If you live somewhere where women’s basketball is not dominant, you may be under the impression that there is only one tournament going on — the men’s. You’d be wrong.

Tonight, my UConn women are playing in Bridgeport, trying to make their way into the Final Four. Most of the other usual suspects have already been eliminated — Tennessee was eliminated earlier tonight — leaving UConn as the last bastion of an era of women’s basketball that seems to be coming to an end.

While I am saddened that the days where you could predict with some certainty that UConn or Tennessee (or both) would be in the finals have come to a close, I am not remotely upset to see some parity come to the game. It was great when my home team was automatically considered by every great high school player, but it’s even greater when they have slews of schools to choose from.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m still rooting for UConn to pull it off and win it all. I want great things for Annie, Barbara, Willnett, Ketia, Mel, and Charde (in Connecticut, you can refer to women players by their first names and everyone knows who you’re talking about). I want them to win the Big Dance. But how great is it that only two of the teams left (UConn and North Carolina) have ever won a national championship before?*

So, if you’re hankering for some great play, tune in ESPN-2 (if you have cable); if you want to tune in UConn’s game and you lack cable, hit WTIC or WHUS on the radio.

Go Huskies!

Update: (11:33) Duke eked it out in overtime. What a bummer.

* Duke has lost a NCAA final; LSU and Maryland both lost finals in the former iteration of the tournament run by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

What a great idea! Kids in the St. Louis area are doing a Read, Right, Run Marathon, wherein over six months they will have read 26 books, completed 26 good deeds, and run 26 miles.

What a creative way to get kids doing mitzvahs, reading, and getting exercise!

(Via BookMoot)

Seriously. Since Eric Mangini was named head of the New York Jets, I’ve been wondering when Sports Illustrated would do a story on the little liberal arts college with the big sports cred. The Hartford Courant is no Sports Illustrated, but at least someone is finally sitting up and taking notice: “Wesleyan Grads Excel — But In Professional Sports?”

For anyone who has ever been asked the question, “What are you going to do with a liberal arts degree?” we now have a pat answer: “Why, I’m going to coach a sports team at the pro level.”

Wesleyan University graduates Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini are the head coaches for the New England Patriots and the New York/Jersey Jets respectively and graduate Jed Hoyer is co-general manager for the Boston Red Sox.

Connecticut College alumna Anita DeFrantz is a 20-year veteran of the International Olympic Committee.

Sure, the old answer of “I’ll be able to do anything because a liberal arts education teaches one to think critically” still holds true. But don’t you think the annoying father of your high school pal will have his jaw will drop a bit more with your new answer?

Rumors have been flying for a while about who would replace Theo Epstein as the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.

Well, turns out the rumors are true: Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington have been named co-general managers.

Why is this weird or particularly noteworthy, you ask?

Because I actually know Jed Hoyer!

He and I worked at Wesleyan in the same division for a couple of years. We hardly knew each other well enough to have lunch, but we knew each other well enough for me to attend his farewell bash when he left the university to head up to Boston.

I guess it really is a small world.

And, for the record, that makes two Wesleyan alums heading up major New England sports teams. Wherefore art thou, Williams?

Dianna, my former Wesleyan officemate, runs her second marathon tomorrow. I will be frantically sewing up my knitting project, so I won’t be able to be there in person, but I’ll try to send umbrella-like thoughts to hang out over her head for the race. (And, Di, these will be big golf-sized umbrellas, not measly little umbrellas like I normally carry around.)

And I would be remiss if I didn’t offer good luck wishes, too, to her Running Chick pals, April-Anne and Michelle, who’ll be joining her for a slog through the rain. I don’t know you guys personally, but you make Di’s world a better one, so thanks and good luck tomorrow!

Di, you remain an inspiration to me (and probably many others who’d rather hang out inside where it’s comfortable):

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn,
You mean that it’s just my election,
To vote for a chance to be reborn.

Thanks for getting up off the couch and out the door on a regular basis, proving that it is all a matter of putting your mind to it. I’m not crazy enough to want to run foot races, but I definitely think of you when I’m out on the bike or Dance, Dance, Revolutioning in the living room.

Kick some butt tomorrow morning. I’ll be rooting for you to come up with a new personal best and to finish in the time you’re hoping for — and to cross the finish line with a smile.