This is about us

As the pre-season ends and my first Pac-10 trip looms for this week, it seems timely to tell you readers who I am and the goal of this blog—i.e., to start at the beginning:

When the Fast Break Club organized in 1992, I volunteered to be a member of the Executive Board and chair the Fundraising Committee. Over the past 14 years, I have been active in fundraising and membership activities. I have also attended most of the Stanford games, both at home and away, and many of the NCAA Final Fours.

During the late 1990’s I decided to write a book about the wonderful experiences I had meeting and working with our FBC boosters and the coaches. In late 2003 this book, Boosters Always Win!, was published, with an introduction from Tara and back cover endorsements from Ann Meyers Drysdale, Kate Starbird, and Pat Summitt.

In writing the book, I interviewed nearly 100 fans (mostly Stanford, but other teams as well), coaches, and players. One of my favorite questions—and I devoted a chapter to it—was related to the attraction of women’s basketball to its followers. High on the list of answers was “comaraderie.” Sports are well documented to bring people together and provide a sense of community and belonging. Not all sports crowds are created equal, however, and women’s basketball fans like to be with other women’s basketball fans.

Thus, the goal of this blog, “My Week,” is to talk about our women's basketball community. If you have a story to tell for this topic, please let me know.

I will occasionally need to call a time-out from writing when life gets overwhelming, as it did a couple weeks ago. I will also have scheduled time-outs, and the first of these will be next week while I’m in southern California away from my computer.

Have a good holiday; I’ll write again in January.

(above photo of me by Barbara Ries Photography)