Ladies Night

Two months after releasing the news of her pregnancy, women's basketball phenom, Candace Parker became the first woman to grace the cover of ESPN the Magazine in its relatively short 11 year publication history. Did I mention that she appeared 7 months pregnant, clutching her stomach as if it were a basketball she was showcasing to the world?

Parker made headlines late last year, when news of her elopement to long-time fiance, Sheldon Williams, who is a professional basketball player in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves, leaked to the press. Many fans and former teammates where shocked by the news but were not surprised as Parker was expecting to travel to Russia to play overseas during the WNBA off-season and would undoubtedly have no other time to plan a big "dream" wedding. In January, with the official announcement of her pregnancy, fans and media outlets finally understood the motives for the elopement and an explosion of mixed reactions followed. Some argued that her pregnancy was selfish because she could possibly lose her endorsement deals and provide more negative press for the WNBA. Others fully supported Parker and were happy to hear the news.

WNBA commissioner Donna Orender had this to say about Candace's pregnancy, "It's a miracle of life, and it doesn't always happen on your time schedule. That's how it goes, you know? Parker will come back - and we'll have one more fan."

Head Coach of the Los Angeles Sparks Michael Cooper, was quite upset at the thought of losing his star player for the upcoming 2009 season, "Yeah, I cried when I got the news. We need her on the floor," he said. "Her game is truly like Kobe's. She has the moves, the action. She's slinky. Her hands are huge. She palm's a men's basketball."

Parker's expected due date is in early May and she hopes to make a full return by July, which would be in time for the playoffs. "I'm stubborn. I've been through knee, ankle, shoulder injuries. I feed off of doubt, people telling me I won't be able to come back. We'll see about that."

The Women's NCAA tournament kicked off this week, with 2 major upsets after the first two rounds, including #1 seed Duke's stunning 49-63 loss to #9 Michigan State University and#5 University of Tennessee's 55-71 loss to #12 Ball State. The most unexpected loss was Tennessee getting bounced in the first round, capping off the worst season in Tennessee Women's basketball history, in which Pat Summit's team went 22-11. One year ago, Candace Parker was leading Tennessee to the sweet 16 and eventually the 2008 National Championship. Those days are long gone for Coach Summit, who was often seen upset and frustrated with the lack of effort shown by her team on a consistent basis. She went so far as to take most of the team's luxuries away, including their gorgeous bright orange locker room.

"I thought we were tentative, maybe uptight," Summit said. "But you have to give credit where credit is due and that's to the Ball State basketball team. They had a lot more toughness. They beat us to loose balls. They made shots."

The lady volunteers entered this year's tournament with the lowest seed in the program's history but still with expectations to continue Summit's 42-0 record of leading her team past the first 2 rounds.

After weeks of speculation, longtime WNBA veteran, Tina Thompson finally signed a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks. Thompson will undoubtedly play a major role with Candace Parker expecting to miss the first 2 months of the 2009 season. On paper, the Sparks will once again be the favorites but like last season, they will need their guards to step up.

That's it for this installment. Expect to hear more on both sides of the NCAA tournament (Men's and Women's) and also more news on the NBA as the playoffs side draw nearer.