| Tennis: This special October edition of the BNP Paribas Open was kinda bad |
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After tthe 2020
edition of Indian Wells was abruptly cancelled, 2021 tournament
organizers were expecting blowout attendance from tennis starved
fans. But through a series of excessive medical
precautions, player no-shows, and a jungle of bureaucratic new rules,
ticket sales and attendance dropped by half, right as title sponsor BNP
Paribas Bank is re-evaluating its sponsorship.
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| Title
IX: Equality Finally Reaches the Military |
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Title IX, passed all the way back in 1972,
reads in part: No
person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any education program or activity receiving
federal financial assistance.
But it might as well read:
It's legal to exclude people from participation in activities receiving
federal assistance (other than Education), on the basis of sex! On
Dec. 3, 2015 that changed.
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| Beach
Volleyball: FIVB Grand Slam, NORCECA Update |
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U.S. beach
volleyball teams are leaving Shanghai without a medal from the FIVB
Grand Slam, but got some good performances.
Kerri Walsh Jennings (Saratoga, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa,
Calif.), who won the FIVB Fuzhou Open last weekend, had the best finish
for the women’s teams as they lost in the third round on Saturday and
finished tied for fifth. The fell to Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and
Barbara Seixas De Freitas, 21-19, 21-17 in 38 minutes.
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| Soccer:
ESPN airs documentary about the 1999 Women's World Cup |
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As
part of a series titled Nine for IX, ESPN Films will premier "The
99ers" at 8 p.m. ET on Aug. 20, taking fans back to the summer of 1999
when the U.S. Women's National Team captured the hearts and minds of a
nation on the way to a dramatic Women's World Cup championship.
The
movie incorporates PHOTOSPORT still imagery from the game, which was
played July 10, 1999.
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| Tennis:
Vickery USTA juniors champ |
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Top-seeded Sachia
Vickery of Miramar, Fla. capped a strong performance at the Barnes
Tennis as she defeated second-seeded Alexandra Kiick of Plantation,
Fla., 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, in one-hour and 46 minutes to capture the USTA
Girls’ 18s National Championship.
The 18-year-old Vickery, ranked 230 in the Women’s Tennis Association
(WTA) singles rankings, earned a wild card into the women’s singles
main draw of the upcoming US Open, which takes place August 26 through
September 9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in
Flushing, N.Y.
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| Tennis:
Megan McCray takes USTA Hardcourt Championship |
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In the women’s singles championship, the
top-seeded McCray overcame a difficult first set and defeated
third-seeded Kelly Shaffer of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 6-4, 6-1, to win
the title. The third time was the charm for McCray as she finished in
third place two years ago, earning a USTA bronze ball. Last year she
won the USTA silver ball as the runner-up.
This year, she finally took home the title and the gold ball.
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| Tennis:
Houk collects Golden Ball |
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The third time was the charm for top-seeded
Tracy Houk of Montara, Calif., as she overwhelmed second-seeded Frances
Chandler of Jackson, Tenn., 6-1, 6-0, to win the Women’s 50s singles
title of the USTA National Senior Women’s Hard Court Championships at
the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.
The 51-year-old Houk had been a tournament singles finalist the past
two years, but fell short each time. This year however, there was no
doubt as she broke Chandler’s serve at love to open match and won 12 of
the first 14 points and would go on to build a 5-0 first set lead.
After closing out the first set with her fourth service break, a
determined Houk stayed focused in the second set and continued to
pressure Chandler from the baseline in dominating fashion as she won 12
of the first 15 points.
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| Soccer:
Top level women's soccer league reincarnated as NWSL |
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The National
Women's Soccer League (NWSL) has announced the list of 55 U.S.,
Canadian and Mexican National Team players that will be allocated to
the eight clubs.
All 18 U.S. players on the gold
medal-winning 2012 Olympic team are included in the allocation, while
13 of the bronze medal-winning Canadian team were invited. Once the
allocation process is completed, the club location for all 55 players
will be announced on Friday, Jan. 11.
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| Beach
Volleyball: AVP picks the perfect time to return |
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The Association of Volleyball Professionals
will restart operations with two beach volleyball tournaments in 2012,
and add a full schedule for 2013, said AVP CEO Donald Sun. |
| Soccer:
Lessons for women's soccer in WPS autopsy |
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Two women's soccer leagues. Two wildly
differing financial philosophies. Eerily similar demises.
It
seems everything has been tried, first in the WUSA, then the WPS.
Neither league worked out. What's it going to take for professional
women's soccer to finally "stick" with the American public?
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| Tennis:
Gabriella De Simone picks up USTA National Hard Court Championship |
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Gabriella De Simone of Rancho Santa Fe,
Calif., had a day to remember at the Balboa Tennis Club as she captured
the singles title at the USTA National Open Hard Court Championships.
The 19-year-old De Simone, a member of the women’s tennis team at the
University of Southern California, defeated second-seeded Megan McCray
of Oceanside, 6-1, 6-0, in the women’s singles final.
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| Tennis:
Nideffer wins Golden Ball at USTA Senior Championships |
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Determined not to let history repeat itself,
top-seeded Ros Nideffer of Rancho Bernardo, Calif., defeated
third-seeded Tracy Houk of Half Moon Bay, Calif., 6-1, 6-3, to win the
Women’s 50s singles title at USTA National Senior Women’s Hard Court
Tennis Championships.
On a breezy and partly sunny morning on Court No. 1 at the La Jolla
Beach & Tennis Club, Nideffer, a former touring tennis
professional, used an attacking net game to overcome Houk in the
singles final, which took one-hour and 38 minutes to complete.
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| Soccer:
Curtains for WPS after Borislow sues them out of existence |
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It's happened again. After three seasons, a
top tier women's soccer league in the United States has given up the
ghost, unable to continue after the twin blows of a bad economy and a
rogue owner. |
| Soccer:
Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe collect USSF Best of Soccer awards |
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By winning Best Performance as well as Best
Off the Field Performance for her stint on Dancing With The Stars,
goalkeeper Hope Solo led the US Women's National Team in collecting 11
awards at the 2011 US Soccer Best in Soccer Awards. |
| Soccer:
WPS retains top tier status, despite deficiencies |
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Short three teams, and with the rest all
located on the east coast, US Soccer nevertheless renewed Women's
Professional Soccer's top tier status for another year. The
three-year-old league can still be considered in its startup phase,
since only one of the remaining teams (Boston) is a founding member.
The league shed the other, Magicjack, in October following a running
feud with its owner Dan Borislow. |
| Soccer:
WPS future in doubt after Magic Jack spat |
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The storied women's soccer franchise once
known as the Washington Freedom was humanely put down by the WPS league
office October 25. From the start of the season, disputes between the
league and the team's outspoken owner over seemingly minor points like
stadium seating capacity, lack of sponsors' signage, and lack of
website and marketing have escalated. The owner was notoriously hard on
his players, precipitating a formal complaint by the player's union. |
| Tennis:
Urbina defends her Mercury Insurance Open Title |
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Top-seeded Nazari Urbina of Tijuana overcame
warm conditions and a young opponent to win the Mercury Insurance Open
Presented by Tri-City Medical Center Opportunity Tournament at the San
Diego Tennis & Racquet Club for the second consecutive year. |
| Soccer:
Tarpley out of Women's World Cup with ACL |
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Lindsay Tarpley is out for the 2011 Women's
World Cup after injuring a knee in the waning minutes of a friendly vs.
Japan. Tarpley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee
with 15 minutes remaining in the match against Japan on May 14 in
Columbus, Ohio. Tarpley tore the ACL in the same knee while playing for
the WPS Red Stars towards the end of the 2009 season. |
| Tennis:
Deja Vu for Indian Wells spectators |
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Something seemed quite familiar to the
thousands of spectators who braved the gale force winds for women's
qualifying on Monday. On court after court, players were wearing the
same dress. |
