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Not to make light of a good business deal, and I certainly have nothing against sponsorships like this, but the Mercury made a pretty big deal out of what to me was a routine announcement.

WNBA President Donna Orender was scheduled to attend but was called back to New York on an urgent personal matter.

4 days ago Seth Pollack 0 comments 0 recs

Photographer Craig Bennett got a time lapse series of photos of Rachelle Federico's elbow on Danielle Orsillo that got her tossed last weekend and we passed them on to California Golden Blogs.

The ref who tossed her was the same one who tossed Jayne Appel earlier this season...so you be the judge, was that worth an ejection?

5 days ago Q McCall 0 comments 0 recs

University of Arizona forward Ify Ibekwe provides her own photo caption on her wrist.

(Click here for larger version of photo by Craig Bennett/112575 Media)

11 days ago Q McCall 1 comment 0 recs

The Citizen Journalism Movement & Ann Curry: "Journalism As An Act of Faith"

Ann Curry wrote an outstanding article entitled, Journalism As An Act of Faith about humanitarian reporting and the importance of caring about the stories of people journalists cover.

Prior to that, I read an article about Bleacher Report's partnership with Hearst entitled, Hearst-Bleacher Report breakthrough key to future of "citizen journalist" movement.

The connection? Though loose, what makes both citizen journalism and Ann Curry's vision of humanitarian journalism powerful is not only a steady holding to people's stories, but also a willingness to articulate human connections in writing rather than just cold facts. Without the constraints of traditional media, citizen journalists do a better job of incorporating that human touch in their hyper local reporting -- identifying and describing stories that matter to their lives faster than big media outlets.

Of course, that takes skill and learning how to write -- either through J-school or an apprenticeship/internship -- is valuable but good journalism is about one's disposition relative to the subject matter. And that's not to say either that Bleacher Report is the "best" medium to "lead the citizen journalism movement" or that random folks off the street should replace paid journalists. The point is best stated by Derek Clark of GeekPolitics.com in the citizen journalism article: The old media that combine their resources with the advantages of new media will thrive. The old media that try to cling to their old methods of doing things will die."

Journalists like Curry will survive because she's focused on human stories, regardless of method or medium. What will kill traditional media is a methods fetish, not citizen journalism or new media.

20 days ago Q McCall 0 comments 0 recs

"What athletes in college don't realize is that there is two full teams of outstanding athletes that are floundering somewhere in the States because they don't have a job ...You shouldn't be in school to play this sport as a professional."

Hall of Fame Rutgers University coach Vivian Stringer on the folding of WNBA teams

3 months ago Q McCall 0 comments 0 recs

WNBA Playoff Dates

Conference Finals: (Higher seed in Bold)
Wednesday-Sept. 23;
Friday-Sept. 25,
Saturday-Sept. 26, if necessary.

WNBA Finals:
Tuesday-Sept. 29,
Thursday-Oct. 1,
Sunday-Oct. 4,
Wednesday-Oct. 7, if necessary
Friday-Oct. 9, if necessary.

6 months ago Seth Pollack 0 comments 0 recs

You think Diana's pissed. Wait until Ron Artest gets a load of these calls

6 months ago Seth Pollack 1 comment 0 recs

"I'm making a decision to leave right now because my body, from injuries and different things, says it's time to stop. Playing here under Brian (Agler) and playing with my teammates this year gave me a sense of peace that I'm going out the right way."

Johnson At Peace With Decision to Retire

6 months ago kpelton 0 comments 0 recs