When Cammi Granato was a child, her mom would drop her off at the ice-skating rink for figure-skating lessons, and as soon as her mom left the parking lot, Cammi would sneak to the adjoining rink to play hockey with the boys. Her refusal to wear sequins paid off: Last week Cammi Granato was the first woman to be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

Granato's story plays like an against-all-odds Disney movie. … continue reading

The line between being a sports fan and being in love with a team or player is so thin that it barely exists most days — which is why I never know how good former Tennessee Lady Vols basketball players are, really. I've obsessively followed the Lady Vols since I was a wee lass, I've played on the floor of Thompson-Boling arena, I've ridden shotgun in Pat Summitt's SUV, twice.

So, I guess what I need is some perspective about Candace Parker.

Take a look at the last six months of Parker's life, won't you? She won an NCAA championship at Tennessee, along with the Naismith Trophy and the AP Player of the Year Award. She won two ESPYs. She went first in the WNBA draft. She won WNBA Rookie of the Year unanimously, and she won WNBA MVP. Oh, and she also helped bring home a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Her jersey was the most popular in the NBA store all year, and once her jersey was available, sales rose 50 percent over last season. … continue reading

In September 1973, Time magazine wrote that the impending "Battle of the Sexes" between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs could not have happened five years prior, and "five years from now [will] not mean anything."

In their post-match coverage, they wrote, "[It] was a performance full of tinsel and glamour, signifying nothing — except that the hustle is over."

Boy, did Time magazine ever have it wrong.

In fact, in 1973, almost everyone had it wrong. The Vegas odds were on Riggs, sports commentators favored Rigges, newspaper columnists predicted Riggs, and when Chris Evert was asked on prime time national television who she thought would win the match, she confidently answered, "Bobby Riggs."

In a recent documentary on HBO, Evert covers her face with her hands when she's shown that clip. Laughing, she says, "I was such an idiot."

Last Tuesday was the 35th anniversary of "The Battle of the Sexes" — the epoch that has become the women's sports' world's equivalent of the BC/AD split. … continue reading

"Keeping Score" is a new weekly sports blog we'll be running on AfterEllen.com, written by your favorite Lesbian Scientistics expert, Stuntdouble. Check back every Tuesday for her report on women in sports.

Just a few weeks ago in Beijing, Venus and Serena Williams stood hand-in-hand atop the gold medal platform, celebrating their Olympic doubles victory. Now it's back to opposite sides of the net for a quarterfinal showdown at the U.S. Open. Ah, the uniquely complex relationship between sisters.

Both Venus and Serena dismissed their fourth-round opponents easily in yesterday's U.S. Open matches. Seventh-seeded Venus trounced Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-3 in the afternoon, and fourth-seeded Serena toppled France's Severine Bremond 6-2, 6-2 in the night game.

"I just feel like, you know, we're both playing better and feeling better," Serena said. "We just had a turn in our careers. We're just playing the way we should play." … continue reading

17 days, 958 medals, 43 world records, hundreds of thousands of fireworks and countless tears. Never has a sporting event held the world at rapt attention like the games of the 29th Olympiad.

Oh, there were controversies to be sure: Fake fireworks, lip-synching children, age fabrication and the ever-present issue of Chinese censorship were all murmured about with varying degrees of intensity. For the most part, however, Beijing did nothing but charm us over the last two weeks — placing itself as the backdrop to a breathtaking stage of athletics.

Beijing gave us stories of gold: Lisa Leslie took home her fourth consecutive gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team in what will be her last Olympics; Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor added volleyball gold to the medals they won in 2004 before they both leave the sport to have children; and U.S. women’s soccer coach Pia Sundhage’s team won the first gold medal victory she’s had as an international head coach.

"When I was six years old, I thought I was the only girl in the whole world who played soccer. I wasn't allowed to play because I was a girl," Sundhage said. "Back then, I could never imagine to be a professional player or a professional coach. Now I'm sitting with a great player, Christie Rampone, and looking at her gold medal. I am so proud."

Beijing gave us stories of silver: The U.S. softball team lost their first game since 2000, falling to Japan in the gold medal match up, and the U.S. women's volleyball team came in second behind Brazil in their final game. … continue reading

This week, Michelle and Becca are happy to bring you another Olympics-themed episode of From the Cheap Seats. Tennis, softball and football (otherwise known as soccer) are added to this week's mix, as well as some grumbling from Becca about the gymnastics judging and some belated raving from Michelle on handball.

Norway’s Women's National Handball Team

And as the Olympics draw to an end, Becca and Michelle begin counting the days until the WNBA resumes play.

This is a vlog by fans for fans, so please leave plenty of comments, questions, rants and raves, or anything else that comes to mind. And check back next weekend for another episode!

Breaking news from the New York Times: Women across America have stopped darning socks and canning tomatoes long enough to really get into this little thing called the Olympics.

Check out this startling report:

There are millions of Ms. Simpsons and Ms. Williamses around the country, watching the Olympics on the networks and Web sites of the NBC Universal division of General Electric. They are also watching commercials from more than 100 advertisers, which are spending more than $1 billion to sponsor the coverage of the 2008 Games in Beijing.

How weird is that? I mean, the Olympics are, like, sports, and women are, like, watching it on television — some of them with their friends. It boggles the mind, I'm telling you.

The article goes on to say:

The large female viewership for the Olympics and the spate of spots intended for women are anomalies in TV sports. Most coverage of athletics is watched by men, which means that most commercials during sports programs like football, baseball, basketball and hockey are aimed at male viewers.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that most athletics coverage is of men's sporting events. I wonder if there's correlation between the majority of WNBA viewers being women, and the majority of NBA viewers being men. I wonder if more women would watch athletics in the Olympic off-season if there were more women's sporting events televised. Nah, probably not. … continue reading

I can't believe I'm going to say this — it goes against almost everything that I hold dear — but, my friends, there comes a point when too much of a good thing becomes too much of a bad thing. So here it goes: Hey, Olympic photographers, stop taking pictures of women's butts.

Wow, that was a hard one to get out. I mean, who doesn't like a finely formed derrière? And before an angry mob of badonkadonk-loving gay women chase me down the street with torches for suggesting Olympians show a little less skin, let me explain. While perusing photos from the Olympics this week I got (inexplicably) distracted by the women's beach volleyball shots. Sand. Bikinis. Abs. Sweaty... I'm back, I'm back.

But the more I looked, the more I realized that while there were more than a dozen tightly-cropped, close-up shots of women players' backsides, there was nary a single similar shot of the male players. This is as close to as it came with the fellas. … continue reading

The U.S. women's basketball team scored their 29th straight Olympic victory today. Lisa Leslie went a perfect 7-7 from the field as the Team USA trounced Mali 97-41. They've also routed China and the Czech Republic, winning by an average of 47 points in each of their victories so far in the Beijing Olympics.

Leslie's perfect performance set a new Olympic record. When a reporter mentioned this to her, she simply said, "Another record? Oh well, records are meant to be broken. It feels good, but we just wanted to get the win. We wanted to come out and perform well."

When Mali started out with a quick lead, head coach Jose Ruiz turned to his assistant and said, "Maybe the lights will go out now and it could be over." … continue reading

Last Friday, one billion people tuned in to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. One billion. That is 15 percent of the world's population!

Ever since I was a child I have been an Olympics junkie — one of those people who gets up at three a.m. to watch the USA women's basketball team live. I love it all: the events, the medal ceremonies, the musical montages, the athletes who have trained their entire lives for a 9.7 second sprint. I love that look an athlete gets at the very second she wins or loses; it's the most raw emotion in the world.

This year, the PR firms for various athletes have one goal in mind: they want us to see past the athleticism to the fact that these are — hang on, I'm going to quote the press release — "very sexy and beautiful people."

So, if you, like me, are glued to your television for the next two weeks, I admonish you: while you're thinking of these Olympians as athletes, try also to think of them as sexy. I know it will be hard.

Let's practice.

When watching softball, don't simply admire the 6-4-3 double play: allow yourself to think, "Nice smile!"

When watching swimming, don't concentrate only on the backstroke technique: consider the biceps! … continue reading

I'm pretty sure that up until now, no one on AfterEllen.com has had any reason to purchase a copy of Men's Fitness. (Unless you're a dude, in which case, you're probably looking for AfterElton.com or barking up the wrong tree entirely.) But on August 18, it's possible you could at least find yourself picking up the September issue while standing in line at the store, and turning to the photospread of Serena Williams.

The tennis pro (and current Olympic competitor) has been named one of the sexiest female athletes, and I have to agree. (Kudos, Men's Fitness.) But what does Serena think? She told the magazine:

I have large boobs and a sizable a--, so I guess the title comes with the territory. But I just play tennis. I always try to look my best, even though it’s hard to look your best when you’re sweating, grunting, and making faces. I never look my best when playing.

I'm sure a lot of women would beg to differ and can appreciate some grunting and sweating (even in the tennis context). And Serena goes on to tell the magazine what she absolutely hates, and I couldn't agree more. … continue reading

Well, folks, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for some of the wealthiest, talented and most beautiful that our world has to offer to get all gussied up and gather for a night of mutual adoration and self-celebrations. No, I’m not talking about the Academy Awards; I’m talking about the 2008 ESPYs.

The 16th annual awards show will be hosted by Justin Timberlake and highlights the year’s best athletes across the board. For the fifth year now, you can help decide the winners if you vote before midnight on July 11. Don’t know who to vote for? Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Best Female Athlete:
Lorena Ochoa, Golf
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
Danica Patrick, Auto Racing
Lindsey Vonn, Skiing

My pick: Candace Parker

Because, well, duh — Ms. Parker was the most dominant player in college basketball, winning two straight national championships and more awards than I have time to list in her years at Tennessee. Now, as a Los Angeles Sparks player, she is already making her mark on the WNBA. Recently, she became the first woman to ever dunk in back-to-back professional games. Girl can play! She is also up for (and should win) Best Female College Athlete. … continue reading

I have pretty lame taste in music, so my read-through of Rolling Stone earlier this week was pretty haphazard — until this picture jumped out and attacked me.

I know what you're thinking: Thanks for the warning, StuntDouble — I have been permanently blinded by the effulgence of those abs. Well, I'm sorry, but I didn't want to dilute the experience for you. See, it's kind of like we were flipping through Rolling Stone together!

This is Dara Torres. Dara is 41, the mother of a two-year-old, a swimmer, and in 1984, she won an Olympic gold medal. Now, 22 years later, returned to attempt to qualify with the U.S. Olympic Swim Team in Bejing. Lest you think she is hoping for a casual throwback to her glory days, Torres set the American record in the 50-meter freestyle just a few weeks ago.

"Everyone says I should be used to this," she told reporters Tuesday. "But I feel like I'm 16, getting ready for my first trials. I'm nervous. I'm excited." (Funny, that's the same reaction I had looking at her picture.) … continue reading

I grew up believing that Russia was a huge, red monster. Of course, I also believed that I'd survive "the bomb" by crouching under my school desk with my hands clasped over my head. Still, I have a hard time thinking of moving to Moscow as a fresh start. But that's exactly what it is for Pokey Chatman.

Chatman, who resigned as head coach of Louisiana State University earlier this year under a cloud of sexual innuendo, has accepted an associate head-coaching position with Spartak Moscow Region professional basketball team.

This is no Russian exile. Last year, WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tina Thompson and Lauren Jackson played for Spartak during the off-season, and Spartak won the 2007 EuroLeague Women championship. … continue reading