Boyfriend of Dream Draft Pick Ardossi Arrested after Assault

From WSB-TV:

Channel 2 Action News has confirmed that a Georgia Tech football player was arrested following a fight.

Defensive end Bobby Hall is accused of beating his girlfriend, Bridget Ardossi, during a fight over their scholarship money.

Ardossi, a former star Georgia Tech basketball player, said she and Hall had argued. The two shared an apartment at the undergraduate living center.

Ardossi said Hall dragged her and slammed her head against a door and wall.

According to the article, Hall has been suspended from the Georgia Tech team and faces battery charges. The actual police report can be found here.

At least Georgia Tech is taking the right action. Roberty Hall has been suspended indefinitely from the team. Good.

Dream Season Ticket Holder Event at Georgia Tech

Holdsclaw and Orender at tonight's game. From @chold1 on Twitter.

There was a STH event at tonight's Georgia Tech-Oregon game. A lot of WNBA connections there. Paul Westhead was coaching the Oregon Ducks - you might remember him as the coach of the 2007 WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury if you don't follow men's basketball.

Also at the event were WNBA President Donna Orender, the new Dream owner Kathy Betty, and Chamique Holdsclaw. Since I've had the chance to meet both President Orender and The Claw, I wanted to track down Betty - but she was always where I wasn't. Dang.

Betty gave a speech at halftime. The first advice I'd give the owner is to hold the microphone closer to your mouth - coliseum acoustics don't pick up soft-spoken sound that well.

As you can guess, I was at the game. I'm exhausted. This will probably be the last blog post tonight.

Catching Up

It's nothing short of amazing. You wait one week, and a lot can change in the WNBA, both for the Dream and elsewhere.

* The most important piece of news that struck was that the Sacramento Monarchs had folded. The Monarchs had been in the league all 13 years of its existence, leaving only four original teams that have been with the league from day one - New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Utah/San Antonio. Houston, Charlotte, Cleveland and now Sacramento have bitten the dust.

I felt that it was a shame that the Maloofs - the owners of the Sacramento Monarchs - decided to give so much little notice of their decision. Mechelle Voepel heard that there was going to be a change somewhere along the way in the WNBA about a week ago, but had no details. Now, the shoe has dropped.

The hope - and I think it's an outside hope at best - is that the Monarchs can relocate to Oakland. I mean, with all of the jokes aside, if the WNBA can't survive in San Francisco then it can't survive anywhere. The problem with such a relocation is the venue. The Cow Palace is a decrepit arena in a bad part of town. As for going to the Oracle Arena - where the Warriors play - the obstacle appears to be Chris Cohan, the owner of the Warriors. (I can't figure out why. Either he thinks that lesbian fans will give him the cooties, or he feels that a successful WNBA franchise would point out to one and all how sorry the Warriors are.)

Furthermore, basketball in San Francisco might not be a slam dunk. Frisco Del Rosario writes that "Professional women's basketball has never been more than a curiosity [in San Francisco]." The San Francisco Pioneers in the WBL couldn't draw. The San Jose Lasers in the ABL couldn't draw either. After coming back home after a visit to San Fran, I see Frisco's point. San Francisco is a bad sports town for the same reason that Los Angeles is one - there's just so much to do in those cities that basketball isn't going to capture anyone's attention, whereas if you live in Dallas.... (*)

I hope - I really hope - that the Monarchs can find a home in the Bay Area. I believe the prospects, however, are dim.

* Another surprise was Ros Casares's loss in Euroleague to Cras Basket Taranto in Italy. What was more suprising is how far El Ros fell behind. They were down 60-36 at one time in the third quarter, but somehow managed to crawl to within five points, 72-67 with 1:27 left in the game on a shot by Delisha Milton-Jones. That would be as close as Ros Casares came, as El Ros could only score two more points, losing 78-69 on the road.

This just goes to show you how tough Euroleague is. Anybody can beat anybody. Ros Casares's dream of being undefeated in both the Spanish League and Euroleague goes by the wayside. Me, I blame Becky Hammon. (**)

* Armintie Price got married as well. I believe that the Atlanta Dream's website is posting photos. Congratulations to Armintie Price, and here's to many years of married bliss.

* Georgia Tech lost to Oklahoma State on the road, and beat Florida Gulf Coast at home in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Georgia Tech starts out 2-1 on the year.

I'll get back on track sooner or later. It was probably good for me to be away from the keyboard for a week, anyway.

____

(*) A joke for Ethan over at Actionless Activity.
(**) Another josh, this time to Becky Hammon's many fans.

In Transit Tomorrow

...so blogging will be light on Saturday, to say the least. Off for some well-deserved down time.

BTW, Georgia Tech beat Winthrop in the first round of the Preseason WNIT. 21 points, 8 steals. Not bad, I say, not bad.

The Atlanta Dream Team Dentist?

Original Retro Brand has an interview with Dr. Daryl Kimche, who is the team dentist for the Georgia Tech women's basketball team and also cares for the choppers of the Atlanta Dream.

I have been the team dentist for Georgia Tech since 1994. My staff and I handle dental emergencies, do preventative care and protect their smiles by fabricating athletic mouth guards. Because I have played college basketball, I am able to relate to the challenges these students face with athletics, scheduling and academics. I formed a relationship with Ms. Bernadette McGlade who was, at that time, the Associate Athletic Director at Georgia Tech.

I don't know if this is an endorsement from the blog, but I'd certainly keep her in mind if I was having dental work done.

Georgia Tech and Their Pink Uniforms

I took some film of the Georgia Tech women's basketball team on February 8, 2008 during their game against N. C. State. The pink uniforms were in honor of the late coach Kay Yow.

After some YouTube experimentation, I was able to load the videos up onto YouTube. Therefore, you get to watch my amateur cinematography.