Womhoops Guru

Mel Greenberg covered college and professional women’s basketball for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he worked for 40 plus years. Greenberg pioneered national coverage of the game, including the original Top 25 women's college poll. His knowledge has earned him nicknames such as "The Guru" and "The Godfather," as well as induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Monday's Early Topics Down the Street: Big Five and Big Ten

By Mel Greenberg

Greetings to those of you who stopped here first as the new week begins. Just follow the women's hoops guru link over to Philly.com for a pair of posts -- an early Big Five commentary from Kathleen Radebaugh and the Big Ten media news provided by yours truly, who was not on the scene Sunday in Chicago.

Incidentally, we could not verbally reach Erin in Boston Sunday night, but may have been celebrating the Red Sox sweep and, if she has time and sees this, might weigh in describing the scene in Beantown.

-- Mel

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Guru's Bridge: Expressway to Commentary

By Mel Greenberg

Just jump on this women's hoops guru link over to the Philly.com platform for marathon Sunday news and commentary, now that we mastered the art of the jump page at the new site.

If you've already been, never mind. Nothing else here at this hour.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Big East and Atlantic Ten Go Head to Head

By Mel Greenberg

NEW YORK - Physically, we can only be in one place at once, which is why we were here in the Big Apple Thursday for Big East women's media day, while Jonathan was in Atlantic City covering the Atlantic Ten men's event, which included participation by four of the conference's women's coaches.

The quartet consisted of George Washington's Joe McKeown, Temple's Dawn Staley, Charlotte first-year coach Karen Aston, and Xavier's Kevin McGuff.

To follow internet and print coverage of all that, simply head over to Women's Hoops Guru.

-- Mel

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Media Days Madness

By Mel Greenberg

There's Midnight Madness to launch the preseason and March Madness, which drips into April, to describe the post season, but the headline above describes our working involvement concerning what is occuring right now.

On Thursday, we'll be at the annual Big East confab in New York, while Jonathan will be on the scene in Atlantic City blogging the Atlantic Ten men's event and helping us be in two places at once with the women's atendees, of which only four teams -- George Washington, Temple, Charlotte, and Xavier will have their women's coaches on hand.

Meanwhile, we spent Tuesday in North Carolina at the Atlantic Coast Conference's media event and coverage of that can be found over at the women's hoops guru blog. We have lots more news, other conference reports and semi-related email items, but refrained for now because we have an early train to catch and we forgot how to insert one of those famous jump links that Jonathan provided in the Drexel post beneath.

That's it for now.

-- Mel

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Big Five and Drexel Women's Clinic Aids Cancer Battle

(Updated at 11 p.m. on Sunday night to reflect posting of enhancements od Drexel Monday print story at the site linked below.)

By Mel Greenberg

Greetings to those of you who arrived here as a first point of entry to the Guru's blog kingdom.

Now follow the link to Women's Hoops Guru to learn what's behind this headline and return there later tonight (Sunday, Oct. 21) to read enhanced coverage of a story running in Monday's print section of the Inquirer Sports Pages.

Friday, October 19, 2007

A Reminder: The Store Has Moved Down the Block

We know most of you know this, but just as a reminder: The Guru and his disciples aren't here anymore. Our new blog can be found by clicking here.

We will occasionally stop by to clean out the cobwebs, but we've noticed that you all are looking to the new site first anyway. So thanks.

-- Jonathan Tannenwald

Monday, October 15, 2007

Amaechi asks 'Why speak if not to change the world?'

(Guru's Note: If this is your first stop of the day, Acacia has checked in from Vassar with the report below. We have some commentary over at Women's Hoops Guru at Philly.com on the impending WNBA announcement of a new team in Atlanta. Just click the link in this note to head that way, and if you've already been there but using the link into here, welcome. Incidentally, Acacia might return with a quick hello to you all because it appears she had started writing such when we barged into the site to edit this note into the top of this story. If she decides never mind, then, never mind. -- Mel)

By Acacia O'Connor

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. _ "Would you recognize your soul in the dark?" John Amaechi asked a full room of Vassar College students, coaches, faculty and other community members.

He repeated the question, which his mother once asked him when, at the age of 17, he informed her he wanted to play in the NBA. Looking at her bookish, not incredibly athletic son Amaechi's mother did not point out that he had no previous experience in the game of basketball; instead she told him it seemed as if it would be an incredible journey.

Just so. Amaechi's career in basketball is surprising and impressive enough to speak for itself. A two-time First team All-American at Penn State, Amaechi was signed undrafted by the Cleveland Caveliers in 1995. He was the first Brit to play in the NBA and the first undrafted free agent to win a starting position in the league. After playing in Europe in 1996, he returned to the NBA where he played for the Orlando Magic, the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz.

Most of those present at the lecture on Oct. 8 knew Amaechi for one of two reasons: First, because of his basketball celebrity or secondly, because in February he became the first (former) NBA player to come out as being gay.

Despite this fact, Amaechi spoke relatively little about these two facts of his life, which he addresses in his new book Man in the Middle. Instead he engaged the students in audience in a conversation about tolerance, activism and the power of their generation.

"I'm here to recruit you... and not to 'the gay side'," he said to a chorus of laughter.

"I'm frustrated."

Amaechi went on to talk eloquently about oppression and diversity, in a way that was somehow both cynical and inspiring.

He said he was offended by the notion that he was someone who should be "tolerated."

"I have no time for that phrase," he said, adding that tolerance is something he has for American Caesar salads with anchovies, not an attitude toward people different from onesself. "How many times in history are we going to decide how many fifths human people are?" he asked.

Though he gets dozens of invitations to come and speak, he said he accepts few. Why visit already-liberal schools such as Vassar?

"You people are going to become disproportionately powerful very soon," Amaechi said. "You will be the policy makers, the teachers... the good news is that your generation is the most open of any to date."

Another of the central themes of the talk was Amaechi's concept of creating a future history. Martin Luther King Jr., when he gave his "I have a Dream" speech, had an idea of what the future history might look like: an image in his mind of what the world could be and a will to create it. Amaechi said he could only ask that those present to do some meta-thinking about their "future histories."

"[My future history] is about making a connection between me and other people," he said. "I do small things, with a view on the big picture."

Being a self-proclaimed cynic, is Amaechi skeptical about the possibility of changing things?

"I'm hopeful," he said. "I have hope. That's why I'm here."

"One thing I always ask now is 'Why speak if not to change the world?' "

-- Acacia

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Penn State Launches Coquese Washington Era

By Mel Greenberg

If that headline, googling, or past bookmarking, or some other reason, brought you here to original Guru's blog, just click on this women's hoops guru link to the enhanced site at philly.com where both the Guru's print story for Monday's Inquirer sports section and an enhanced version for the blog covering the start of Penn State's women's practice under Coquese Washington will be available to peruse.

-- Mel

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A Night in the Big Apple With Rutgers' C. Viv

By Mel Greenberg

Again, since many of you stop here first, and others, especially Rutgers fans, are here because the Guru's headline drew you in off your googling and other search activity, proceed on this link to the women's hoops guru site at Philly.com that is the current most active one.

But feel free to browse here over previous posts by the blogging team.

-- Mel

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Helping Anucha Spend The Cash

By Mel Greenberg

Now that former Northwestern star Anucha Brown Sanders may soon become a multi-million year, courtesy of a jury ruling in her favor in a sexual harrassment suit against the New York Knicks, the Guru suggests a way for the former executive to spend the cash and help Madison Square Garden recoup much of the directed $11.6 million payout.

But to learn what that is, just click away and link to our newer Women's Hoops Guru site on Philly.com.

-- Mel