Alright Brittney!

Brittney Griner scored 27 points, grabbed sever rebounds and blocked ten shots to help the Baylor Lady Bears beat Number one seeded Tennessee 77-62 and advance to the Elite 8 round of the Womens NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history.

Griner has blocked 26 shots so far in the Lady Bear tournament run and is only five blocks away from breaking the NCAA record.

The Lady Bears will face Duke with a trip to the Women's Final Four in San Antonio on the line.

Sic 'em Lady Bears!

'Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel' Upcoming Trans Sportswriters Show

Trans themed shows have been the rage over the last few days with the CNN Susan Stanton one and Anderson Cooper's recent multi part interview of Chaz Bono.

Turns out the late Christine Daniels wasn't the only trans sportswriter. On March 16 HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel will profile and interview trans sportswriters.

And no, the TransGriot won't be part of this discussion, even though on occasion I let my inner sports junkie out on the blog.



Should be an interesting discussion

Bye Vancouver-See You In Sochi In 2014

The XXI Winter Olympics concluded yesterday with the closing ceremonies being held at BC Place.

Despite Vancouver's games getting off to a tragic start with the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during a practice run hours before the opening ceremony, they spent the next sixteen days of competition building toward a triumphant climax.

I concur with IOC president Jacques Rogge's remarks. Vancouver did a wonderful job hosting the games and as always, I'm sad to see any Olympics end.

While the host Canadians are keeping an Olympic record 14 gold medals, Team USA is taking 9 golds and 37 total medals south of the 49th parallel. It's the best total Winter Olympics haul we've had since the 1932 Lake Placid Games and broke the record set by Germany at the 2006 Torino Games.

All eyes will be on Sochi from February 7-23 in 2014, to whom the winter Olympic hosting torch was passed. While we're waiting for the start of Russia's first winter Olympics, next year in Durban, South Africa the IOC will determine which city gets the nod to host the 2018 winter games.

The 2018 contenders are PyeongChang, South Korea, who is making their third winter Olympic bid and has finished as the runners-up to eventual 2006 and 2010 winners Torino and Vancouver, Annecy, France, and Munich, Germany. If Munich's winter bid is successful, it would become the first city to host a winter and a summer games.

Fear not, Olympic junkies. Singapore will be hosting the first ever Youth Olympic Games this summer. They will be held from August 14-26 and will feature athletes aged 14 to 18 competing in the same events that are contested in a Summer Olympic Games. There will also be a Youth Winter Olympic Games as well contested in 2012 with Innsbruck, Austria hosting it.

Both should be interesting to watch and keep us Olympic junkies happy until London 2012. In the meantime, it's going to be an interesting four years between now and 2014.

Frack, Canada Men Win Gold In OT

This time I got a phone call from Renee and Renee's unhusband when it was over.

After Ryan Parise tied the game with 24 seconds left to stun the crowd into silence at Canada Hockey Place, Sidney Crosby got the red and white party started with a goal in the overtime period to deny Team USA their first Olympic gold medal since the 1980 Miracle on Ice squad accomplished the feat.

Oh well, Sochi's only four years away.

This Time It's For The Gold Medal

It's hard to beat a team multiple times in any sport, but that's what Team USA's men's hockey team will have to do today if they wish to return to the States with a hockey gold medal for the first time in 30 years.

The Hockey Border War between the United States and Canada will kick off again at 3 PM EST. It's not only a rematch of the preliminary round game the US won last Sunday 5-3, it's also a rematch of the 2002 gold medal game in Salt Lake City that the Canadians won 5-2.

Team USA scored early and often in their semifinal game versus Finland Friday and made those goals stand up for a 6-1 victory.

Ever since that 5-3 preliminary round defeat the Canadian men have been on a roll themselves with victories over Germany, Russia and Slovakia.

They also have the pressure of an entire nation on their backs as well.

Go Team USA!

It's On Renee-USA Vs Canada Women For Gold

At 6:30 PM EST what me and Renee have been trading barbs across the 49th parallel about for several months will finally happen.

The Clash of the Women's Hockey Superpowers at Canada Hockey Place.

It's the two time defending Olympic gold medalist Team Canada versus the two time reigning world champion and number one ranked Team USA.

This game is also taking place in the shadow of the 30th anniversary of the 'Miracle on Ice' game and the historic men's win over Canada on Sunday.

Interestingly enough, Mark Johnson, one of the major catalysts of the 4-3 win over the Russians is Team USA's coach.

Team USA has outscored its opponents 40-2 enroute to this Olympic final with 12-1, 13-0 and 6-0 wins over China, Russia and Finland in the preliminary round and a 9-1 semifinal win over Sweden. It avenged a 3-2 upset shootout loss in Torino that denied Team USA a trip to the 2006 Olympic final.

Canada has been just as dominant on its side of the Vancouver bracket. It steamrolled Slovakia 18-0, Switzerland 10-1 and Sweden 13-1 before posting a 5-0 shutout win over Finland in the semifinals.

It may be your house Renee, but we're coming to spoil the party. We want to do unto Canada what was done unto us at Salt Lake in 2002. Deny them the opportunity to win gold on their home soil.

My two time defending world champion girls won't be intimidated either.

"There's nothing better as an athlete – let alone a hockey player – than to play in a building of this magnitude, to have all the fans screaming," said Angela Ruggiero, who is one of two Americans to play in all four Olympic women's hockey tournaments.

"A lot of us were able to see the men win just, if anything, to get a sense of what the atmosphere is going to be like – hostile, fans chanting against you. And that's OK because I think our team thrives off of that."

It's on, Renee. Looking forward to watching my girls win gold, owning your podium and seeing the Stars and Stripes rise high in Canada Hockey Place.

Shani Looking For More Vancouver Gold

Shani Davis is looking to grab another medal tonight and make more speed skating history. He's competing in another event he's dominated during the World Cup season, the 1500m.

Davis is not only the defending world champion at this distance, in December he set the new world record in Utah at 1:41:04. He was the silver medalist at this distance in Torino.

Just like two nights ago when he defended his 1000m title, Davis will be skating in the last pair of the evening.

The best thing about that is that when he steps to the starting line, he'll know what time he has to beat to claim Olympic gold for the second time in these Games.

Shani Repeats!

Shani Davis had to wait a while before he took the ice at the Richmond Olympic Oval in the last pair of the 1000m event.

But once he did Davis sped through his race in 1:08:94 to make history none again as the first skater to repeat as the 1000m gold medalist.

And he was ecstatic about it.

"I would say it's probably No. 1," he said. "Once you become world champion or Olympic champion, you get this nice little thing on your back -- it's called a target. People usually shoot for you. Just to be able to go out there today and defend my 1,000-meter title is truly amazing. I'm very satisfied that I was able to stay true to myself and defend my title."

This win makes him the second most decorated male long track speedskater behind Dr. Eric Heiden, who is the USA speedskating team physician for these Games.

Davis has another shot of adding to his medal collection with the 1500m event coming on Saturday

Shani's Best Event Coming Tonight

So far Shani Davis' attempt to win four gold medals in Vancouver has come up empty with a 12th place finish in the 5000m and withdrawing from the 500m Monday due to bad ice conditions.

I'll be parked in front of the TV to watch Shani Davis compete in his best long track speedskating event, the 1000m. It along with the 1500m are the two speedskating distances he has dominated.

Davis is the world champion and world record holder in the 1000m meters and the favorite to take gold in this event.

Here's hoping that tonight turns out to be a golden one for Shani Davis at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

Good Day For Team USA Hockey

Team USA men's and women's hockey players took to the ice today at their respective venues and won.

This is the youngest USA men's hockey team to take the ice since the 1998 Nagano squad. Unlike the women, they are also playing in the same group with Team Canada.

They got their Olympic tournament off to a promising start with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland at Canada Hockey Place.

Goaltender Ryan Miller faced on 14 Swiss shots as Team USA tallied goals by Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone. Switzerland avoided the shutout by scoring a power play goal at 9:45 of the third period.

Their toughest competition, the Russians and homestanding Canadians also won their opening round games with Russia beating Latvia 8-2 and the Canadians rolling to an 8-0 victory over Norway in front of a flag waving sellout crowd after being held to a scoreless first period.

The USA men's team will face a critical game on Thursday with Norway.

Meanwhile over at the UBC Thunderbird Arena, the Team USA women continued their domination of Group B with a US record setting victory over Russia.

Team USA tallied a record seven power play goals and Jenny Potter scored her second hat trick of this Olympic tournament enroute to the 13-0 win.

The Team USA women have scored 25 goals in their initial two games while surrendering only one. The win clinched their spot in the February 20-22 crossover round, and they will play Finland Thursday to decide the winner of Group B.

12-1, Renee: USA! USA! USA!

The back to back world champion and number one ranked Team USA played their first game in this 2010 women's Olympic hockey tournament versus China.

Team USA unleashed 61 shots on goal and took a 5-0 lead after the first period concluded enroute to tying an American Olympic record with their 12-1 victory.

The game was played in front of a flag waving crowd that included Vice President Joe Biden and his wife and 1980 USA Olympic hockey captain Mike Eruzione.

Jenny Potter scored three goals in only 22 minutes to become the all time leading scorer in US Olympic history male or female.

“You don’t ever like to beat a team, 12-1,” Natalie Darwitz, the American captain, said, adding, “I think we got a little sloppy there in the middle and the end. It’s kind of a tough game when you’re controlling the play and it gets to be about goals and points. You get away from doing the little things.”

Team USA's next Group B game will take place on Tuesday against the Russians, who lost to Finland 5-1 in their opener.

One down, four to go

So Canada Beat Slovakia 18-0: It's Still Early

The opening ceremonies are over, the Olympic flame has made it to its dual cauldrons in BC Place and downtown Vancouver and the competition is now underway.

A certain Canadian and I have been engaged in trash talking for several months over our respective world number one and two ranked women's hockey teams. When the opening ceremonies were over she wasted little time reminding me we were on Canadian soil and chanting 'feel the thunder', the Canadian Olympic slogan for these games.

The two time defending gold medallists opened Group A preliminary play against first timers Slovakia. The Canadians raced out to a 7-0 first period lead and never looked back in their record setting 18-0 blowout.

The previous record was a 2006 16-0 Canadian romp over Italy

But am I feeling the thunder? Nope.

If Team Canada rings up double digit goals to Sweden, the defending Torino silver medalists, then that's a cause for concern.

The Swedes are no women's hockey slouches. They upset Team USA during the 2006 Olympic semis in Torino enroute to the silver medal and won their opening Group A game against Switzerland 3-0.

Reminder to Renee and my other Canadian readers, they are in your group. Sweden wants to take a chunk out of both our squads and think they can.

The back to back world champions and number one ranked Team USA women make their Vancouver hockey debut versus China in Group A play.

Interesting note about Team USA is they are coached by Mark Johnson, who was a member of the 1980 Lake Placid 'Miracle on Ice' gold medal squad.

There are also several members of this team that remember the less than satisfying results in Salt Lake and Torino and want some redemption.

But the pressure is on Canada to defend their home turf and threepeat as Olympic champs.

So yeah, a lot of hockey has to be played before we get to the women's Olympic hockey final on February 25.

And as any sports fan can tell you, anything can happen when you play the games.

The Vancouver Games Begin

They got off to a sad start with the unfortunate death of a Georgian luger during a practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre Friday morning, but the XXI Winter Olympic Games are underway.

So is the athletic competition that we'll be enjoying for the next two weeks. As a matter of fact, the ski jumping prelims took place before the opening ceremony.

With the start of these games, Vancouver with a population of 2 million now has the distinction of being the largest city to ever host a Winter Olympic games. This is also the first time that an opening ceremony was held indoors as well.

Governor General Michaelle Jean declared the games opened as the honor of the lighting the cauldron fell to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, NBA baller Steve Nash, and Olympians Catriona Le May Doan and Nancy Greene Raine.

The ceremony went flawlessly until it was time to light the indoor cauldron, and one of the four arms failed to lift, leaving Catriona Le May Doan holding her torch as the other three pillars were lit.

Today was a drama filled day, but let's hope that the only drama from now until the February 28 closing ceremony is focused on the competition.

Winter Olympics: Why Team USA Is Nearly White As Snow

TransGriot Note: My latest piece for Global Comment

With the Vancouver Games starting today and it also being Black History month, I have pondered why we haven’t had as many excellent African-American winter Olympians as we consistently produce for the Summer Games. The Olympics, after all, mean a lot to me.

Whether they take place in the summer or winter, I’m parked in front of the television during that fortnight of competition. I get excited when I see the torch lighting ceremony happen in Greece and eagerly count the days down to the opening ceremonies in the host nation. I get a little emotional when the closing ceremonies occur and see the flame extinguished until the next Olympiad.

There are many reasons why I love the Olympics. For that two to three week period the Games are occurring we are literally one planet cheering the athletes no matter what nation they are from.

It’s unpredictable and controversial at times. Just ask the Russians and Americans about the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ or the 1972 USA-USSR basketball gold medal game in Munich. The Canadians, meanwhile, are still angry about Jamie Sale and David Pelletier being robbed of an 2002 pairs figure skating gold medal by shady judging.

You never know who the star athlete of that particular Games may be, which is why we have all been delighted by Michael Phelps in 2008, Nadia Comaneci in 1984, and Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.

The games are always a perfect blend of pageantry, history, high level sporting achievement, heartbreaking defeats, upsets, victory and high stakes drama all played out on an international athletic stage.

African-Americans have a long and distinguished history in Summer Games competition dating back to the 1904 St. Louis Games. George Poage not only was the first African-American competitor, he took two bronze medals in the 200m the 400m hurdles.

From Jesse Owens to Flo Jo to the Dream Team, it’s a long and proud history of sterling athletic achievement. But when it comes to the Winter Games, we’ve been invisible.

The Winter Olympics were first held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. It wasn’t until the 1980 Lake Placid Games that Willie Davenport and Jeff Gadley became the first African Americans ever to qualify for a US winter Olympic team. Davenport and Gadley were members of the USA 4 man bobsled team that finished 12th.

Davenport stated in a February 21, 1980 JET magazine interview,

“There is myth in this country that Blacks can’t make the American winter Olympic team. Jeff and I proved this to be wrong and that you don’t have to be rich and white to make it.”

The interesting footnote to this piece of sporting Black history is that Davenport was the 1968 gold medalist and 1972 bronze medalist in the 110m hurdles. He was also a five time Summer Olympian dating back to the 1964 Tokyo Games.

The first African-American Winter Games medalist was Dr. Debi Thomas, who won a bronze medal in the 1988 figure skating competition in Calgary. The first African-American winter gold medalist was Vonetta Flowers, who won it while competing in the 2 woman bobsled with Jill Bakken during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Four years later, in Torino, speedskater Shani Davis became the first African-American male ever to win a winter Olympic gold medal and the first to win an individual event Winter Olympic gold medal when he won the 1000m.

So why the imbalance of African-Americans in Winter and Summer Games participation?

There are several things factoring into the 84 year gap between the first medals awarded to African-American participants in the summer and winter Games.

One of the first is exposure. Many of the winter sports contested in the Olympics are dominated by Europeans and don’t get the type of television coverage in the States as they get overseas. If it’s not covered on TV in the States, that particular sport is virtually invisible to the casual US sports fan.

As Tiger Woods, Peter Westbrook and the Williams sisters have proven, if you see yourself represented on the screen in a non-traditional sport, kids will gravitate to it. There’s a wave of African American kids participating in golf, fencing and tennis as a result of the trailblazing efforts of those athletes. Since Shani Davis’ 2006 gold medal winning appearance in Torino, speedskating has witnessed an uptick in participation by African American kids wanting to be like Shani.

Contrary to Willie Davenport’s 1980 statement, money matters in making a winter Olympics team. Most winter sports require expensive outlays for equipment, training, and coaching. They also require access to facilities that are hundreds or thousands of miles from the urban areas where most African-Americans live.

Read the rest here.

Can Vancouver Top Beijing's Olympic Opener?

The Winter Olympics opening ceremonies will take place later tonight. The question that people around the world are asking is what will Vancouver do to top the awesome spectacle Beijing put on to open the 2008 Games.

It seems since 1992 the torch lighting ceremonies have gotten more spectacular from an archer being used to light the Olympic flame cauldron in Barcelona to Li Ning sky walking his way to the Beijing one.



That's the gold standard so far. Here's the one for Torino 2006.



So the big questions being asked are not only who will be the person or persons from Canadian Olympic history be who will light the Olympic flame, but how will they do it?

Yes, Jamaica Still Has A Bobsled Team

The Jamaican bobsled team made their competitive debut at the Calgary Games in 1988 and were immortalized in the movie Cool Runnings.

But what have they been up to since their auspicious turn on the Olympic competition world stage 22 years ago?

They made respectable showings in Calgary, the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville and are still competing on the World Cup circuit. Despite having little funding and substandard equipment, the Jamaicans still managed to get into the world Top 50 4 man sled rankings and give their longshot hopes of competing in Vancouver life.

They dearly wanted to return to the country where their program debuted in Olympic competition, but unfortunately when the competition gets underway that won't happen.

"We've been in battles for many, many years," Chris Stokes, a founding member of the Jamaican bobsled team more than 20 years ago, told The AP in a phone interview. "This is one more. But it's disappointing, no question about that. The guys worked really hard and did well. Not qualifying, it's by no means a failure. It's a step going forward.

They failed to qualify for the Vancouver Games, but they are still planning to be at the Whistler Sliding Centre if for no other reason than to give the team a taste of what an Olympics is like.

"It's very important for them to go and see," Stokes said. "They'll remember what the games are like and watch the start line of a four-man Olympic race and feel that adrenaline. I hope it acts as a motivation for them."

Jamaica is already setting their sights on competing in the 2014 Games in Sochi.

They are hopeful of adding more sleds and drivers and intend to offer retired US bobsled pilot and 2002 silver medalist Todd Hays a coaching position.

The three time Olympian was recently forced to retire after suffering a concussion following a December crash during a 4 man training run at a World Cup event in Winterberg, Germany.

Hays has lent the Jamaican federation equipment and his expertise in the sport.

"There are many things we can, and we will, do to improve our chances," Stokes said.

And hopefully we'll see the Jamaicans back at the 2014 Games as well.

Ghana's Snow Leopard Hopes To Take A Bite Out of The Olympic Competition

I am a big fan of the Olympic games, be it winter or summer variety.

One of the things about the nature of the winter Olympics is that you don't see many athletes of African descent competing in them very often.

In Calgary there were the Jamaican bobsledders in 1988 who were immortalized in the movie Cool Runnings and competed at Albertville in 1992. There was Kenyan cross country skier and three time Olympian Philip Boit competing in the 10K event at Nagano in 1998, in Salt Lake in 2002 and in Turin in 2006. Boit fell just two points short of the ISF qualifying standard of 300 points in order to compete in his fourth winter games.

In Vancouver, say hello to the Snow Leopard, aka Kwame Nkrumah Acheampong of Ghana.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but as a baby moved with his parents to his homeland. He returned to the UK in 2000 to attend college and while working at Milton Keynes he took a run down a 170 meter indoor ski slope that changed his life and got him hooked on the sport.

Since then Aceampong has made the remarkable self-financed leap from that indoor run to the World Cup ski circuit. He's been the only continental African on the World Cup tour since 2005 and barely missed qualifying for the 2006 Turin Games downhill race.

By March 2009 he'd reached his goal of qualifying for the Vancouver Games by getting his International Ski Federation rating down from over 1000 to the ISF qualifying standard of less than 140.

Qualifying was only the beginning. In addition to sticking to his training regimen, he had to do all the paperwork required to be recognized and registered by the Ghana Olympic Committee.

It wasn't easy for the Snow Leopard and there were some trying times along the way. Being self financed on the World Cup circuit meant there were many competitions in which he slept in his freezing cold van overnight.

When the men's giant slalom competition gets underway at Whistler on February 21, he will become the first person ever from Ghana to compete in the Winter Games. It's an even more remarkable feat considering the 34 year old has only been skiing for six years.

Aceampong is not only chasing Olympic gold in the giant slalom and slalom, he has another dream he's working hard to fulfill.

"As well as doing my best at the Olympics, I want to make an impact that leaves a legacy for future generations that will one day see the Ghana ski team as a serious competitor on the international stage."

Who Dat Gonna Be NFL Champs!

The New Orleans Saints were founded in 1967 and have endured 43 seasons of good, bad and ugly football. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005 and wrecked the Superdome, it wasn't even certain that the Saints would even be playing their future NFL games in New Orleans.

Today you can call them NFL champions after playing and winning in their first Super Bowl appearance.

They ain't the Aints no more.

In a Super Bowl for the ages the Saints turned a 10-6 halftime deficit, gutsy play calling and stout defense into a memorable 31-17 win and a well deserved championship for the long suffering Saints fans.

Mardi Gras has already started, but this party will probably be going on until tomorrow morning and maybe into next week.

Congratulations Saints. Way to geaux!

Super Bowl XLIV

Will Who Dat win? Or will another Vince Lombardi Trophy be heading back to Indiana?

Starting at 6:25 PM EST America and a large television viewing audience will know the answer to that question as Super Bowl XLIV kicks off.

The NFC Champion New Orleans Saints will tackle the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts in Miami with an NFL title on the line.

I'm hoping for a good game that will be fun to watch.

As for what team I'm rooting for? I lived in New Orleans for two years.

Geaux Saints!

Serena Repeats As Australian Open Champion

It took her three sets, twelve aces, 32 winners and two hours and seven minutes of high quality tennis, but Little Sis outlasted Justine Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to complete a very successful business trip to Melbourne to defend her Australian Open championship.

Serena captured her fifth Australian Open title to add to the 2010 doubles title she won with Big Sis. It is Serena's 12th Grand Slam title, tying her with Billie Jean King for sixth place on the all time women's Grand Slam champions list.

The fifth Australian open title is the most by any woman in the Open Tennis Era since 1968, surpassing the four held by Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.

The next targets on the all time women's Grand Slam champions list are Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 majors each.

Margaret Court is the all time women's Grand Slam title holder with 24, and has won the Australian Open 11 times. She was in attendance along with Billie Jean King to be honored on the 40th anniversary year of her 1970 Grand Slam.

But Henin made Little Sis fight for it. At one point in the match she won 15 straight points to close out the second set, even the match and take a 1-0 lead in the deciding third set.

But Little Sis eventually stepped up her game to another level and took a 3-2 lead in the third set she never relinquished. She's also the first woman to repeat as champion since Jennifer Capriati won back to back Australian Opens in 2001-2002.

Now if Serena can figure out how to win some French Opens, everything will be copacetic.