Naperville basketball court named after Candace Parker

How’d you like a neighborhood basketball court named after you? That’s exactly what happened to WNBA star Candace Parker last week. The Naperville Park District honored their fave local player by dedicating a newly renovated basketball court in her honor.

Spring-Field Park is where Candace practiced basketball growing up so  when she cut the ribbon on Candace Parker Court, she recalled her childhood.

“This is where I pretty much first picked up a basketball,” said Parker,  “The first time I was on the court I was 5, had these huge braids and played with my big brothers. The park meant so much to our family.”

A plaque implanted in the sidewalk leading to the court notes that it was “the place where, for many years, Parker practiced and honed her craft under the guidance of her father.” Larry Parker was a former college basketball player who helped his daughter shape her game through countless hours of play.

“I am so excited to welcome Candace back to Naperville and present her with a Key to the City,” Naperville Mayor A. George Pradel said. “Candace is one of our hometown heroes and a positive role model for future generations of Naperville athletes. This is a fitting tribute for an outstanding individual. She truly has the key to our hearts in Naperville.”

Parker’s prowess on the basketball court has earned her numerous distinctions, from her high school prep career at Naperville Central High School where her contributions drove the Redhawks to consecutive state titles, as a member of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols where she led in scoring and rebounds during her final season, and as the top pick of the 2008 WNBA draft, going to the Los Angeles Sparks, her current team.

Most recently, Parker led the U.S. women’s basketball team to the gold medal during the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China.

Parker said she never imagined evolving into a role model for female athletes during her days playing in Naperville, but believes she has plenty of company.

“My generation was probably the first that had a few female athletes to really look up to, but today there are countless female athletes for young girls to look up to,” she said.

Vote for Sportswoman of the Year

It’s that time of year. Time to head over to the Women’s Sports Foundation website to vote for Sportswoman of the Year.

Every year, WSF  recognizes an individual and team Sportswoman whose performances over a 12-month time span have been exceptional. Criteria is based on new records and world championships won.

Nominees represent a variety of sports including tennis, bowling, swimming, softball, and gymnastics among others.  Some are well-known athletes like tennis champ Serena Williams and racecar driver Danica Patrick and some are lesser-known ones like bowler Kelly Kulick – all are deserving.

Last year, gymnast Nastia Liukin won the individual athlete award while softball player Jessica Mendoza took home the team sport athlete title.

So what makes a Sportswoman exceptional? Goals. Upsets. Strength. Determination. Heart?

It’s up to you to decide who should be honored for their outstanding accomplishments and why. Vote now.

Award winners will be announced on October 13, 2009 and honored at the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

2009 ESPY Award nominees announced

The 2009 ESPY Awards are upon us, and set to air Sunday, July 19th at 9pm, with Samuel L. Jackson as host (we’ll miss you JT).  This year there are a whopping 37 categories and Michael Phelps leads the way with four nominations.

The ESPY Awards honor the best achievements, moments and leading athletes of the previous year. Fans determine winners through online (www.espys.tv) and mobile phone voting (www.espn.mobi) that begins today and runs through July 11.

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award will be given to former South African president Nelson Mandela. Dara Torres, who won three silver medals as a 41-year-old swimmer at the Beijing Olympics, will receive the Best Comeback award.

The voting has begun so be sure to cast your vote for your fave nominees….

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE

Natalie Coughlin, Swimming
Nastia Liukin, Gymnastics
Maya Moore, NCAA Basketball
Candace Parker, WNBA
Serena Williams, Tennis

BEST MALE ATHLETE

Kobe Bryant, NBA
LeBron James, NBA
Jimmie Johnson, Auto Racing
Michael Phelps, Swimming

BEST CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies
Michael Phelps, Olympic Swimming
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, Olympic Beach Volleyball

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE

Shawn Johnson, Olympic Gymnastics
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

BEST FEMALE COLLEGE ATHLETE

Courtney Kupets, Gymnastics, UGA
Kerrie Hanks, Soccer, Notre Dame
Danielle Lawrie, Softball, Washington
Maya Moore, Basketball, UConn
Dana Vollmer, Swimming, Stanford

BEST FEMALE INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE

Marta, Soccer, Brazil
Yelena Isinbayeva, Pole Vault, Russia
Lorena Ochoa, Golf, Mexico
Stephanie Rice, Swimming, Australia
Dinara Safina, Tennis, Russia

BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE

Torah Bright, Snowboarding
Ashley Fiolek, Motocross
Sarah Burke, Skiing
Maya Gabeira, Surfing

BEST RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE

Usain Bolt, Olympic Sprinter
Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals
Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers
Michael Phelps, Olympic Swimmer

BEST UPSET

Mine That Bird wins the Kentucky Derby
Oregon State stuns then #1 USC
Tampa Bay Rays win the American League Championship Series
US Soccer shocks Spain in the Confederations Cup semifinals

BEST GAME

Federer vs. Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon Final
Steelers vs. Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII
Syracuse vs. Connecticut in the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals

BEST MOMENT

Florida’s Tim Tebow’s speech
Helio Castroneves wins the Indy 500
US swim team wins thrilling finish in Olympic relay

BEST TEAM

Connecticut Women’s Basketball
Los Angeles Lakers
North Carolina Men’s Basketball
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Steelers

In that last category, Go UConn!!

Superstars is back – TV show premieres tonight

They’re back! That’s right, the all-around sports competition pitting athletes from different sports against each other is back!

So if Jeopardy is too intellectual and America’s Got Talent too demanding, turn instead to The Superstars, a new (well, actually revived) competition program that pairs athletes such as Lisa Leslie and Brandi Chastain with celebrities like Julio Iglesias and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Here are the pairings:

• Terrell Owens & Joanna Krupa
• Jeff Kent & Ali Landry
• Robert Horry & Estella Warren
• Bode Miller & Paige Hemmis
• Pro skier Kristi Leskinen & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• WNBA All Star Lisa Leslie & Dan Cortese
• Tennis star Jennifer Capriati & David Charvet
• Soccer player Brandi Chastain & Julio Iglesias, Jr.

Back in the day, Superstars premiered as part of ABC’s Wide World of Sports program. The network aired the show throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s and subsequently aired on NBC from 1985 to 1990.

Previous Superstars winners include NFL football players Herschel Walker in 1987 and Jason Sehorn in 1998, decathlete Dave Johnson in 1993 and Olympic skier Bode Miller in 2002. Hopefully we’ll see some female athletes on the leaderboard during this incarnation of the show.

Shot entirely on location at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas (certainly part of the enticement for the participants) the athletes and celebrities  compete against other duos in grueling physical challenges.

Every week a team will be eliminated until one team is ultimately crowned the winner. Competitors’ athletic prowess and strategy will be put to the test to excel in events including swimming, biking, running and kayaking, in addition to other head-to-head athletic challenges everyone must try to conquer.

Watch each week as athletes you may not yet know about and celebrities you may never heard of prove that they’re in much better shape than you.

Let the games begin.  Tonight on ABC, at 8 p.m.

WNBA: Expect Great

Be the first to see the two new ad spots for the WNBA’s Expect Great campaign for the 2009 season.The ads will begin to air nationally this weekend, but you can check them out now. Visit WNBA.com for more details.

Welcome back LJ and Happy 10th season Seattle Storm

Lauren Jackson’s free agency and rumors of her signing with the Phoenix Mercury have had Storm fans on an emotional rollercoaster.  She’s been playing in Russia during the off-season and her legions of supporters have been on edge waiting to hear about her WNBA plans.

It was with great relief then, when Seattle’s Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Brian Agler announced today that they re-signed two-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson for the 2009 season.

“Lauren is a key to our team’s success and we’re thrilled she has decided to continue her career in Seattle,” said Agler. “She’s an MVP, an All-Star and one of the best women’s basketball players in the world. Her renewed commitment to this organization is a big asset as we continue to work toward bringing another WNBA championship to the city of Seattle.”

The Aussie 6′5″ forward – who has been the face of the Storm franchise since she was drafted in 2001 – led the team to the 2004 WNBA title with teammate and friend Sue Bird. Jackson’s departure would have been devastating to the team and its fan base. There’s no doubt that she, along with Bird, is largely responsible for the Storm’s intensely loyal following.

The 27-year-old Jackson has spent her entire WNBA career in Seattle, leading the Storm to the league championship in 2004. She has averaged 19.4 points and 8.0 rebounds, and is the franchise leader in scoring with 4,602 points. Most recently, Jackson was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2008 – the second time Jackson received the nod. Her first nomination to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team came at the conclusion of the 2005 season. Jackson compiled 147 total rebounds, 108 total defensive rebounds and 33 total blocks in 21 games for the Storm during the 2008 season. Should she have qualified by playing the league minimum games, she would have ranked 11th  and 6th  respectively. Jackson missed five games prior to the WNBA’s Olympic break to practice with the Australian National Team, and eight games following the break due to ankle surgery.

Given her storied career and huge popularity, she’s bound to get a lot of love from Storm fans this year. Welcome back LJ.

Pretty Tough Trivia
LJ sunk her 1,000 career point at 22 years, 27 days old — the youngest in WNBA history.

Auriemma to be named U.S. Women’s Basketball Coach

The NCAA championships are over, the WNBA Draft is done and just when you thought there might be a lull in women’s basketball comes major breaking news.

UConn’s Geno Auriemma, 55, will be named coach of the U.S women’s basketball team through the 2012 Olympics. The university has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday in Storrs.

Auriemma just won his sixth national title at UConn as the Huskies finished off an unbeaten season (39-0) by defeating Louisville in the NCAA women’s final last week. He will serve as head coach through the Summer Games in London.

According to the Hartford Courant:

Auriemma is the first active college coach to head an Olympic team since Tara VanDerveer in 1996. Auriemma became eligible to coach the Olympic team after the USA Basketball executive committee approved a rule change last month. In the past, the Olympic head coaches were required to have WNBA coaching experience. Now the coach must only have five years experience as either an assistant or head coach at any level at the time of the selection.

The U.S., which has won four straight Olympic gold medals, will first have a chance to qualify for the London games at the FIBA World Championships in 2010 in the Czech Republic. The winner of that tournament will receive an automatic berth to the 2012 Games

Olympians Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, former UConn players who also won national titles playing for Auriemma, are likely to be on the U.S. roster.

Being a big UConn fan, this news is huge. There’s no doubt Auriemma is an amazing coach and will serve the U.S. team well.

Surely pundits will have a lot to say about the news in the coming days and months so we’ll keep you posted.

Huskies Maya Moore 2009 Wooden Award winner

A final exclamation point was added to Maya Moore’s season of accomplishment Friday, when the University of Connecticut sophomore was named winner of the John R. Wooden Award as the top player in women’s college basketball. Moore was presented with the unique Wooden Award trophy that represents the legendary coach’s ideal basketball player at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

A finalist and Wooden All American a year ago as a freshman, Moore led Connecticut to a dream undefeated season in 2009, capped off by a win over Louisville in the NCAA title game on Tuesday. The 6-0 forward was the Big East Player of the Year in averaging 21.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.3 blocks. Moore recorded 20-plus points 15 times and registered 16 double-doubles this season.

In a storied program, Moore became the fastest player in Husky history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Among her accolades this season were being named to the All-Tournament team at the Final Four, being chosen Most Outstanding Player of the Trenton Regional and being selected an Academic All-American by ESPN.

In the Wooden Award voting, Moore finished with 176 points to beat out Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris (133 points), Angel McCoughtry of Louisville (101), Connecticut’s Renee Montgomery (97) and Maryland’s Kristi Toliver (68). Moore and Paris, a four-time Wooden All American, attended the announcement, as did Moore’s head coach, Geno Auriemma.

Balloting by more than 300 members of the media and college basketball experts was conducted through the games of the Sweet 16. Voters selected 5 players for the Wooden All-America team from the 19 student-athletes listed on the ballot, and ranked them from 1 to 10. Voters were asked to take into account performance during the regular season and postseason, as well as a player’s character and academic performance.

Moore joins a distinguished group of Wooden Award winners, including Michael Jordan (North Carolina), Larry Bird (Indiana State), Candace Parker (Tennessee), Seimone Augustus (LSU). She is the first sophomore to win the Award and the first Connecticut player to be honored.

The men’s honors went to Okahoma’s Blake Griffin. Like Moore, Griffin basically swept this season’s individual honors, winning The Associated Press player of the year earlier this month as well as the Naismith. He also captured the Robertson Trophy as the top player in college basketball and announced earlier this week he’s going to turn pro.

About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

Women’s Wooden Award All-Time Winners

Year	Player	School
2009	Maya Moore	University of Connecticut
2008	Candace Parker	University of Tennessee
2007	Candace Parker	University of Tennessee
2006	Seimone Augustus	Louisiana State University
2005	Seimone Augustus	Louisiana State University
2004	Alana Beard	Duke University

Have lunch with NY Liberty’s draft 2009 pick – Kia Vaughn

A Husky Parade! UCONN Women’s Parade Plans Set

According to media reports, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell says a date has been set for a parade to honor the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team for winning the NCAA national championship.

The parade will be held next Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m. in Hartford.

As a Connecticut native, I’m sad to be living 3,000 miles away and miss the chance to honor these amazing, awesome, astonishing women.

Tens of thousands of people have lined the streets of the capital city to celebrate past championships won by the UConn women’s and men’s teams.

UConn beat Big East rival Louisville last week to claim its sixth national championship, and its first since 2004. The Huskies finished the season at a perfect 39-0.

The parade will begin and end at the state Capitol, and run near Bushnell Park, Main Street and Capitol Avenue. A rally will be held after the parade on the north steps of the Capitol.

To all my friends in Connecticut – be sure to get out next weekend to honor a great team and almost-graduate Renee Montgomery!

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