Washington Post columnist gets it

Lots of WNBA news this morning........

Crystal Langhorne is an example for all WNBA players, says one Washington Post columnist. Check this out:

But Langhorne needs to be trumpeted by the WNBA more than most. She is a window into not just her team's evolution -- where young players have consistently become more polished and poised -- but also women's basketball in this country as a whole.

One of the often-missed qualities about the WNBA is that many of the players understand their roles. Not rebounding or shutdown defense, but their roles in the landscape of American sports.

As far as cross-promotion, the NBA has all but forsaken them. Even before many teams became independently owned, many NBA owners privately wanted to stop underwriting the WNBA years ago, convinced it was an economic loser.

Beyond the loyalists, fans and media outlets have all but deserted them. That's not even counting those who won't watch women's sports, presumably because they have convinced themselves Adam Dunn is more svelte and a better athlete than Venus Williams.

And the great thing about the obstacles to interest is, most WNBA players such as Langhorne don't care.

They plod on, understanding they are still in pioneering mode, still happy they can play hoops for a living 13 years after the league tipped off.

"I've been reading a book about Magic [Johnson] and [Larry] Bird," said Coleman, the Mystics' second-year forward, of Jackie MacMullan's book, "When the Game Was Ours." "And when you see those guys signing Converse shoe contracts for $20,000 or whatever, it puts it in perspective. If they had to go through that when people were just getting interested in the NBA again, of course we're going to go through it."

See - finally someone gets it. This is one of the reasons why I never read or put up links to pieces by WNBA haters. Those people are irrelevant.

Number-one draft pick Tina Charles has exceeded all expectations.

Phoenix Mercury point guard Temeka Johnson calls her trip to the White House yesterday a once in a lifetime experience.

She-who-is-booed-in-LA, aka Chamique Holdsclaw, has received the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award. (I'll always love ya, 'Claw)