For years, I have been a HUGE fan of one of our local sports celebrities, Jackie Stiles. If you don't know who Jackie Stiles is, you can get a quick briefing at Wikipedia.Now that we're all caught up let's continue. I was thrilled when I came across an article a few minutes ago that stated Jackie is giving basketball another shot. Check out the interview here at STLToday.com.
Since Jackie's first season in the WNBA, she has undergone 13 surgeries and has dealt with continous pain and very limited range of motion. When part of her physical therapy involved cycling, she realized that was one of the few things she could do pain free. With her usual competitive nature, she threw herself into cycling last year and was actually making a real big name for herself in that sport. But as much as she enjoyed it, cycling couldn't make her as happy as basketball did. Luckily, this past June, she was introduced to a new kind of physical therapy that in just a few short months has finally knocked down a lot of her pain and improved her range of motion pretty drastically. So, it's off to Australia to play in their women's league. Actually, the Australian league started a few weeks ago. But Jackie will not be joining them until early November. Jackie had a previous committment that she did not want to cancel. Today, she will be inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference's Hall of Fame as part of the conference's 100th anniversary gala.
And now you really don't have to read the article because I got a bit carried away and basically told you everything it says.
There's also an article and interview in the Springfield News-Leader.
And while we're on the subject of the News-Leader, here are two funny headlines I found on their website this morning:
• Pitt's 'Hungry Bum' brings levity to set (thought 'bum' meant 'behind' or 'backside' - now I get it though)
• Ugly bulldog proves sister has gone totally crazy
10 comments:
AWESOME. This is why I love your blog. I would have missed this article.
P.S. I have a Jackie Stiles t-shirt sold on the night she broke the All Time Scoring record.
It's a large... with the tags still on it... and it is very much for sale. ;)
really, but does it mention the date and the record - I need more specifics.
It says,
"NCAA Division I Women's Basketball All Time Scorer!
Jackie Stiles
3,123 points... and counting!
It has her picture on the front and Stiles 10 on the back. No date. They made them ahead of time probably didn't want to guess a date when printing so many shirts.
Jackie Stiles annoys me. She isn't even from here...
And the reason she ended up not continuing her career in the WNBA is because she realized she was a nobody when she hit the national spectrum. There's a considerable difference from Div I-AA to professional ball and she wasn't prepared.
You're free to be annoyed. But your reasoning seems a little off.
Very few people in Springfield are "from here." It's a college town. We come and go. I'm not "from here" I moved here 11 years ago to attend college. We stayed because we love Springfield. I'll probably move a few years because of the Army. And yet, Springfield will always be our home.
From here? That seems silly. The great thing about Springfield is how we welcome students from all over the world. Besides, Kansas isn't so far away...
"a nobody when she hit the national spectrum"?
She was rookie of the year! The reason she didn't continue her career was because she needed so many surgeries. She overworked herself while in college and wore her body out. She didn't continue in the WNBA because she worked too hard earlier.
Thank you, Amy. I wanted to respond but I was afraid of what I might say, you did an excellent job.
I've got your back. ;)
lol
Hi Rosey,
I'm from Canberra, capital of Australia and home of the Canberra Capitals, who welcomed Jackie Stiles to the playing roster last Saturday. She only had 7 minutes on court and scored one point.
Below is a link to a match report in which you will see a photo of Jackie.
http://www.wnbl.com.au/powered_by_INTERFUSE/fs_newsitem.asp?id=2017
I am a big basketball fan and I am also very lucky to work in an Australian Government department with Kellie Abrams, the captain of the Capitals and one of Jackie's new team mates. I really hope her career can take off again with the Capitals.
The articles on Jackie you provided links to were very interesting.
cheers, David
Awesome! Thanks David.
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