Different paths to the spotlight

Three women, three stories.

Diana Taurasi

The Connecticut junior guard was the most charismatic college basketball player in the nation this year, male or female. She plays with style and emotion and talent, the closest thing to a female Pistol Pete I've ever seen. Her left-handed flip from the baseline Tuesday night against Tennessee was the shot of the year.

Of course, you probably missed it, because so few people watched the game. The women's title game was watched in only 3.5 percent of U.S. homes, down 14 percent from last year. I can read message boards, so I know that many people just don't like women's basketball, but the game deserves better.

Here's a thought: The NCAA should consider lobbying to make the women's title game part of a doubleheader with the men's. Not an on-site doubleheader, but a television doubleheader. This year, the women moved their Final Four to a Sunday-Tuesday format to get clear of the men, but that left their title game on a Tuesday-night island. (Granted, the war in Iraq has affected ratings for all televised sports).

Perhaps ESPN wouldn't want to share its product. Perhaps the women wouldn't want to be the JV game. Perhaps they should all look into it to try to attract some new viewers to a terrific product. Taurasi should not go unwatched anymore.

Marion Jones

The world's fastest woman is pregnant, due with her first child in July. She will miss the 2003 outdoor track season, then begin training in the fall for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Nothing in life compares to having children. My wife and I have two of them, so on this matter I can speak from some experience. Raising children to be happy and successful in a tough world is among the most significant things a human being can do. And among the most difficult and most rewarding. So congratulations to Marion and her child's father, 100-meter world-record holder Tim Montgomery. And good luck.

All that said, the erstwhile Mrs. Jones' timing is surprising. The run-up from the 2003 world championships to the Athens Games potentially stood to be the defining period of her career. She will lose at least $1 million in appearance fees and prize money by skipping '03 (probably much more), and while it's true that women often return to competition from pregnancy stronger than before, Jones is cutting it close for Athens, especially when her dominance over the world in the 100 and 200 meters has eroded. Plus, she has no coach, having left Trevor Graham for Charlie Francis, and then having dumped Francis under pressure.

Jones, 27, is a smart lady whose career has been marked by questionable decisions. She broke onto the international scene in 1997 accompanied by shot putter C.J. Hunter, a publicly brooding, previously married man whom she later divorced, but not without damage to her image. She fired Graham and tried to hire Francis under the radar, a breathtakingly foolish move. Now she is pregnant by Montgomery, a man who now says publicly that he has one child, a daughter, from a previous relationship, but who told me in 2001 that he had two children with two different women, a son and a daughter who would now be 5 and 2, respectively.

Say this for Jones: She's doing things her own way.

Bonnie Bernstein

Not 10 minutes after Kansas had lost to Syracuse Monday night in the NCAA championship game, CBS reporter Bernstein was given the customary quick interview with the losing coach, in this case a devastated Roy Williams, before he was placed before the full national media.

At the end of the interview, Bernstein asked Williams if he was interested in the North Carolina job. It had been a week-long subplot since the forced resignation of Matt Doherty. Williams expressed his disappointment that the question was asked and failed to answer, citing his emotional state and his feelings for the Kansas team that had just lost, particularly seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich. Bernstein persisted and Williams dropped an s-bomb on national television.

So here's the central issue: Should Bernstein have asked about North Carolina? Answer: Absolutely, even knowing that Williams probably wouldn't answer. It was a question on the minds of most viewers all week, probably even during the game. Bernstein's mistake was in asking twice.

As for Williams, his emotional curse made me like the guy. Not because he cussed out a reporter (lots of people do that, trust me), but because he showed some anger and emotion beyond the normal. It made me think the guy has even more substance that I had thought. And I think a lot of him.

The real villain here is North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour, who by removing Doherty before the Final Four put Williams in a terrible position. Regardless of the pressure he was under from players, parents and boosters, Baddour should have waited until Tuesday morning. Especially if he wants Williams as badly as he seems to.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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