The Rich Get Richer: Becky Hammon Signs With Ros Casares

Becky Hammon, arguably one of the most popular (if not the most popular) players in the world has just inked a contract with Ros Casares.

EnCancha.com confirms it. Ros Casares, already undefeated in Liga Femenina play this year, has its eyes set on the Euroleague title.

Hammon will arrive in Valencia this week, but will not play in the Euroleague game against Vilnius on the road. Instead, she'll make her debut against Cadi la Seu on Saturday.

Diana Taurasi Instructs Becky Hammon in the Finer Points of Basketball

PShizzy: The Blog provides a prospective on the WNBA game from the photographer's point of view. It's definitely an interesting read.

He took this shot of Becky Hammon getting an arm in the face from Diana Taurasi. The author explains it this way:

She has this spin move, where instead of using her elbow against your body and spinning off, she goes high and catches people in the neck area. Stuns them while she spins. It’s great.

Interrrrrresting? Dirty play? Or just hard-nosed basketball?

CSKA: It's Over

From the RebKell Message Board: a poster quotes an article from http://news.sportbox.ru - the Google translated version.

Women' s CSKA of removed of from of the of country' s of championship of because of of funding of problems, transmits of radio of " Mayak" , referring to of the Of president of of the Of russian Of federation Of sergei Of chernov of basketball. In the club itself information about the removal from the championship they did not confirm, but also they did not refute, after saying that the official solution thus far no one assumed. In of the of club of about of withdrawing of from of the of championship is of not of confirmed of nor of refuted, saying of that a of formal of decision of yet, no of one of has. In the federation of the basketball of Russia the information so remained unconfirmed; however, the representatives OF [RFB] were intended to soon meet with the management the TsSKA (Central Sports Club of the Army) and to discuss the future of command in the championship of Russia. In of the Of basketball Of federation of Of russia in of the of same of information of remains of unconfirmed, but of the RFB of intend of shortly to of meet of with of the of leaders CSKA and discuss of the of future of of the of team of championship in Of russia.

In short, CSKA Moscow is probably declaring bankruptcy. Hammon, McCarville, all of their stars will be released. Says "HotforHammon" at RebKell:

We had feeling it was comming yesterday. Some of our Russian members reported Becky and her parents went out after the game yesterday and she told them she would likely be leaving the club soon then gave over her signed shoes and posed for pics and signed autographs for the members of her Russian fan site that traveled to the game. It sounded like a goodbye.

Our Dream players in the Spanish, French, Polish, Turkish, Chinese and Greek leagues are all right.



So far.

Becky Hammon, Bankability and Homosexuality

A very interesting blog article can be found here at the Girl in Short Shorts Blog, discussing the entire Hammon/Russian team angle from an angle different from the angle usually taken.

From what GiSS writes, the WNBA has made Becky Hammon one of its more bankable stars. She has this Sweet All-American Girl look, Bill Clinton supposedly came to a WNBA game to watch Becky play, and she's that (white) face of bankability to make the WNBA a "family" game.

When last year's WNBA MVP runner-up was inexplicably left off a list of 23 invitees to the U. S. Basketball Women's Olympic Training Camp, this set off a chain of events than ended with Hammon on the Russian team. So the WNBA is concerned about its new sweet All-American bankable star ending up with the Russians. It makes Hammon less "saleable".

However, I suspect there is a further concern. According to the Girls in Short Shorts blog, Hammon might be -- and I am not saying this, not claiming this, not having any evidence that it is the case -- gay. Which is no damn big deal. We know at least 5 percent of the WNBA would have to be gay based on demographics alone, and the number is probably greater due to the fact that lesbians have been attracted to sports since time immemorial. (The Sapphic Games competed with the all-male Olympics for years, but sadly, the yearly winners have been lost to legend.)

I'm sure part of the WNBA's fear might be that inquiring reporters will expose the nature of Becky's (hypothetically gay) love life, and the VFW crowd will throw up their hands and say, "That's it! All women's basketball players are gay." If this would be true, women's basketball would join the list of all-gay professions, such as the steel industry. (According to sociologist Moe Szyslak.) The WNBA has to Keep Becky Hammon Marketable, which I suppose is synonymous with Keep Becky Hammon Heterosexual. (Ask Ellen DeGeneres how her career was destroyed by coming out. Ask Sheryl Swoopes, too.)

Ah, what interesting times we live in. All the dumb ass suggestions we've heard. Makeup classes, the suggestion of the liberal masters of the WNBA. Dressing like Olympic beach volleyball players, the suggestion of the conservative masters of...well, whatever.

Here's a suggestion to the WNBA and its fans: you're outsiders. You're an outsider league. The beer-and-pretzel crowd isn't going to accept you. The mere fact that you're women who are successful at sports threatens them already. An entire team of sweet-Becky-Hammon-looking girls would only be accepted at an eye-candy-hot-ass level, and never for sports skills.

MARKET TO THE OUTSIDERS, WNBA! The outsiders in this world laugh at the beer-and-pretzel crowd. They have nothing but contempt for the jock/fratboy crowd, and they'd be quick to claim solidarity with the WNBA. X-Games are very popular, so there's room for outsider sports in America. Maybe when Hammon is asked by a sports reporter, "so, do you feel like you've betrayed your country?" she should just flip him off, kick him in the groin and shout, 'Next time, don't ask such a dumbass question!'"

Hammon would probably lose a lot of fans...but gain a lot of others. I'm not saying this is the way the WNBA must go, I'm just throwing it out there. Now let me get back to my Soviettes albums.

Any Publicity is Good Publicity...

...I guess.



I guess the people putting together the YaHoo! Front Pages didn't say, "WNBA? Who cares?"

The Becky Hammon Brouhaha

Was this a patch on the soldiers' uniforms in "Red Dawn"?

During the halftime of the recent Storm/Silver Stars game on ABC, the discussion regarded Becky Hammon of the Silver Spurs and her decision to play for the Russian women's basketball team.

I'll give you a run down of the event.

1. Hammon has been pretty much overlooked by USA basketball.
2. Then, in the summer of 2007, she was overlooked yet again. Her name wasn't even on the list of players from which the USA Women's Basketball team would be chosen.
3. Hammon, looking for offseason work, signs with CSKA Moscow. Russian League rules allow players to be fast-tracked for Russian citizenship if they have never played in a FIBA-sanctioned event.
4. Hammon then gets another invitation to try out for the US team. The invitation is timed one week before CSKA Moscow training and one month before the Russian League season starts.
5. Her agent asks USA Basketball if Hammon is seriously being considered. His impression? It's an inviation given out of politeness more than anything.

Therefore, Hammon doesn't bother to attend. She is fast-tracked for a Russian citizenship and receives a Russian passport. Hammon then becomes eligible to play for the Russian women's team, and a small amount of hell breaks loose in USA women's basketball.

I'll make my points in followup:

1. If Becky weren't talented, no one would care. It would be like when a bunch of rink rats from New York go and represent the Italian ice hockey team. There would be a chuckle and even a few "good for yous". It's Becky's talent that's the problem.
2. If Becky joined the Russian team, and the Russians won the gold medal, USA Basketball would face a lot of embarrassment. The question, "why didn't you sign Hammon?" would be asked long and hard. Why would you not sign the runner up for MVP voting in the WNBA in 2007?
3. USA Basketball has pretty much made it clear that they don't want Becky. But I never saw a rule that said, "we don't want you, and if you don't play with us you can't play with anybody else."
4. The entire concept that the Olypics are some sort of bastion of national pride or are a pure example of the spirit of competition is just laughable. It was laughable when the USA recruited its first Men's Basketball "Dream Team", with a bunch of multi-millionaires living outside of the Olympic Village. It was a joke when the USA Women won a gold medal in 2004 with a crapload of pros, winning their first three games by an average of 31 points. (Remember the days when if you ever played for pay, you were disqualified?)
5. One problem with women's basketball is that in the United States, it's a small pond. Decisions aren't made on the level of "who is the best player?" but more on the level of "who was my best friend in college?" and "do I have a pal that needs a job?"

I'm sure that when the Olympics roll around, we'll hear a lot of ex-jock sports reporter expound from Mount Olympus on "Why Becky Hammon is Wrong". I'll bet money that these are the same reporters who have treated the WNBA with nothing but contempt for years. Oh well, at least they'll be talking about the WNBA, good or bad.

Becky Hammon didn't turn her back on the United States. The United States turned its back on Becky Hammon.