Beyond woulda-coulda-shoulda: URI captain Megan Shoniker talks about the (real) work of turnaround

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

The Playbook: Year 2 An occasional series about the University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Team and Coach Cathy Inglese as she tries to turnaround a losing program. By Laura Pappano Megan Shoniker is #10, URI team captain who hit the 1,000-point scoring mark on December 29. Shoniker, a senior with ...

Posted in Basketball, The Athletes, The Coaches | No Comments »

Lilly Retirement Feels Right; Former Teammate Hucles Shares

Monday, January 10th, 2011

By Laura Pappano Somehow, when Kristine Lilly announced her retirement from soccer last week, it felt real -- and appropriate, both a rarity these days among professional athletes trying to figure out if it's time to retire (or not). Why is that? Perhaps because she didn't do it impulsively, but took several months ...

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, Soccer, The Athletes | No Comments »

It’s b-ball season, girls: Don’t be an ACL stat. Listen to the PT.

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

By Wendy Farnen Price Girls are playing basketball with a level of passion and skill - and in numbers -- we couldn't have imagined a few decades ago (and just think how many more will be inspired to play by UConn's run on UCLA's 1970s-era win streak!). But a troubling fact remains: ...

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Turner Cup amps it up: Women’s Doubles Squash is here!

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

[caption id="attachment_2000" align="alignnone" width="523" caption="Steph Edmison & Alicia McConnell (Black) play Suzie Pierrepont & Narelle Krizak (yellow) in the Turner Cup Tournament last weekend in NYC"][/caption] By Sarah Odell I’m not ready to declare this next decade the Era of Women’s Doubles Squash (not yet, at least), but this past weekend was ...

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, Squash, The Athletes | No Comments »

What did I win by playing sports? A story and six lessons.

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

By Laura Pappano I am frankly tired of people justifying sports for girls as a vehicle for improving self-esteem, staving off bad behavior, and improving fitness. Oh, sure. Sports may do all that. But selling sports in that packaging misses the real power. When you play, you learn to count yourself in. I ...

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, Money, Power & Politics, The Athletes | 2 Comments »

The quest for 89 victories is not just for UConn. It matters to all of us.

Monday, December 6th, 2010

By Laura Pappano The countdown started long ago. Most fans know that if the UConn Women’s Basketball team continues its unbeaten run that on Dec. 21 the team will surpass the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden’s UCLA teams of the early 1970s. As the date nears, the question becomes pointed: Who ...

Posted in Basketball, Money, Power & Politics, The Athletes, The Coaches | 1 Comment »

Urban girls: Have we overdone the pregnancy and drug warnings? Should we talk sports instead?

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

By Laura Pappano On Monday, two girls from Teen Voices, a magazine (and website!) aimed at helping urban girls counteract negative media images, interviewed me for an article they are writing about Title IX (and, their passion, women’s basketball). Hopefully, I helped them some. But, really, they are helping me -- and ...

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, Money, Power & Politics, The Athletes | No Comments »

How to come from behind and win on the road (twice): Patience, persistence, passion.

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

The Playbook: Year 2 An occasional series about the University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Team and Coach Cathy Inglese as she tries to turnaround a losing program. By Laura Pappano At halftime, I thought there was no way. Yes it was close, the half ending at 23-21, with Fairfield up by two. ...

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Marathon too short? How to run 50 around Nantucket (part barefoot)

Friday, November 19th, 2010

By Elizabeth Chabner Thompson Each August a group of running/eco-challenge lovers, trudge through surf and sand of Nantucket to make the 50-mile Rock Run around the island (the course changes yearly with beach erosion and tidal variances). As race director Hector MacDonald, puts it, “You can count on sand and sun ...

Posted in Running, The Athletes | 2 Comments »

40th NYC Marathon look back: Women are faster, but what next?

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

By Laura Pappano Yes – the 40th running of the ING NYC Marathon on Sunday was a chance to salute the fastest marathoner alive -- Haile Gebreselassie (no matter that he dropped out at Mile 16 – he still holds the record of 2:03:59 set  in 2008). But Sunday was also a ...

Posted in The Athletes | 2 Comments »