Astros to Honor Comets August 4

UPDATE, June 1, 10:00 a.m. -- Astros' sales ticket representative, Cody Arnold, confirmed the Astros are indeed holding a "Houston Comets Night" on August 4. Arnold said the Astros are "working on solidifying a few ex-players to attend; but, we haven't confirmed any of that, yet. We're trying to get everyone to come to the game and remember the Comets."  

HOUSTON, TX -- According to this message board post, the Houston Astros (Major League Baseball team for those who may not know) will "be celebrating the Houston Comets and their four WNBA championships", August 4th, versus the San Francisco Giants, at Minute Maid Park.

The opening pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. (CDT).

For more information regarding your special night, please contact Cody Arnold at 713-259-8315 or Rob Acord 713-259-8337.

The Astros are currently in last place in the MLB's Central Division with a woeful 18-27 record; so, any Comets fans who wish to show their support of their favorite team may have an excellent chance to purchase tickets to the game.

Another Comets' Coach Sues WNBA

Despite the fact the Houston Comets have been disbanded by the WNBA, that news does not mean the WNBA is done dealing with the coaches of the Comets.

Former Comets assistant coach Ryan Weisenberg has filed a suit with the Harris County District Court against the WNBA.

Weisenberg is suing for fraud, claiming that despite the WNBA's knowing the Comets would be shut down, they told the coaches differently.

Weisenberg's suit is the second suit against the W filed by a member of the Comets' coaching staff. Head coach Karleen Thompson filed a suit in New York federal court in February.

These two suits seem to indicate there's some "smoke" (and fire) to what I was told by numerous basksetball people months ago -- the Comets would be playing in Houston in 2009. 

Houston's Curl Says UH has Scholarship Back

HOUSTON, TX -- I spoke with Houston Cougars women's head basketball coach Joe Curl this morning to get his comments on the recent Houston Chronicle blog post by Steve Campbell stating the UH's women's basketball program was losing a scholarship due to failing to meet the NCAA's mandated Academic Progress Report (APR) standards.

"We've regained our scholarship," said Coach Curl. "We're sitting above the APR quota right now. We haven't lost any players for any negative reasons or player handbook violations; so, we've got our full complement of scholarships back.

"Addressing the APR as direct as I can," Curl added. "I think, overall, it's a good, healthy rule. But, it doesn't explain the second half of the APR when it comes to explain why a coach or a university opts not to bring back a player because they had stolen something or they didn't go to class or they weren't representing the university in the right way or they had some other problems legally -- and so on and so forth."

Listen to the entire interview here.

Comets Find New Places to Play

Not much to add to this Houston Chronicle article:

"After franchise's end, Comets find new places to play"

The 2009 WNBA season tips off June 6.

WNBA in HD

Check out this news from the WNBA:

For the first time ever, every regular and postseason WNBA game will be televised in high definition on ESPN2 HD and ABC HD. The networks will combine to televise 13 regular-season WNBA games, the WNBA All-Star game, and up to 15 postseason telecasts, starting with the defending champion Detroit Shock at the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday, June 6, at 1:30 pm (CDT) on ABC.

USA Basketball Trims Two Squads to 14

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- USA Basketball today announced 14 finalists for two squads set to represent the USA in international competition this summer.

The 2009 USA Women's World University Games Team will compete in Belgrade, Serbia, in the 2009 World University Games which take place July 1 through July 11. The squad consists of eligible athletes who are currently enrolled in a college or a university and have remaining athletic eligibility. The roster will be trimmed to the final 12 before the team departs for Serbia following a training camp (June 18 - June 25).

The Big 12 Conference has three players among the 14: Whitney Hand and Danielle Robinson -- both from Oklahoma and Danielle McCray from Kansas.

Overall, the 14 players hail from Connecticut (3, Maya Moore, Tina Charles, and Tiffany Hayes); Stanford (3, Jayne Appel, Kayla Pedersen, and Jeanette Pohlen); 2 from OU (Hand and Robinson); and one each from California (Alexis Gray-Lawson), Florida State (Jacinta Monroe), Georgia (Ashley Houts), Kansas (McCray), Ohio State (Jantel Lavender) and Xavier (Ta'Shia Phillips).

The 2009 USA Women's U19 World Championship Team will compete in the 2009 U19 World Championship which take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from July 23 to August 2. The final 12-player roster will be named after a training camp session which will begin July 9 in Colorado Springs.

The 14 players feature eight players who just completed their freshman seasons at Division I basketball while the other six players finished their high school careers this year.

WNBA Expect Great

Sunday, May 17, the WNBA will start airing two thirty-second ads during the NBA Playoffs to promote the upcoming 2009 WNBA season. The ads will air throughout the NBA Conference Finals; the NBA Finals; and the WNBA season.

Take a look.

2009 TV spot #1

2009 TV spot #2

How ironic these spots will begin airing during the Houston Rockets - LA Lakers game -- a game involving a team from Houston promoting the WNBA with no more Houston Comets.

W to Webcast More than 200 Games this Season

The WNBA announced the launch of WNBA LiveAccess today. This is a new feature on WNBA.com which will provide fans with FREE access to more than 200 live game webcasts -- the league's most comprehensive offering -- throughout the 2009 WNBA season.

Some blackouts of live games will apply; but, all of the WNBA LiveAccess games will be archived for on-demand viewing.