other sports professionals have figured out how to market a Candace Parker.

So far, no one’s found the formula and the playing field is littered with failed or failing professional leagues because of it.

Sexy or sporty? Sure, sex sells. Why else would a “100 most beautiful” list exist? Why else would Anna Kournikova still be the most Googled – and ogled – woman athlete?

But why can’t sporty sell, too? Parker is the best player on the best team in the country. And she can play above the rim. The lack of above-the-rim play has long been the knock men use against the women’s game.

Well, here’s a woman who’s shown she can dunk with some consistency and is likely to unleash her slam with greater abandon once she doesn’t have the steely stare of Pat Summitt to contend with. Imagine a matchup between her and Lisa Leslie, the only player to dunk in a WNBA game. The prospect should be inspiring the dunkers who confine their acrobatics to practice to bring it on in primetime.

And it should be inspiring the marketing geniuses to put together reels of Parker dunks, blocks, steals and celebratory chest bumps and saturating the airwaves and every web video site with them.

Back to People. Parker was featured among stars dubbed “Hot in ’07,” holding a basketball and wearing a backless leopard-print dress, her hair unbraided and flowing down her back. Sexy AND sporty.

In the text, she confides she doesn’t wear makeup when she’s on the court. “Some players wear makeup to games, but I can’t because I’m always wiping my face. That would be very unbeautiful!”

Indeed.

“But I don’t really worry about how I look when I am playing. You’re thinking about winning, and winning is a beautiful thing!”

Right on!

By Adam Abramson

Mets had a matinee date. Yankees were rained out. Rangers were blacked out. Islanders and Knicks are just out.

Tough night for TV.

But I discovered something rather disheartening because of my television conundrum: I don’t really care about the NBA anymore. I watched a Tigers-White Sox game over the Spurs-Nuggets which actually had intrigue because Denver won Game 1.

Right now many of you are saying “join the club.” But I don’t want to. I want to care about the NBA. I’ve always cared about the NBA.

I have a feeling I’ll care around the end of May, when I can count the number of playoff teams on one hand. I want to care now, but I just can’t and I’m not sure why.

That’s all I wanted to say. If you want to care, but can’t either, feel free to empathize with a comment.

By Mark La Monica

It's NFL Draft Week, which means more rumors floating about than four high school kids sitting in front of an online message board.

But we're hoping the Oakland Raiders use their No. 1 pick to draft quarterback JaMarcus Russell from LSU. Or even Brady Quinn from Notre Dame. Just please leave Calvin Johnson on the board at No. 2 for Detroit.

With Al Davis still in charge, there's no guarantee. This is a man who once drafted a kicker in the first round at No. 17 (Sebastian Janikowski). The pick turned out quite well, but still. A kicker in the first round? He hasn't won them any Super Bowls, has he?

Then there's the matter of five defensive backs taken with their first draft pick in the last six drafts. (The other pick was highly regarded and lowly producing offensive tackle Robert Gallery.)

We're not so interested in the drafting of Russell or a Quinn as a recommitment to excellence for Oakland, but rather what it will mean for the un-esteemed Matt Millen, GM of the Lions.

The Lions need a quarterback. Jon Kitna, Josh McCown, Dan Orlovsky. Ouch. There hasn't been anything that awful sounding since Cheddar Bob tried to rap in "8 Mile."

They need help in just about every area. Teams don't just magically fall into the No. 2 draft slot. Teams earn it. (Trades not included.)

But it's going to be very fun watch the hairs in Millen's mustache squirm as his mouth drools over the chance to draft wide receiver Calvin Johnson from Georgia Tech.

Johnson is considered one of the most talented receivers to ever come out of college. But the problem with the Lions drafting him is this list:

2002: Charlie Rogers at No. 2
2004: Roy Williams at No. 7
2005: Mike Williams at No. 10

Three wide receivers selected, all with top 10 picks, in the past five drafts. Only one of them, Roy Williams, has panned out.

It's not possible, is it? Could Millen do it again? Draft another wide receiver with a top 10 pick? Seriously? C'mon! Surely, the Detroit fans would rebel against that, right? Perhaps even the Detroit ownership would step in and remove Millen for that, right? Right?

Will Millen be forced into not taking Johnson because of previously bad experiences? Or was it those previously bad experiences that make picking Johnson necessary?

Detroit could be in worse shape with Millen in charge than their automotive industry is with imported cars dominating American purchases. Fans tried to get him canned with the Millen Man March. They brought "Fire Millen" signs to games and then got kicked out of Ford Field for bringing "Fire Millen" signs to games.

Drafting Calvin Johnson at No. 2 could be the final straw for fans in Detroit. They just may finally unionize and stage a 100-percent no-show game to start the season.

Man, that A-Rod, what a choker.

Just kidding, course. That's crazy talk. The dude's hitting like a man who just made his final payment to the devil. Which I'm convinced he did.

And he looks like he's having fun for the first time since he came to the Yanks.

No, A-Rod's not a choker...Mariano Rivera is.

Alright, again, we're going too far. As a Sox fan, I know as well as anyone that Mariano's a monster, as close to a sure thing as baseball has had for a long time, and THE reason this team has had a lock on this division for a dozen seasons.

But, seriously, if any team can start to make a claim that they own Mo, it's the Sox... It's to the point where we can start compiling a top ten games-Mariano-handed-to-the-Sox-and-everyone-still-acted-surprised list, and we can debate our own personal favorites.

2004 would have to be its own sub-category, for God's sake.

By Jonathan McCarthy
So it comes down to this. There may be just 60 minutes left in the Islanders season. What are they going to do with it?

Are they going to sit around and lament the could’ve, should’ve, would’ve from last nights game. Are they going to let a bad call (which it was) be the one thing we are left to remember from this wild run?

I hope not. Truth is, Buffalo is a good hockey team. They are fast, skilled and play with a precision that the Islanders just haven’t shown.

The Islanders on the other hand, they have heart and pride. Hopefully they have enough for one more win. They can’t win the whole series in Buffalo on Friday, so let’s hope they focus on the game at hand. They will need to be perfect. That means no sloppy rebounds from DP, no bad stick checks by Witt and hopefully something from the vaunted Yashin, Satan and Kozlov line.

In the off season, whether it comes sooner or later, they will need to address one thing, Identity.
Are they going to be a tough and tumble team (think Witt, Sillinger, Hunter, Smyth) or a finesse team (think Yashin, Blake, Kozlov, Satan). Historically tough and tumble works here on the Island.

P.S. – Wouldn’t it be nice to land Drury for next season?

Don't look now, but the Rangers are the hottest team in hockey. After sweeping Atlanta convincingly in the first round of the playoffs, they now await their second round opponent, which may not be determined for as many as five more days.

The Rangers have won 12 of their last 15 games and have lost only six of 34 games in regulation since Feb. 5.

The key questions for the Blueshirts going forward are: how do they avoid overconfidence after dominating Atlanta in what figured to be a more competitive opening-round series; how will a six- or seven-day layoff affect their momentum?; and who will they play in the next round?

Let's address those questions in order.

By Jonathan McCarthy

Being a ref is a thankless job. There is no denying it. Here are people who strive to not be noticed. The reason is, if you’re noticed you probably did a bad job. The best compliment a ref can get is for “letting them play.” Which essentially means they didn’t do anything. Good or bad.

What you saw last night was refs getting noticed. They were involved in every Sabre goal. First was the non-call on Trent Hunter getting crosschecked that led to Mair’s goal. Then the disputed wrap-around by Vanek. And finally, the ridiculous six minutes of penalties doled out to Bergeron and Poti that led to the Sabres’ final goal.

That brings us to the bad call on Zednik and they unfathomable call on Robitaille in the last 94 seconds. That was the last straw for the fans, who promptly peppered the ice with debris.

And this is where I will disagree with my friend Mike Casey’s post below. Now, I’m not going to argue that fans should throw things on the ice or at refs or at the Sabres, but their reaction last night was justified.

Fans pay to see the game decided on the ice by the players. I don’t think anyone would argue that is what happened tonight. There is a reason they only sell plastic bottles these days.

If this game was in Philly or Pittsburgh and that happened the arena would be on fire.

NHL refs are graded after each round of the playoffs. I will guarantee that the team of Dennis LaRue, Kevin Pollock, Brad Lazarowich and Derek Nansen don’t advance. They may be the reason the Islanders don’t advance either.

That being said, there is no excuse for being outshot 17-2 in the third period of a one-goal game in your building, which is what happened last night. Nolan practically played one line in the third period (Symth, Sillinger and Hunter). That’s not going to cut it against a team that has Buffalo’s speed.

Some other observations:

What happened to Jason Blake? Maybe it is that playing against the speed of the Sabres' he looks average, but the jump hasn’t been there this series.

Everyone who spent money on anything with Yashin’s name or number should get a refund. As a fan in section 307 pointed out last night “every time he gets hit money falls out.”

Oh where, oh where has Richard Park gone? We need some grit and while Zednik has the experience, he has hardly made a difference

The coliseum atmosphere is as good as any arena when it comes to big time events.

DP is back. Now if they can only find a second line on offense.

Dear Drunken Islanders Fans:

If you want to know why many regard your organization as “second-class” in the NHL, look no further than your actions on Monday night.

You and the other “paying customers” who pelted the ice with beer bottles at the end of Monday night’s loss to Buffalo in Game 3 should be rounded up and barred from the Nassau Coliseum permanently.

Regardless of what you think of the result, the officiating, or your own sorry state in life, what you did extracted another ounce of class from a franchise you would claim to support – a franchise that has seen its respect level plummet at an alarming rate since the early 1990s.

Maybe you don’t realize this: When you purchase tickets to a sporting event, you pay for the right to cheer, to yell and scream, and to boo. But you don’t purchase the right to ruin that sporting event by destroying the very surface on which it is played. Throwing beer onto the ice is just as stupid, childish, and Neanderthal as beating up opposing fans in the stands.

Grow up. If you want respect, act in a respectful manner.

Now try not to try to get home without killing anyone on the Meadowbrook Parkway, moron.

By Jonathan McCarthy

Growing up as a hockey goalie I learned to be superstitious. I studied the way Patrick Roy talked to the posts. I learned to put my equipment on the same way every day. I never let my sticks lay across each other and I always said the same thing as my teammates lined up to hit my pads before each game. “Stay strong.”

While being superstitious is not unique to hockey (every see a pitcher step on the baseline?) it is widely accepted that someone who decides to lace up skates has something unique going on inside their head. Watch how none of the Islanders or Rangers will shave as long as they are in the playoffs.

So after the Islanders won four-straight games to make the playoffs I looked back at what was similar about each win. A while you can point out the heroics from Dube and Richard Park or the toughness of Ryan Smyth, the one thing I came back to was my Satan 81 t-shirt.

I was wearing it under my jersey at the Coliseum that Tuesday against the Rangers. I had it on Thursday as I watched the Maple Leafs game. I wore it Saturday as they played the Flyers and as I listened to the Canadiens game. Finally, I had it on under my Easter clothes.

My wife, who knows I am crazy, washed it for me every other day. She did marry a goalie after all. The problem was I didn’t wear it on Thursday when they were in Buffalo. I don’t have a good reason for that. I actually was supposed to be at a Mets game, ended up working late and by the time I got home the game had already started.

No excuse. While I know there is no chance that what I wear has an impact on the game, I think it does. I had it on last night and look what happened.

Needless to say, I will have it on Monday at the game. Now, if only I could find something to help the Thrashers too.

By Karen Bailis

While they spoke, the maligned women of Rutgers, with dignity, intelligence and grace – in sharp contrast to the sputtered stupidity that had brought them here this day -- a stanza kept ringing in my ears:

I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Last week, Don Imus’ ignorance reduced a team that had beaten the odds by playing for a national basketball title to “nappy-headed hos.” Yesterday, those 10 women, eight black, two white, showed the world their strength and honor, and in their words that rippled with pain and resilience, I heard poet Maya Angelou:

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Yes, they are phenomenal. Credit their families and their coaches. Credit basketball. Credit the women themselves.

And credit Don Imus. Because in the twisted way this world works, it was his hate and ignorance that brought these phenomenal women to the world.

Their incredible run to the championship game, which they lost to seven-time national champions Tennessee – phenomenal women in their own right – did not bring them the national attention they deserved. No, while office work grinds to a stop to discuss standings in the men’s NCAA tournament pool, the women’s game barely generates a stir. And that’s too bad, because it not only showcases some of the best athletes in the country, it’s an opportunity to see some phenomenal women in every sense of the word.

Now, the world has seen and heard Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer, team captain Essence Carson, Heather Zurich, Matee Ajavon and Kia Vaughn. There’s not a senior on the team, yet they’re all wise beyond their years.

The world has met the valedictorian, the Girl Scout, the music prodigy and straight-A student, the daughters.

Stringer said her players “are the best this nation has to offer ... young ladies of class, distinction. They are articulate, they are gifted. They are God’s representatives in every sense of the word.”

She continued: “While they worked hard in the classroom and accomplished so much and used their gifts and talents, you know, to bring the smiles and the pride within this state in so many people, we had to experience racist and sexist remarks that are deplorable, despicable, and abominable and unconscionable. It hurts me.”

Vaughn, as direct as a blocked shot, stood up and said, “I’m not a ho. Unless they've given `ho' a whole new definition, that's not what I am," the sophomore center said.

Carson, a junior who plays four instruments and maintains an A average, spoke of what the words of Imus and his sidekicks in stupidity had taken from the team’s glorious run to its first Big East Championship and an improbable chance at the NCAA title.

"It has stolen a moment of pure grace from us," she said.

Carson said the team had agreed to meet with Imus and that they hope it will be a productive meeting. Although they refused to talk of punishment for Imus, they want results.

“You don’t get too many opportunities to finally stand up for what you know is right,” Carson said. “I know we’re at a young age but we definitely understand what is right and what should get done and what should be made of this. We’re happy — we’re glad to finally have the opportunity to stand up for what we know is right.”

They’ve stood up, as a team, to show the world the essence of who they are: some phenomenal young women.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

The fallout from barely a few minutes of racist, sexist radio conversation has become bigger than Imus, bigger than Rutgers basketball. It’s a referendum on racism and sexism in America. And it’s a chance for America to rethink the way it treats women athletes of all races.

"It is more than the Rutgers women's basketball team. It is all women's athletes. It is all women," said Stringer, the third-winningest women's basketball coach of all time who has taken four teams to the Final Four.

One can hope that the sponsors who are fleeing Imus’ show, which could spell the death of his career, will come calling for women’s NCAA basketball and the WNBA. Now, that would be justice.

By Jonathan McCarthy

Maybe we are all Islanders. That can be the only explanation of how this team overcame the loss of their franchise goaltender and most of their defense and still made the playoffs.

Since last Tuesday’s victory over the Rangers, which was overshadowed by Ice Girl-gate, the Islanders did everything right. From the second that Wade Dubielewicz stopped Jaromir Jagr in the shootout you had to believe there was a chance. But that alone wouldn’t be enough. Here is a look at all that went right from that point on:

Isles crush Toronto – The 5-2 victory on Thursday, powered by three third-period goals left the Leafs with a bad taste in their mouth. It also cost Toronto two very valuable points.

Rangers top Montreal – For the first time in my life, I was actually happy the Rangers won a game.

Isles beat Philly – It wasn’t as close as the score looked, but they did their part.

Leafs fight back against Montreal – As I sat huddled around my laptop listening to the game on NHL radio I seethed as Andrew Raycroft did his best impersonation of a cardboard Shooter Tutor. I found myself screaming for Jean-Sebastien Aubin, missing Bryan McCabe and forever indebted to some guy named Kyle Wellwood.

Which brings us to Easter Sunday. Gary Bettman had to have been really pleased with his league’s television deal as the Sabres battled Philly in a meaningless game on national TV, while a few hours later the last playoff berth came down to a battle between Scott Clemensen and Dubie. No one predicted that.

So as I sat at Easter dinner, with my Sunday best camouflaging my "Satan 81" tee, I thought they had a chance. Historically Easter has been good to the Islanders. And boy I was sure happy that Brodeur was resting. Clemmensen played a solid game, and fans in Toronto can’t say the Devils didn’t give it their all. However, in a shootout I’d rather face anyone but Brodeur.

So here we are. The play forever known as the ‘Dube lightsaber ‘ has the Isles shuffling off to Buffalo. For me, that means at least two more games in section 307, two more games for the Ice Girls and a chance at Cup number 5.

By Karen Bailis

“Nappy-headed hos.”

Rutgers, which started the season 2-4 and advanced to topple the nation’s No. 1 team in the NCAA Tournament and eventually play for the national championship, was reduced to “nappy-headed hos.”

In some Cro-Magnon commentary on Don Imus’ WFAN radio show, he and his cohorts offered asinine assessments of Tuesday’s national championship game, which Tennessee won, 59-46, over Rutgers. Their color-based commentary said the women were tattooed “rough girls” who looked more like the Toronto Raptors or Memphis Grizzlies and that Tennessee was the prettier team. And they weren’t talking about playing style.

Imus apologized Friday. Great.

Some people have called for his firing. It’s not the first time he or his sidekicks have made racist, misogynistic comments. Firing him won’t solve anything, though the pollution of the airwaves might be slightly reduced. Another caustic windbag will take his place.

Imus’ comments and others like them – because this is not the first time such things have been said about women athletes in general and Rutgers’ basketball team in particular – highlight people’s discomfort with women who don’t fit into the constricting mold set for them.

In a 2001 column in the Connecticut Post mocking Rutgers’ attempts to rival Connecticut, Chris Elsberry wrote, “All the tattoos, all the black uniforms and the headbands and the bravado you take to the court doesn’t mean a thing when you don’t have the talent, or the respect, to say that you can stand with the best.”

OK, he didn’t use the words “hard-core hos,” as Imus’ executive producer did, but he might as well have.

Much of society is frightened by women with muscles who have tattoos on those muscles and wear sweatbands and – gasp – sweat, and perhaps don’t conform to the traditional standards of beauty. They’re especially put off if those muscled, tattooed, sweating women are black. Even more so if they wear their hair in braids. And the men are particularly intimidated if the aforementioned women set hard picks, box out, make steals and run the fast break better than they do.

The Rutgers team under Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer since 1995 has always played a tough, grinding style that puts defense first. Every team she’s coached has played that way, and they make no apologies for it. They just keep going to Final Fours – she’s been there four times with three different schools.

This isn’t a beauty contest, it’s basketball. If good looks of the physical variety – and not the shooting variety – were required, a lot of the best male players in the game would have been kicked off the court.

There’s a longtime double-standard in women’s sports. The athletes are expected to look good AND play good. Well. Society likes its sporty women to be pretty, blonde and pony-tailed. That’s why Anna Kournikova, who never won a tennis major, still is more popular and gets more lucrative endorsements than Chamique Holdsclaw, who won three consecutive NCAA basketball championships at Tennessee and an Olympic gold medal.

Karl Malone won games and praise with his tough playing style. Why shouldn’t his daughter, Cheryl Ford, who’s won two WNBA championships with the Detroit Shock, get props for her ability to rip down rebounds and intimidate in the paint?

Today’s basketball players are tough and athletic, and that’s beautiful.

By Karen Bailis

I was all set to rant. The New York Liberty had traded away its only marquee player, Becky Hammon, on WNBA draft day in favor of a player who had been shut down by Marist in the NCAA Tournament.

The Liberty had traded its leading scorer, the popular and perky spark plug who played her way onto the squad from Colorado State in 1999. This came a season after the Liberty had let its other two consistent scorers and team veterans, guard Vickie Johnson and forward Crystal Robinson, leave the team as free agents. I was ready to rant.

Then I thought about it. Hammon had carried the team the past few seasons. She’d come up big when her team needed her to. But as guards are getting quicker and bigger and stronger, the 5-6 guard who just turned 30 and has suffered some significant injuries is not someone the Liberty should be building a team around.

So, finally, the Liberty, a team that has lacked true star power since Rebecca Lobo blew out her knee in 1999, has made a much-needed bold move.

The results won’t be evident immediately, but it’s a start.

By trading Hammon to San Antonio, where she’ll join Johnson, one of six original WNBA players still in the 11-year-old league, the Liberty got No. 2 draft pick 6-5 center Jessica Davenport of Ohio State. She’ll join No. 5 pick Tiffany Jackson, a 6-3 forward from the University of Texas, as part of the Liberty renaissance.

Once the oldest team in the league, the Liberty now is among the youngest. Long lacking in the rebounding department and without a true banger in the paint since Kym Hampton retired in 200x, the Liberty has added size and strength with true inside players, not those European types with inside size but outside games (Elena Baranova and Ann Wauters).
Jackson averaged 15.6 points and 8.4 rebounds, and added 177 blocked shots, over 121 games in four seasons at the University of Texas. She was named to the First Team All-Big 12 in 2005 and 2006, after being selected ESPN.com National Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2004.
Davenport averaged 17.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.95 blocks over 130 career games at Ohio State. A two-time finalist for the Wade Trophy and Wooden Awards, Davenport was Big Ten Player of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2007. She was named a Kodak All-American and was selected for the USA Basketball Senior Women’s National Team.
These are a couple of blue-ribbon players. And, while the team is likely to miss the playoffs for the second season in a row – a first – it could be in excellent position to reap the benefits of a loaded draft next year. For this young and completely remade team to come together, guard/forward Shameka Christon is going to have to step up. She averaged 12.4 points last season, second to Hammon’s 14.7, and has improved her game in each of her three seasons.
Evidence that GM Carol Blazejowski didn’t get a complete draft-day lobotomy, she went to her old habit of drafting a couple of dark horses with local connections. The Liberty also picked up guard Shay Doron of the University of Maryland and Christ the King High School in the second round and 6-5 Iona forward Martina Weber in the third. Doron, an Israeli who moved to Great Neck to play ball at Christ the King, will have to compete with lightening quick Sherill Baker and proven point guard Loree Moore for a roster spot. Weber, of Germany, was 2007 MAAC Player of the Year, but will have to elbow Jackson, Cathrine Kraayeveld, defensive stopper Ashley Battle and pre-season pickup Janel McCarville out of the way to have a chance.
The Liberty’s future, however, looks bright.
“We are committed to developing the Liberty into a consistent competitor for the WNBA Championship by focusing on youth, speed and size,” Blazejowski said. “We’re looking forward to training camp and to providing our fans with the kind of fast-paced, energetic basketball they deserve.”
The new – and improved – Liberty can be seen at the Garden starting with a preseason game May 12 against the Houston Comets.

By Mark La Monica

We spent much of 2006, and a little bit of 2007, chronicling the 10 best sports days of the year as they came across our calendar.

From the start of spring training to the Super Bowl 350-something days later, when a top 10 day arrived, we wrote about its importance to the sports landscape.

They are days that occur every year regardless of teams involved, best-of playoff series and other such things beyond fans' control. They are the events that can be printed on a yearly calendar three years in advance. They are the events you schedule other life responsibilities around.

Looking at the bigger calendar picture, April may just be the best sports month of the year.

Consider these sporting events, all of which occur within the 30 days allotted to the month of April:

• Baseball's Opening Day
• NCAA national championship basketball games
• The Masters
• NFL Draft
• Down-to-the-wire playoff races in the NHL
• Down-to-the-wire playoff races in the NBA

That's a six-pack anyone can enjoy.

Add in a full month of baseball games, the return of "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN and the start of the NBA and NHL playoffs. From start to finish, April packs a nice wallop.

Throw in the important races leading up to the Kentucky Derby and sports fans have themselves a Mike Tyson's Punch Out superpunch of fun.

Other months worth considering, in rank order:

• January (end of NFL season, NFL playoffs, NCAA bowl games and national championship)
• September (start of NFL season, MLB playoff races, start of NCAA football)
• March (Selection Sunday, the start of March Madness, NCAA conference tournaments)
• October (MLB playoffs, more NFL games, more NCAA football, start of NHL and NBA)

P.S. February received consideration for the Super Bowl and the start of Spring Training but then lost points because of the Pro Bowl.

By Jonathan McCarthy

Over the course of the last decade Islanders fans, me included, have had to put up with a lot. There was the fisherman logo, the disco ball, the addition of a ‘Family Guy’ sound clip to goal celebrations, all Mike Milbury decisions, ownership carousels, the fact that Coliseum is falling down around us and of course the Ice Girls.

All these things distract from the fact that the team on the ice is not getting any better and that us, as fans, are being treated like minor leaguers.

Going to an Islander game is now more akin to going to see the Long Island Ducks. The days of Trottier and Nystrom are so far removed from the product on the ice (even though there are 5 minute homage’s to both player at every home game).

It used to be that you could go to the Coliseum and talk hockey. Fans knew the difference between offsides and icing. They appreciated a good open ice hit. The hip check was art. These days are all gone.

Not that those fans don't exist. You just can't hear them over the blabbering of TV timeout promotions.

During the first period at Tuesday’s game they actually showed a note on the scoreboard that the Islanders have clinched the season series against the Rangers, as if that matters to anyone. The only thing more laughable was the fact that they showed playoff ticket information. Not to mention that the crowd was at least 70% Ranger fans to begin with.

That brings me back to the Ice Girls. Do you think if the Islanders were as good as they were in the 80’s that there would be Ice Girls? Of course not. There are no ice girls in Montreal, Calgary, and Detroit. The difference between all those teams and the Islanders? They all have a better shot than the Islanders at making the playoffs this year.

By Karen Bailis

All Rutgers had to do was win. Win its first NCAA women’s basketball title. Beat Tennessee, seven-time winners of the women’s NCAA championship. Win, after a 2-4 stumble at the beginning of the season. Win for Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer, who’s taken three different teams to Final Fours but had yet to win the big one. Win, and they’d be on the cover of Newsday.

It would be the first time women’s basketball would be on the front page of this newspaper. It would be one of the few times a women’s sport of any kind was represented on the front page. Heck, it would be same for the back page, the sports cover. Not to say that a Tennessee win wouldn’t be just as newsworthy. But in the inexact science that measures proximity, feel-good quality, potential for excitement and buzz and the ability to sell newspapers, and thus anoints a team we otherwise barely pay attention to as “local” (see the 2003 Nets), Tennessee is too far below the Mason-Dixon line to get front-page attention here.

So, all Rutgers, who had stunned No. 1 Duke and four-time Final Four contestant LSU to get to the title game, had to do was win. Play 40 minutes and win. And then I, in my paying job as senior news editor, would get to put women’s basketball, my mostly unpaid passion, on the cover. Just win.

It was too tall an order. Literally. Tennessee’s starting five boasts two players at 6-4, one at 6-3 and a 5-11 shooting guard. Then there’s 5-2 point guard Shannon Bobbitt, a Manhattanite with the heart of a 7-footer. Rutgers has 6-4 center Kia Vaughn of the Bronx, whose 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and countless hustle plays kept the Scarlet Knights in the biggest game of their young lives. But with no other starter over 6 feet, and no one else scoring double figures, Rutgers just couldn’t measure up and lost, 59-46. They couldn’t bang the boards like Tennessee did, outrebounding Rutgers, 42-34, and Tennessee’s 24 offensive rebounds led to 22 second-chance points. Rutgers’ defense, which wasn’t as sharp as it had been against Arizona State, Duke and LSU, still held Tennessee to 37 percent shooting, but the boards made the difference.

And so did Nicky Anosike. She corralled the ball as if her life depended on it. The 6-3 center from Staten Island pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, including a career-high 10 offensive boards. Though Candace Parker (17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) won Most Outstanding Player honors, Rutgers’ defense didn’t let her dominate. Anosike, following up a 14-point, 7-rebound performance in the semi-final against North Carolina, made an argument for Final Four MVP honors.

“Rebounding wins championships,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said after cutting down the net for the seventh time after a nine-year drought. “We had a phenomenal effort on the boards. None better than Nicky Anosike. She’s the blue-collar worker who’s just gonna work and work and work.”

Rutgers had been priding itself on its blue-collar work ethic in its improbable run for the championship with a team of five freshmen, three juniors and two sophomores. After embarrassing losses early in the season, without injured floor leader and top scorer Matee Ajavon, Stringer had banished the team from its own locker room to prove a point. They had been playing as individuals, not a team, and they weren’t playing Rutgers defense, Stringer’s defense, and that was personally offensive to her.

Stringers’ teams – from the Cheyney State team she took to the national final 25 years ago, to the Iowa team that went to the Final Four in 1993, to the Rutgers team that went to the Final Four in 2000 – have always been built on a sturdy foundation of strangling team defense. This one wasn’t living up to her standards. She worked them through the winter holidays, drove them in blistering two-a-day practices that bonded them, and they started winning. And they kept winning, through the tournament, holding opponents to season scoring lows. They believed. They played calmly, cohesively, patiently, like veterans. Until they remembered that they weren’t, at the worst possible moment.

Still, Stringer said she’d had the most fun she’s had in a long time, and that this team had given her as much as she’d given them.

“So much credit has to be given to the young ladies who came from nothing to do so much and basically stun everybody, everybody in the world, to the point where people could actually believe that we might be able to do some things,” she said after the game. “And when we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, we actually believed that too.

“I still love my team, and I think they did a wonderful job and I’m really proud of them because they gave me a lot of confidence in young people who struggle. As a coach, what you want to see is an opportunity to mold young people’s minds and their character … and this was no doubt the most rewarding year that I’ve had. So I guess I’m good for a while. I feel good about that.”

After a grinding 40 minutes, the Vols were the ones really feeling good. And while the championship lifts Parker to the basketball heights with the likes of Tennessee greats Holdsclaw and Catchings, her supporting cast stepped up and deserve a lot of credit. Parker was double- and triple-teamed, and shots opened up for Bobbitt, Anosike and junior forward Alberta Auguste, who came off the bench to score 10 points.

Bobbitt’s three second-half three-pointers drove a high arcing dagger into the heart of a Rutgers run, when the Scarlet Knights had come within seven points. She stole the ball, tapped it to guard Alexis Hornbuckle, who went in for a layup. She rebounded. And by the time she hit her third three, Tennessee had gone up 46-30 with 10:15 to go. The juco transfer tallied 13 points, 3 steals and 3 rebounds.

After the final buzzer sounded and the confetti fell, Tennessee celebrated while Rutgers looked on sullenly.

“This is what all of us came to Tennessee to do and we did it,” Parker said.

Summitt won her seventh championship 20 years after her first.

“I don’t stop and think about winning a seventh NCAA championship,” she said. “I think about this team winning their first.”

And Rutgers is still thinking about winning theirs.

By Karen Bailis

New York is in the house -- or, in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.

Is it just coincidence that the two teams that moved on to the championship game in the women’s NCAA tournament each start two players from New York City? Rutgers, who smothered LSU with C. Vivian Stringer’s “55” defense and lit up the Tigers with 8-of-10 three-point shooting in the first half, has Kia Vaughn of the Bronx and St. Michael’s Academy down low and Epiphanny Prince of Brooklyn and Murry Bergtraum on the perimeter. Tennessee, who came back from 12 down with 8:18 to go against North Carolina, couldn’t have done it without point guard Shannon Bobbitt of Manhattan and Bergtraum or Nicky Anosike of Staten Island and St. Peter’s.

Neither LSU nor North Carolina has a New Yorker on its roster, and they’re going home. Rutgers even has the benefit of freshman guard Brittany Ray of the Bronx and Aquinas coming off the bench.

It isn’t about the address, but about what the New Yorkers brought to the court. They had attitude to spare, toughness, and they all lifted their games to a different level.

In the first semifinal Sunday night, Rutgers got the jump on LSU, literally. Vaughn, the 6-4 center, won the tip when LSU’s 6-6 center, Sylvia Fowles barely got off the ground. That could be a metaphor for the rest of her night. Fowles, who’d dominated the tournament with stellar play on both sides of the ball, was swarmed by Rutgers defenders. Vaughn managed to keep her off the block and had help from 6-1 forward Heather Zurich. Vaughn got into foul trouble about halfway through the first half, but her 6-4 backup center, Rashidat Junaid, took over where she left off.

Although Vaughn’s stats don’t stand out – she had 8 points, all in the second half; 4 rebounds; and 2 blocks in 25 minutes – the sophomore had a tremendous impact on LSU’s stats, namely Fowles’. Fowles, who had entered the game averaging 17.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game, was held to 5 points, tying her lowest output of the season. She had 7 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Rutgers’ offense fed off its defense, as it always does, but this time it was a feeding frenzy. Matee Ajavon was 4-5 from three-point range. Essence Carson was 3-6. They finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
“We were hitting shots. I think we were like 80% in the first half from three-point range,” Zurich said. “With the three, you live by it or die by it. We knew in the second half if our shots weren't falling, that we couldn't always be going for that. So, we tried to get some penetration inside and get some points off rebounds. Kia stepped up inside and that was basically it."
Prince did a little bit of everything. But, for a change, her defense and dishes came before her scoring. The freshman guard had 7 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and just 1 turnover in 39 minutes. That’s a royal performance by Prince.

Rutgers’ 59-35 semifinal win puts them in their first-ever national title game. They also set some records with their defense, holding LSU to the fewest points in a Final Four, the lowest field goal percentage, 26.4, and fewest field goals, 14.
“Wow – that’s the best way to describe what's happening right here," Stringer said. "I am so proud of these young ladies.”
Rutgers will face Tennessee Tuesday night for the women’s NCAA basketball championship. Tennessee got a bit of revenge on North Carolina in the Vols’ 56-50 win. The Tar Heels had eliminated them last year, in Cleveland, in the regional final.
During her halftime pep talk, Coach Pat Summitt exhorted her team to take care of the ball after being plagued by turnovers in the first half.
“It’s about possessions,” she said. “It’s also a game of wills. Let’s see how tough we are.”
There were none tougher than Bobbitt, the smallest player in the Final Four at 5-2, and Anosike, a 6-4 forward/center. They both were seemingly everywhere, grabbing key steals, rebounds and making big shots.
Bobbitt, a junior college transfer, matched up against All-American point guard and All-American talker Ivory Latta. Bobbitt did some talking of her own and had to be separated from Latta by a ref after giving her a shove. The speedster stayed glued to Latta, stride for stride, except when the Tar Heels star sat with foul trouble and after two hard picks by LaToya Pringle sent the former Rucker Park stalwart heels over head onto the hardwood. After the first, Bobbitt recovered and hit a three-pointer. After the second, she sat stunned for a few seconds at midcourt, then went to the bench, shooting the cheering UNC bench a stare that said, “Watch out, I’ll be back.”
She was all about hustle, chasing after loose balls, coming up with 4 steals and rattling Latta in the first half. She finished with 6 points on two 3s and 1 assist in a woeful shooting night for the Vols. Part she was part of the defensive clampdown Tennessee laid down in the second half to hold usually high-scoring UNC to 2 points as the Vols went on a 20-point run.
“We just turned up the intensity," Bobbitt said. "Defense wins games."
Anosike was a big part of the win. She had the unenviable assignment of going up against UNC’s many bigs, including Erlana Larkins and Pringle, who were each held to 4 points. Anosike, not a prolific scorer, matched Wade Trophy winner Candace Parker with a game-high 14 points. More importantly, in a game that saw Tennessee shoot a measly 27 percent (the lowest percentage for a Final Four winner), Anosike grabbed 7 rebounds. In addition to her 3 assists, she blocked 4 shots and picked up 5 steals. In the physical, defensive battle Tennessee had a record 20 steals.

Anosike’s layup with 2:04 left was huge, tying the score at 50. The Tar Heels wouldn’t score again, while the Vols went 6-8 from the free-throw line to win the game.

Who knows what will happen when the New Yorkers meet up on the same court with the championship at stake. There will be trash-talking. And defense will rule the day. But it all might come down to one non-New Yorker who can play every position: Parker, from Naperville, Ill., has made it her mission to bring a seventh championship banner to Thompson-Boling Arena.

After the win over UNC, she held up one finger to the crowd and yelled, “One more.” I don’t think she was hailing a cab.