1) stating that softball pitcher, Tincher, will have many more Olympic chances – doesn’t the reporter realize that softball is out of the Olympics after this year (unless a miracle happens and the Olympic Committee re-instates it – highly unlikely)?

2) comparing Hammon playing for Russia to Lee playing for Puerto Rico. The reporter states that Lee was born in PR; Hammon has no genealogical connection to Russia. Completely different situations.

3) stating that Hammon was passed over, year after year, for the US National Team and then stating that she received an invitation. So which is it?

4) stating that the US is no longer at war with Russia, so that makes it ok? What if Hammon agreed to play for Iraq, would it be a different situation and not ok?

I, too, am curious how the National Team is selected but I’m sure it has a lot to do with the coaches determining what kind of system they’d like to run and who fits in best with that style. I’m sure politics plays into it (as it does everywhere). However, it sounds like the team invited Hammon to try out but *she* passed on them. Hammon is a big draw wherever she goes not to mention a fantastic basketballer (and her’s is one of the most compelling women’s b-ball stories), it would make sense for her to be on the team. Except perhaps the US wants to play a run-and-gun style in which case there might be point guards that fit better into that.

Why do women’s basketball players end up in foreign countries to begin with? If you ask me, it’s because the WNBA pays diddly-squat and plays in the summer which opens up players’ schedules to play for foreign leagues during the normal basketball season (to what harm to the athlete?). I feel the WNBA is partly to blame for this situation.