WNBA History: Referees Eject Player's Spouse

(Guru's note: This is a sidebar to the game story below this post)



By Mel Greenberg

UNCASVILLE, Conn. _ When referees ordered Mohegan Sun Arena security to oust Vasilis Giapalakis from the building Tuesday night with 2 minutes, 4 seconds left to play, it wasn't just any heated Connecticut Sun fan they requested to have ejected.

Giapalakis, a native of Greece, is the husband of Sun All-Star Katie Douglas, who also helped lead Purdue to a runnerup spot in 2001 against Notre Dame in the NCAA finals.

Connecticut trailed 77-71 when Sun star Asjha Jones was assessed a technical foul.

Giapalakis charged from his seat near the Sun bench to behind the scorer's table to say a few heated things to the referees.

Considering the amount of criticism that is often heard of officiating in the pro women's basketball league, the fact that the game may be Greek to them may have helped them understand everything Giapalakis was yelling.

Coincidentally, in what became helpful in regards to the correct spelling of Giapalakis' name, the pregame news clippings in the media room contained a recent column by the New London Day's Mike DiMauro about the ref-baiting tactics of Dougla' husband, as well as Australian Jamie Tarr, the husband of Sun reserve Kristen Rassmussen.

"His accent is rather humorous," Douglas told DiMauro in the column, while also noting she isn't always humored by his remarks.

"A couple of times, I've had to turn around and give him the `wife' eye," Douglas added, while also saying she wanted to give her husband a "one-game suspension" before the Sun's recent home game against Chicago.

Discussing his style, Giapalakis told DiMauro, "When it's something I shouldn't yell, I go to Spanish."

This situation lends thoughts to what might happen elsewhere in the news.

For example, if Hillary Clinton becomes president, will Bill be tossed from the galleries in Congress if he isn't happy with legislative actions taken during her administration.?

In any event, Douglas' husband won't be back here for a while. The Sun will now play their next four games on the road until the final regular season home game, Aug. 19, against the Washington Mystics.

-- Mel