Tuesday, September 06, 2005
What We Need to Know Today
News
Who is John Roberts asks Ellen Goodman?
ELLEN GOODMAN
The Philippines' Congress has formally rejected an opposition attempt to impeach President Gloria Arroyo.
GLORIA ARROYO
Women in Iraq are so screwed by the new constitution- continued
KATHA POLLITT
Film
Stockard Channing is making her directorial debut. The West Wing star is set to start shooting an adaptation of fellow New Yorker Alix Strauss' novel The Joy of Funerals next spring.
TV
Margo Jefferson on the return of the shrew to our TV screens.
MARGO JEFFERSON
I can't help but feel the irony as I watched an episode of The West Wing marathon on TV yesterday. It was the episode from two seasons ago where a Supreme Court justice dies and the Bartlet administration makes the decision to nominate Glenn Close's liberal character as the new Chief Justice and William Fitchner's conservative character as an associate justice after they got the current liberal chief justice to resign.
I remember when I initally saw the episode I was salivating over Close's character- pro choice, pro woman...and it was even more exciting to watch it yesterday again. I felt happy for a brief moment and then remembered that I was watching fiction and not the reality we are living.
Sports
I spent some time watching the US Open this past weekend. One of the sensations of this tournament has been Sania Mirza of India. She is the first Indian woman to play at this level and the first Muslim woman on the tour. At 18, she is confident, wears highly provocative t-shirts with different sayings and quiets her muslim critics when they challenge her about wearing the short tennis outfits. She is the player who has improved the most this year, and if she fixes her second serve will be an excellent player. She is so popular in India that she has to travel with bodyguards.
The WNBA enters into the conference finals this Thursday with last year's champ Seattle Storm on the sidelines. They got trounced by the Houston Comets on their home floor two games in a row, and the final game was a sad and scary blowout. Houston played better and deserved to win.
The commentators keep talking about the MVP candidates as Tamika Catchings (long shot); Lauren Jackson and Sheryl Swoopes (probably, the winner), yet they never mention Lindsey Whalen the point guard of the Connecticut Sun. She has been excellent all through the season, keeps getting better and stronger, yet is still overlooked.
Carrie Graf's contract as coach of the Phoenix Mercury was not renewed as her team narrowly missed the playoof for the second year in a row. I'm sure that they will hire a man to coach this team, leaving only 3 women coaches in the league. Phoenix supposedly talked to Geno Auriemma of the Connecticut Huskies. This move would reunite him with this former star player Diana Taurasi, but there is not way tihs is going to happen. Auriemma makes 4.8 million a year at Connecticut and there is no way an WNBA team could pay that.
Who is John Roberts asks Ellen Goodman?
ELLEN GOODMAN
The Philippines' Congress has formally rejected an opposition attempt to impeach President Gloria Arroyo.
GLORIA ARROYO
Women in Iraq are so screwed by the new constitution- continued
KATHA POLLITT
Film
Stockard Channing is making her directorial debut. The West Wing star is set to start shooting an adaptation of fellow New Yorker Alix Strauss' novel The Joy of Funerals next spring.
TV
Margo Jefferson on the return of the shrew to our TV screens.
MARGO JEFFERSON
I can't help but feel the irony as I watched an episode of The West Wing marathon on TV yesterday. It was the episode from two seasons ago where a Supreme Court justice dies and the Bartlet administration makes the decision to nominate Glenn Close's liberal character as the new Chief Justice and William Fitchner's conservative character as an associate justice after they got the current liberal chief justice to resign.
I remember when I initally saw the episode I was salivating over Close's character- pro choice, pro woman...and it was even more exciting to watch it yesterday again. I felt happy for a brief moment and then remembered that I was watching fiction and not the reality we are living.
Sports
I spent some time watching the US Open this past weekend. One of the sensations of this tournament has been Sania Mirza of India. She is the first Indian woman to play at this level and the first Muslim woman on the tour. At 18, she is confident, wears highly provocative t-shirts with different sayings and quiets her muslim critics when they challenge her about wearing the short tennis outfits. She is the player who has improved the most this year, and if she fixes her second serve will be an excellent player. She is so popular in India that she has to travel with bodyguards.
The WNBA enters into the conference finals this Thursday with last year's champ Seattle Storm on the sidelines. They got trounced by the Houston Comets on their home floor two games in a row, and the final game was a sad and scary blowout. Houston played better and deserved to win.
The commentators keep talking about the MVP candidates as Tamika Catchings (long shot); Lauren Jackson and Sheryl Swoopes (probably, the winner), yet they never mention Lindsey Whalen the point guard of the Connecticut Sun. She has been excellent all through the season, keeps getting better and stronger, yet is still overlooked.
Carrie Graf's contract as coach of the Phoenix Mercury was not renewed as her team narrowly missed the playoof for the second year in a row. I'm sure that they will hire a man to coach this team, leaving only 3 women coaches in the league. Phoenix supposedly talked to Geno Auriemma of the Connecticut Huskies. This move would reunite him with this former star player Diana Taurasi, but there is not way tihs is going to happen. Auriemma makes 4.8 million a year at Connecticut and there is no way an WNBA team could pay that.
