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.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Guru Musings: "T" Party Movement in Knoxville

By Mel Greenberg

Almost appropriate for a "Red" State it will be a "T" Party Deluxe in Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame annual induction festivities Friday and Saturday night.

The only politics in this one, however, is a celebration of six new members, including two of which go by the knickname of the appropriate letter.

One of the duo is former George star Teresa Edwards, who finally gave in to retirement several years ago to get on the road of induction eligibility. Her career is highlighted by her collection of Olympic medals and she was a founding member of the former American Basketball League.

The other "T" is former Louisiana Tech star Teresa Weatherspoon, also an Olympic medalist who achieved most of her pro career stardom as a member of the WNBA New York Liberty.

This past season was her first as a full-time coach at her alma mater after holding the interim title halfway through the previous season. Weatherspoon guided the Techsters back to the NCAA tournament by their capturing the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

The other inductees are former Maryland coach Chris Weller, former Tennessee women's athletic director Gloria Ray, the chief executive of the WBHOF, former Connecticut star Rebecca Lobo, and longtime Texas high school coach Leta Andrews.

The Guru is writing this post quick off the top of his head before catching a sunrise flight to Knoxville to be on the scene, so apologies for typos, etc. However, the WBHOF site and the Knoxville paper has full coverage their web site.

In these economic times, it does not appear that the media horde will be following Lobo on site, but the Guru will try to make up for their absences

The Guru will update all this after arrival later Thursday.

CAA and Big East Zoned Out?

Having done some internet browsing while eating a late dinner, the Guru read that the ESPN Zone restaurant/sports bar in five cities will soon be closed because of economic conditions.

Two cities on the hit list are New York and Washington, which caught the Guru's attention for several reasons.

The ESPN Zone in the nation's capital has been the headquarters the last several years for the annual Colonial Athletic Association preseason media for both its men's and women's basketball teams.

Several years ago, the establishment in Manhattan became the headquarters for the Big East conference women's media day after the league had expanded to 16 teams.

Prior to then, the event was usually held at a hotel near the Newark Airport in New Jersey.

The Guru will try to catch up on this one.

That's it for now.

He will tweet from the blackberry http://twitter.com/womhoopsguru along the way.

-- Mel

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