Old School Video

Teresa Edwards tells us why women's basketball is so great.

Teresa Edwards Named to Women's Hall of Fame

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant reports that the newest six inductees to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame were announced at today's All-Star Game.

Among the inductees are Teresa Edwards, formerly at the University of Georgia and the American Basketball League's Atlanta Glory.

Altavilla's writeup:

Edwards is the most decorated Olympic basketball player on the planet, men or women, owning four gold medals and one bronze medal in five Olympics. She is the youngest (1984) and the oldest (2000) U.S. Olympic basketball player to ever win a gold medal. Edwards is a member of the historic 1996 USA Olympic and 1995-96 USA Basketball Women's National teams that compiled a combined 60-0 record. She played 4 seasons in the ABL, three of those with the Atlanta Glory. Named the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year a record four times.

The other inductees for 2010 - Leta Andrews (winningest HS girls basketball coach in the country), Rebecca Lobo, Gloria Ray (first women's athletic director at Tennessee), Teresa Weatherspoon and Chris Weller (former coach at the University of Maryland).

Happy Birthday Teresa!

Teresa Edwards, born in Cairo, Georgia, two-time All American with the Georgia Bulldogs, player-coach for the American Basketball League's Atlanta Glory and WNBA player and coach for the Minnesota Lynx, is 45 today. Edwards was a five-time Olympian, taking home four gold medals and one bronze for the American team.

(Incidentally, she shares a birthday with Wanisha Smith, whose nine seconds with the Detroit Shock last year is the shortest WNBA career.)

WNBA Legends Game to Take Place in Atlanta

From the press release: Women's Sports Talk Radio will be hosting the WNBA Lady Legends Charity Classic. Among the players appearing:

Lynette Woodard
Katrina McClain
Teresa Weatherspoon
Kym Hampton
Ruthie Bolton
Andrea Stinson
Adrienne Goodson
Fran Harris
Tammy Jackson
Rushia Brown
Linda Burgess
Teresa Edwards

Those first two names? Those are Women's Basketball Hall of Famers. The rest of those names have the potential to go to the hall someday.

The game is scheduled to be played at the Woodland Middle School on August 15th at 2 pm. Hmmm...let me see if I can get off work...boy, I hope my wife's high school reunion isn't that Friday....

Interview with Teresa Edwards

If you don't know who Teresa Edwards is, you don't know much about Georgia basketball. That's okay. I didn't know much about her either.

Edwards was born in Georgia, played for the University of Georgia, played in the Olympics, played (and coached) the Atlanta Glory in Atlanta, and has done color commentary for the Atlanta Dream on television.

The full interview is here. It's definitely a great read. Something tells me that Teresa Edwards and Chantelle Anderson have a lot in common - they both tell it like it is.

TE: Good question and I'm kind of glad you asked. I'm not the politically correct person - therefore I'll tell you how I feel about it. Yes, you're right, it is kind of disappointing. Because the effort to bring a professional league here in the United States was motivated, from my part, to do that, to keep us home in our environment, to build something here in the strongest country in the world, in my mind. If we are the biggest, best country in the world, why can't someone make room for us to be professional athletes as females here.

We were grinding it out initially, us and soccer, and just when it comes to women's team sports, to have a professional stand here.

You're absolutely correct when you ask this question. It's a little disappointing because these girls are now playing year-round. It's lucrative for them to go overseas and make a salary they can live on when they come here. And it's obviously not lucrative enough that they can just play in the WNBA and exist. And that's just not the dream I have for women's basketball.

I would love to see the day where you really could make it as a professional just like the men that get a lifestyle here. I think that would be my dream come true - even though I would not be the one out there doing it.

Teresa Edwards Highlight Reel

This was created by "Atlbryson" and was linked over at the Painel do Basquete Femininio blog.



Why highlight Teresa Edwards?

* Born in Cairo, Georgia
* Two time All-American at Georgia, two Final Four appearances
* #5 was retired at Georgia
* Played forAtlanta and Philadelphia in the ABL
* Played for Minnesota in the WNBA
* #22 on Sports Illustrated's list of "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century"
* Four Olympic Gold Medals in women's basketball, and
* Some want Edwards to replace Marynell Meadors if it ever comes to that. At least, I've heard rumors.

I really enjoyed the footage from her years at Georgia and from the ABL. The clip is great.