We could go any which way with this theme and I decided to list the Top 10 Greatest Women Athletes of all time (according to yours truly, of course.)

So, here they are in order from ten to one, starting with …

10. Sheryl Swoopes

Swoopes played one-on-one against Air Jordan and was instrumental in getting the WNBA off the ground and running. She played in both the 1994 and 1996 Olympics, won back-to-back championships with the Houston Comets and logged the WNBA’s first ever triple double. Oh, and she was the first woman to ever have her own basketball shoe — the Nike Air Swoopes!

9. Bonnie Blair

Blair made her Olympic debut at the age of 20 in 1984. She competed in the 500-meter race and came in eighth place. It would be the only time she would lose a race from then on. Blair went on to win five consecutive gold medals in 1998, 1992 and 1994.

8. Mary Lou Retton

Before Shawn Johnson, there was the lovable Mary Lou. Retton was also sixteen when she captured her golden moment at the 1984 Olympics. She needed a flawless vault in order to catapult herself in front of the leader of the all-around competition for the gold medal. And Retton seized the moment, scored perfectly and stuck the landing. She became a household name, graced the cover of magazines (Sports Illustrated) and Wheaties boxes everywhere, and made numerous appearances on television.

7. Chris Evert

Evert is probably best known for her tennis rivalry with 6. Martina Navratilova.

Both women changed the face of women’s tennis. Evert won 157 career singles titles and Navratilova won 167. Navratilova had more wins against Evert with 43-37.

5. Florence Griffith Joyner

Flo-Jo is the sister-in-law of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, but you would think they were blood-related because of their uncanny speed abilities. She ran the 100m in 10.49 seconds in 1988, a world record that stood for a decade.

4. Mia Hamm

Hamm is known as the Michael Jordan of women’s soccer (also an alum of the University of North Carolina) and considered the best female to ever dribble a soccer ball. She’s the world’s all-time leading scorer, a four-time NCAA champion, a two-time World Cup champion, and an Olympic gold medalist. Oh yeah, her silhouette is also going to be used at the new logo for the new women’s professional soccer league. Not a bad resume, eh?

3. Nancy Lieberman-Cline
Liberman probably could have balled in the NBA and held her own. She was that good. With her no-look passes and on-court intelligence, Lieberman was dubbed “Lady Magic.” She led Old Dominion to two National Championships and played in the WNBA. She now serves at the general manager and coach of the Detroit Shock.

2. Billie Jean King

King will go down in history (or herstory) as the woman who beat Bobby Riggs in the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match. With that single win, she cemented the ammo for the argument that women are just as good as men in sports. Oh, there’s also those 39 Grand Slam wins and 695 match victories. But who’s counting?

1. Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Kersee could very well be considered the greatest women’s Olympic athlete of all time. Not only did she excel in track and field, but Kersee was also a Pac-10 basketball player at UCLA. Her world record of 7,291 points in the event, set in Seoul, still stands, and Joyner-Kersee has the top six performances in history.

*Some information provided by Sports Illustrated

Post from: EveryJoe

Top 10 Greatest Women Athletes

This Saturday, July 19th, the New York Liberty and the Indiana Fever will play the WNBA’s first regular season outdoor game at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The game is being billed as the Outdoor Classic and is the first non-tennis sporting event to take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The game is going to be televised, much like the Ice Bowl or Winter Classic that was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins back in January. That game drew a huge audience of both hockey lovers and non-hockey lovers because it was something new and exciting, an event that made you want to tune in if only for a period.

The Outdoor Classic could have worked the same magic for the WNBA, boosting television ratings and drawing in a new crowd of onlookers … if only the advertising and marketing had been there. I haven’t seen one commercial about the game and I even watch WNBA games. So how can they reach people who don’t pay attention to the WNBA when they aren’t reaching those who do?

This game is more than just an outdoor basketball game. There are so many parallels between the accomplishments of Billie Jean King and women professional basketball players it isn’t even funny. The significance of playing on an outdoor court, in the sun on the streets of New York City can touch home for any baller, professional or otherwise.

It’s a game that will be fun to watch and even more fun to attend. I only wish the WNBA would have capitalized more on its potential.

Photo provided Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

The WNBA Outdoor Classic