Over the weekend I read an article titled: "Five Reasons to Believe Women Will Play in the NBA". While the WNBA has struggled to receive national notoriety, respect and fan support, I will admit it is somewhat encouraging to hear NBA commissioner David Stern give women's basketball players respect saying, "sure, I think that's well within the range of probability," regarding women playing in the NBA. Even Dirk Nowitski weighed-in on the subject stating, "Skills-wise, yeah, but physical-wise, it's tough…" At the same token, however, it baffles me that women's basketball players must constantly be compared to men, the WNBA compared to the NBA. It's almost as if we must be able to compete with the men in order to be validated as professional athletes.

I suppose I take issue with this because in no other sport are women constantly compared to their male counterparts. Allison Felix isn't invalidated because she isn't as fast as Usain Bolt. Serena Williams isn't constantly being compared to Roger Federer. Beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor isn't encouraged to go against Phil Dalhausser in order to see if she's really got the goods. Only in basketball are we constantly compared to men. My question is why? Why can't we just be who we are, the best women's basketball players in the world? 

Our history of playing basketball is as old as the history of basketball itself, and yet, we've had a rocky road claiming our place in the sports landscape. Here's a truncated version of our journey.

When we think of Thanksgiving, immediately images of families feasting fill our heads. Although many will loosen their belts to accommodate ample servings, the holiday is special because of the families and friends coming together to contribute to this feast in a "potluck" fashion. It is a time of community and celebration.

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season in a wonderful way. Before our children begin to make their Christmas lists of wants from Santa, they have an opportunity to list what they are already thankful for. As parents, we are also in this inspiring position. As the stress of the financial strain of the holiday season begins to set-in, we may evaluate all that is good in our lives, and maybe some of the blessings that we take for granted on a daily basis.

Although Thanksgiving inspires this mood, giving thanks, or showing gratitude should be focused upon more than just one time of year. Psychological research shows that those that express gratitude tend to be happier, more optimistic and more successful in achieving goals (Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness).

As a parents, this information is profound, because we may help foster happiness, optimism and achievement in our children by assisting them in practicing gratitude on a regular basis. Thanksgiving may mark the beginning of this practice, and hopefully, it may become a regular exercise in which your family may participate together.

Personally, after becoming aware of this research, I decided to take time once or twice or week to document something that I am grateful for. I realized that a few of the difficult issues I was dealing with seemed to have less of a negative impact, and even my perspective on these situations changed.

I am grateful for so many things in my life including:

• Knowing and loving God.
• My loving family--my mother and father, sister Tres and brother Stephen, my fiancé Rock, and my wonderful daughter, BreAzia.
• My health--I have degenerative arthritis in my knees, but by the grace of God, I am still playing professional basketball at a high level.
• Good friends--those that I grew up with that have stayed the course, although I am always gone playing basketball worldwide, teammates and former teammates that I have gained a special bond with, and online friends that I have come to know through Twitter, Facebook and SPSN.
• A sense of purpose--I am a passionate person, and I appreciate being able to work in fields that I am extremely passionate about like playing basketball and winning championships and developing and running Super Parenting LLC.

I would love to hear some of the things that you are thankful for in the comments. Remember research shows you'll be happier for it. LOL

Take care, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's my 1st official OlympiaHoops Wallpaper for download! For true OlympiaHoops fans only, LOL! If you would like to show your support for OlympiaHoops.com, or me, Olympia Scott, you can set your computer screen background image to the new Olympia Hoops Wallpaper. In order to use the it, first, click the link at the end of this post to save it to your computer.

Windows users: Once you save the image to your computer, right-click it, and choose "Set as Desktop Background".

Mac OS X users: Click here for detailed instructions to set your desktop background.

Here's a preview of the download:

Download Olympia Hoops Wallpaper

And the celebration continues. The President’s Cup was indeed a great accomplishment, and since we won in Ankara, Turkey and not in Mersin, we had a pre-game trophy presentation for the fans and city of Mersin to enjoy. We turned down the lights, dropped confetti and ran in as we were individually announced and given flowers. The fans were amazing and we shared the trophy with them by parading it around the arena for them to touch.

After all of the hoopla, it was time for us to play our first regular season game. We won 78-58 vs. Kocaeli, an Istanbul team that just moved into the 1st Division this season. For game stats click  here.

I am so very proud to announce that last night, 10/21/09, my basketball team, Mersin Buyuksehir Bld. won the President’s Cup for the first time in history beating Fenerbahce 86-74! The President’s Cup is a huge game to start the Turkish Basketball season between the previous season’s 1st and 2nd place teams. Since we made history last year by taking Mersin to the finals for the 1st time, this was also a historic 1st appearance in the President’s Cup.

Upon arrival in Mersin this year, each player was aware of the magnitude of this game. We were swept in the finals last year, and felt as if we had something to prove. Also, Fenerbahce is the proverbial giant in Turkey because of their huge budget, tendency to keep the same core group of players each season and their dominance in the Turkish league year in and year out. We also really wanted to win because we understood that our coach and organization hand picked each of us, including the returning players, as the personnel that would be able to accomplish the huge task of taking down this giant.

I’m excited to be back in Mersin, Turkey playing for Mersin Buyuksehir Belediye Sport Club for another season. Last year, although we fell short of our ultimate dream of winning the Turkish Championship, the organization, city, fans, and the team were overjoyed that we came so close by taking 2nd place. Yes we were pleased with making history for the team, but we definitely weren’t satisfied. At least I wasn’t satisfied. That’s a big reason I’m back. To finish what was started last year, a journey to win it all!

So far, I’ve been here 2 weeks, enough time to get settled-in and to play 4 preseason games. Our team won the Botas Cup in Adana, Turkey, even though we clearly looked like a new team. The Americans on our team are: Barbara Turner, Erlana Larkins, Ivory Latta, Cori Enghusen and myself. Barbara, Cori and I were able to practice together for a week before the Botas tourney, while Erlana only had 1 practice, Ivory, 0. Needless to say, the chemistry wasn’t quite there yet, but the potential has me bubbling over. I know our coach and organization created this team with one thing in mind, winning the Turkish Championship, and I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Personally, I played OK. I was glad that each game was a progression from the last. The first game I had 6 points and 9 rebounds. The 4th and final game I had 19 points and 14 rebounds. The good thing about our team, similar to last year, is that each game, there will be different people leading the charge. This will make us a tough match for many teams.

We’ll host a Mersin tournament on Oct. 12th-16th. Another opportunity to flex our skills against different opponents. I’m looking forward to it, just like I look forward to practice everyday (except the 12 minute warm-up run LOL), because it’s another opportunity for us to grow into the team we are here to become.