[Viking_Guy]

Sorry about my faulty memory.  Val had played professionally in Italy, I believe, not the ABL, prior to the 1996 Olympics.  But she was the first alternate left out of the team for Lobo, who rarely played.

Tara did a wonderful job of managing some conflicting personalities on that team (I read several books on the team, and the player sources that each author was using strongly influenced their stories).  Dawn was amazing, and in some ways I think the most similar to Tara in her intensity about the game.  And given the national teams' bronze finishes in 1992 and at the Worlds in 1994, Tara and the players' dedication really paid off, and has kept paying off.

And oh how I wish the ABL had been the model for a successful league, rather than as an NBA organizational add-on.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Sorry about my faulty memory.  Val had played professionally in Italy, I believe, not the ABL, prior to the 1996 Olympics.  But she was the first alternate left out of the team for Lobo, who rarely played.

Tara did a wonderful job of managing some conflicting personalities on that team (I read several books on the team, and the player sources that each author was using strongly influenced their stories).  Dawn was amazing, and in some ways I think the most similar to Tara in her intensity about the game.  And given the national teams' bronze finishes in 1992 and at the Worlds in 1994, Tara and the players' dedication really paid off, and has kept paying off.

And oh how I wish the ABL had been the model for a successful league, rather than as an NBA organizational add-on.

VG