Sez Me . . .
It won't be forever known as The Brawl. Quit your blogging, get out of the garage and think about it.
Let's get serious here. It won't happen, because by next week – maybe by tonight – most people who've seen women's basketball, haven't seen women's basketball or don't care to see women's basketball will have forgotten about The Brawl.
Maybe TV's Norm, Cliff and Kramer would have enjoyed this catfight between the WNBA's Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks, but all it did was eat up some clock on “SportsCenter.” Ten players were suspended, plus Detroit assistant Rick Mahorn. Big deal.
But, suddenly, we hear this was the best thing that could happen to the WNBA, that attention was being focused on it for the first time. This is not the way to get attention, especially when one of the participants, the Shock's Cheryl Ford, sustained a season-ending knee injury in the fracas.
This isn't what the WNBA needs. Fighting won't turn it into the NFL. It's doubtful the WNBA will have its own network. But at least the best players in the world – who are not boxers, by the way – are allowed to make a living.
I'll be the first to admit that, 20 years ago, with a few exceptions, I found women's basketball all but unwatchable (sort of the way the NBA is now). It was a game of constant tie-ups, played out in slow motion.
I said it back then and I'll say it again. You could have taken the best five women players in the world and I could have gone down to Muni Gym in Balboa Park and grabbed the best five male pickup players and the men would have breezed.
But that's all changed. Perhaps no other sport has come along as rapidly as has women's basketball. Women can play the game and, as purists know, they are far, far more fundamentally sound than their male counterparts.
I don't know exactly why that is, but I have my suspicions. Very few women have dunked in competition, so they've learned how to do things right. Male players grow up dunking, play game upon game instead of working on individual skills – like shooting from the field and at the line – and what we see are fundamentally superior teams from overseas kicking our behinds in international competition.
(Those who think this current group of NBA millionaires is a lock for gold in Beijing would be wise to look past the bling. Other countries can play, and they win because they do the little things right.)
The women do, too. And because they do, they don't need brawls to get attention. Basketball is far too physical as it is without becoming hockey.
The last thing professional basketball needs is another thug league. . . .
How about Nancy Lieberman, at 50, playing for the Shock? If only Babe Didrikson still were with us. . .
If Manu Ginobili's ankle is OK – and he says it is – then the U.S. men's basketball team and every other Olympic treasure hunter will have problems with defending champion Argentina. . .
I hope the rout of Canada by America's men's team in Vegas on Friday night doesn't give the U.S. military any ideas. . .
The Pirates were forewarned. Don't read the Padres' book on baserunning tips. That goes for other teams, too. . .
Don't give up hope. The Padres still have a chance to make the playoffs, but waiting for President Bush's pardon list is an agonizing way to go about it. . .
Dick Williams was tough, but I enjoyed the guy during his time with the Padres. Quite the American original. At the very least, he was up-front. And he certainly belongs in the Hall of Fame. . .
It's great that I no longer will have to vote for Goose Gossage on my Hall ballot. It took way, way too long. . .
About that minor league brawl the other night. At least one arrest should be made. . .
The last time the Dodgers won a playoff game was 1988. That's 20 years' worth of many millions for nothing at all. . .
Five major league teams have winning records away from home. Moral: Don't go out. . .
The most astounding thing I've heard lately is that San Diego State's football team last year actually had 15 minutes of excessive practice time. Ah-ha! No wonder the Aztecs won four games instead of three. . .
It does appear as though whistle-blowers are not a dying breed at SDSU. The university should offer a major in it. . .
SDSU is close to reaching an agreement with City Hall that will allow the school to play football in Qualcomm Stadium for at least five more years, even if the Chargers were to vacate. Great. Now, will the school sign an agreement stating that it still will be playing Division I-A football five years from now? . .
The Mountain West Conference just named its 10th anniversary football team, and the program Don Coryell built didn't have an offensive player on it. . .
Saw an aerial view of Beijing the other night. I guess the Olympic city has buildings. Couldn't tell.
Nick Canepa: (619) 293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com
