More, more, more on mentors

Expounding upon the value of mentors strikes me as a lot like talking about the necessity of good nutrition and getting enough sleep. It’s common sense, but it bears repeating endlessly.

The National Women’s Law Center is sponsoring a “Blog to Rally for Girls’ Sports Day” today, Dec. 8, where they are asking bloggers to write about the value of girls’ and women’s sports and what that means to them.

I write most of the entries on this blog about women’s sports, so on this day, I want to focus on the value of mentors … and the value of appreciating them. And in doing so, I also get to tell you the rest of a story that I wrote recently.

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Volleyball bracket doesn’t add up

The Division I NCAA volleyball bracket came out Sunday, and I kept looking at it, thinking I had to be missing something.

“This can’t be as ridiculous as it seems,” I thought. “It can’t be. This is a joke.”

I rather quickly wrote a story for ESPN.com about the bracket, suggesting Penn State got what looked like an absurdly easy road to the Final Four, and that the Seattle region looked like it was really difficult.

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The nicest kind of story

When I was a young teen, Pete Axthelm wrote a sports commentary piece in “Newsweek” that really ticked me off. The details may be a little hazy after three decades. But if memory serves, he was lamenting the fact that the Washington Redskins had been squeezed out of an NFL playoff spot because my team, the St. Louis Cardinals, had lost listlessly to another team.

And I thought, “Tough luck! Why didn’t your dumb Redskins just win more games?” The Cardinals had enough to be worried about doing damage to their own selves year after year, let alone getting blamed for hated Washington’s disappointment.

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Out in the field … kind of

Today, Brenda Van Lengen and I will be over at Alvamar  Country Club in Lawrence, Kan.,  doing “She’s Got Game.” KU is hosting the Marilyn Smith Invitational, and so we’ll talk a little golf, some volleyball and you know we’ll get in hoops, too.

Now, are you wondering who Marilyn Smith is? She’s one of the original founders of the LPGA, a Sunflower State native who went to the University of Kansas back in the days when there was no women’s golf team at the school.

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On the radio

I’ve been dealing with a computer problem the last few days … hopefully, it will be resolved soon, and I’ll have some new blog posts up quickly. In the meantime, today I’ll be doing “She’s Got Game” on SportsRadioKC.com from 1-2 p.m. Central time. Brenda VanLengen is showing her kids around Galveston, Texas, so I’ll try to yammer through the whole hour.

I’m scheduled to have a couple of guests, each with their own insight into the WNBA. I’ll be talking with Dawn Trudeau of Seattle’s Force 10 Hoops ownership group about the success of the Storm and various topics such as what the independent owners think of the impending NBA lock out next year and how that may impact the WNBA.

Also joining me will be David Woods of the Indianapolis Star. David will offer his thoughts on who the real Indiana Fever team is: the one that has lost its last three games … or the one that won five in a row before that?

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The cheerleading thing

As you’re probably aware, a federal judge ruled last week that Quinnipiac University in Connecticut could not count competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport, and thus had to reinstate volleyball at least for another year. After that, the school might still eliminate volleyball if it finds a satisfactory way, according to the judge, to comply with Title IX.

I was asked on an ESPN.com chat last week what I thought of the ruling, and said I was still sorting my way through it. And here’s why. It’s not because I disagree with the judge’s decision. I think it was absolutely the right one.

The trickier issue, to me, comes in trying to determine what is a “sport.” I would guess a lot of people might think competitive cheer is just some made-up hokum that should be getting left behind as we start the second decade of the 2000s, rather than being debated as a “sport.”

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Chattering away

Just a quick note: I do have the ESPN.com chat today at 2 p.m. Eastern time. That should be a regular thing each Thursday at the same time throughout WNBA season, provided there are no conflicts with travel … or I don’t find myself stranded on a deserted island.

A deserted island without internet access, that is.

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Listen in again

I have to tell you, the blog has been somewhat road-blocked by one of the obsessions of its goofball author. Meaning I have been working and working on a post (which may, in fact, turn into a two- or three-parter) about something that is not basketball – is not even sports – and has seemed to have me rather possessed. (Which makes sense, since it’s in regard to horror movies).

Anyway, this sometimes happens to me … I suppose it happens to many writers … occasionally you get something on your mind so consuming that it kind of blocks out the sun for everything else. (Well, not what I write for ESPN.com … that stays on track, um, for the most part by being focused on basketball. However, what I write here on the blog sometimes wonders off into the vast expanse of where-the-hell-is-this-going prairie of my mind.)

Hopefully, it will be done soon, I’ll post it, and then I’ll stop thinking about it so much. In the meantime, though, yet another quick plug for the on-line radio show I help broadcaster Brenda VanLengen do here in Kansas City. On Monday’s show, from 1-2 p.m. Central, we’ll visit with former Big 12 players Nicole Ohlde and Plenette Pierson. Their WNBA teams, Phoenix and Tulsa, meet Tuesday at the BOK Center.

If you want to listen to the show, try this Website. If that doesn’t work, try this one.

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Waiting to see what becomes of “big” leagues

There is a difference between pessimism and pragmatic realism _ even though at times, they can feel like the same thing.

The thought that the Big 12 as we’ve known it now since 1996 is not going to last much longer may seem pessimistic to those who’ve become fans of the league. But the more one reads and interprets, it seems more just an idea to get used to.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the Big Ten (11) and the Pac-10 are itching to expand, and if one or both take schools from the Big 12, then the SEC may step in, too, and grab what it would consider the best of what’s left.

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On the radio on-line

Brenda VanLengen is out of town today, Friday, April 30, so I will be doing her “She’s Got Game” on-line radio show. I’ll be talking with former Kansas basketball player Nakia Sanford of the Mystics, whose Jayhawk career I covered. I’ll also have some guests on to discuss swimming and golf.

You can listen to the show at 1 p.m. Central time here. If you have any questions for me or comments, send them to mvoepel123@yahoo.

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