Sporty Spice's blog

On Monday, it was announced that the WNBA and WNBPA (Women's National Basketball Players Association) have reached a new collective bargaining agreement that will start with the 2008 season and run through 2013.

Taking a look at the raw numbers, things seem to be on the upturn for the WNBA. Last season, new attendance records were set for the playoffs, with 216,863 fans drawn for 21 games, and the finals, with 74,178 fans over five games. Regular-season attendance increased by two percent. Television viewership was also up, and last season saw a new, eight-year agreement to air games on widely distributed ESPN. With the completion of that deal, the league's relationship with the national sports network will reach 20 seasons.

2007 Finals

Regardless of those positives, however, the WNBA is still not a profitable enterprise. As Indiana Fever star and Players Association president Tamika Catchings was quoted as saying in USA Today, "The league is not really making money at this point, so for us to go in and say we want million-dollar contracts would make no sense."

Olympic champion Marion Jones learned her fate last Friday: She was sentenced to the maximum six months in prison for lying about using steroids and for her role in a check-fraud scheme. She pleaded for lenience out of concern for her two young children, including an infant she's still nursing. But U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas said he imposed the maximum sentence to send a message to pro athletes:

“Athletes in society have an elevated status; they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps most important, they serve as role models."

Jones was also given two years' probation and must perform 800 hours of community service.

Despite previous denials that she had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, last October Jones finally admitted she had used a steroid called “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001. Jones won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics: golds in the 100- and 200-meter runs, and in the 1600-meter relay, and bronzes in the long jump and 400-meter relay. She returned those medals before the International Olympic Committee asked her to do so.

Friday marked another chapter in the ongoing Martina Hingis saga, and it's one her fans aren't going to like.

The tennis world was shocked when, back on Nov. 1, 2007, Hingis unveiled a double-whammy — she had tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon last summer, and was retiring from competitive play. At that time, Hingis stressed her innocence, denied using drugs, and announced that she would fight the charges.

"I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous, that I've decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press," she said back then. "I am frustrated and angry. I believe that I am absolutely 100 percent innocent."

Hingis expressed doubts at the accuracy of the urine test on which the positive result was based, but the International Tennis Federation said an anti-doping tribunal found that she had committed an offense. The tribunal rejected suggestions there were any doubts over the veracity of the sample.

The ITF also disqualified Hingis' results from Wimbledon, and any subsequent tournaments in which she played. She stands to forfeit any ranking points gained, and $129,481 in prize money.

The new WNBA Atlanta franchise is finally looking to settle on a name, and you can help!

Go to the WNBA website and cast your vote. The powers that be in Atlanta have narrowed the choice down to four candidates:

Atlanta Dream
Atlanta Sizzle
Atlanta Surge
Atlanta Flight

When I last checked, the Dream was out front by a fairly comfortable margin, followed by Flight, Surge and Sizzle (I like Sizzle the best out of the four, so as usual, I'm in the minority).

And, no, there doesn't seem to be any space for write-ins, so those witty, creative names you've come up with are not eligible. (As a Mets fan, my choice would be the Atlanta At-Least-We're-Not-the-Braves!)

You can also vote for the team colors, ranging from a staid navy blue and gold to a flashy hot pink, silver and black. And you can read the Atlanta Behind the Scenes Blog for all the news as the team develops.

Sure, hockey and basketball are fun, but for those of us who start feeling a little bit lost as the final out of the World Series is recorded, there’s nothing quite like baseball season.

That’s where the Internet comes in very handy. Even though it’s the off-season, we can still visit the websites of our favorite teams all winter long and keep up with their latest moves (two full months since the season ended, and the Mets still haven't made any major changes. Are they under the impression that the bullpen is going to fix itself?).

In any case, as well as keeping up with MLB, there are many other sites of interest to keep a fan busy until pitchers and catchers arrives. Even those who have a cursory interest in baseball but follow women’s sports will enjoy the official site of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which commemorates the players and teams profiled in the movie A League of Their Own.

So, you’ve seen the movie (in which, as has been pointed out on this site, the teams were populated with butch, but strictly straight, women. I mean, really, lesbian softball players? How silly would that have been?). If the movie made you think it must have been fun to play in the AAGPBL, keep in mind that athletic skills, oddly enough, were often secondary. Hard to believe, but then, we’re talking about the 1940s here — not exactly an enlightened time for women. Which accounts for much of the allure of playing: It represented opportunity, a way out of small towns and a shot at a better future.

The WNBA has announced that hoops veteran Corey Gaines is the new head coach of the champion Phoenix Mercury.

Gaines has quite a resume, having played in the NBA with five different teams, and also in overseas pro ball. He was a player/assistant coach with the ABA’s Long Beach Jam in 2003, and has served as the Mercury’s lead assistant coach for the past two years, including the season just completed, which saw Phoenix win the league championship.

The Mercury posted some impressive numbers under Gaines and head coach Paul Westhead the past two years. Phoenix set WNBA records for scoring average in both 2006 (87.1 points) and ‘07 (89.0). In this year’s postseason, the team averaged 95.8 points per playoff game on the way to winning the Mercury’s first world championship, and also won a franchise-record 23 games this year.

In an update of the Martina Hingis testing-positive-for-cocaine-then-retiring story, the World Tennis Association is standing by its star this week.

Guardedly.

Last week, it was revealed that Hingis came up positive for cocaine in a test conducted last summer at Wimbledon.

If you live in Atlanta and love women’s basketball, it’s now official: You have your own WNBA team on the way.

Ron Terwilliger, CEO of Trammell Crow Residential, one of the nation’s largest developers of apartments and condominiums, is the principal owner of the new franchise in that city. WNBA president Donna Orender was with Terwilliger recently, when the official announcement was made.

“As a great sports town and a region that enthusiastically supports women’s athletics, Atlanta is a terrific destination for the WNBA,” Orender said. “I commend Ron Terwilliger for his efforts in bringing the WNBA to Atlanta and know the league will benefit from his superior leadership skills, business acumen, and commitment to the community.”

The move signals expansion for the WNBA. Like the Chicago Sky, which began play this year, the Atlanta club is a brand new team — unlike the Connecticut Sun, for example, which was originally the now-defunct Miami Sol.

You may have heard that five-time Grand Slam champion and former Wimbledon winner Martina Hingis admitted last week that she’s been accused of testing positive for cocaine at Wimbledon. She also announced her retirement from professional tennis.

Hingis lost in the third round of that Wimbledon tourney, 6-4, 6-2, to Laura Granville. She lost in the third round of the U.S. Open, and hasn’t played since her second-round loss to Peng Shuai of China in Beijing on Sept. 19.

The retirement was announced last week during a press conference. The 27-year-old Swiss player said she was accused by “an outsource testing company” of using cocaine at the prestigious tourney in Great Britain this summer. She said she was “shocked and appalled” when she learned that her urine sample tested positive after her loss to Granville.

“I find this accusation so horrendous, so monstrous, that I’ve decided to confront it head-on by talking to the press. I am frustrated and angry,” she said.