WNBA does not get the coverage it deserves in my local newspapers.  Occasionally, I will find a small article about one game and then the stats for other games.  Even though a local graduate is playing, Crystal Langhorne for the Washington Mystics, there is still little coverage in the Burlington County Times or The Phildelphia Inquirer.  Hence, my surprise at seeing an article about the Women’s Basketball Olympic Team winning the gold medal on the front page of the sports section and a picture with a blurb on the front page of the whole paper in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer. (I haven’t seen the Burlington County Times, yet.)

I did not get to see any of the team’s games during the Olympics.  In fact, the only basketball I saw was the men’s gold medal game against Spain in which the men won.  The time difference between the East Coast and China made difficult watching, as Lisa Scottoline mentioned in her column in today’s Inquirer, but I was captivated.  I watched sports that I never watch at any other time — diving, beach volleyball, gymnastics — and the only competition that I refused to watch was boxing, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the track and field competition, the men’s marathon, and diving.  The only complaint that I had was the way in which the US reporters interviewed people who had been defeated or failed to qualify immediately after it happened.  I think people need and deserve time to compose themselves before answering questions to the whole world about what went wrong and how did they feel about it.  The facial expressions and the overall body language was enough to communicate the intense disappointment that the athlete felt. 

I see that the 2012 Olympics are scheduled for London, England.  Will I try to go or will I watch from home?  Probably home, but you never know . . .