Slam-ela Anderson

Yup. It happened. Candace Parker of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols threw down, not one, but two dunks in an NCAA Tournament game against Army. Oh shit!

Parker has been known to dunk for some time, and people have been waiting for this moment with great anticipation. A woman dunking in an actual basketball game, against human players, with arms and legs, is like Kobe's 81 point game. People lose their minds and rub their eyes and talk about it all week at the water cooler. Hell, I'm actually blogging about women's basketball today. That ought to tell you something.

I don't mind women's basketball as much as a lot of other guys. I don't expect to see the same kind of explosive athletic ability when I watch, and I can enjoy the team concept. I'm not saying that I could actually follow a team for an entire season, or spend a Saturday afternoon in front of the TV glued to the WNBA. Shudder. It takes cheerleaders dunking off trampolines to get most guys to pay attention to women and hoops at the same time.

But, there it is. The dunks that have us all talking. The first one was a facial by women's standards, as there was actually a defender involved in the play. The second dunk was in traffic too, but it was weak. Just because the person heading above the rim doesn't have a penis, it doesn't mean I have to think it's a good dunk.

The reason this is such a big deal is that only 3 women before her had actually dunked in a game. We've basically had one dunk per decade in women's hoops, so it's kind of like actually getting a decent Super Bowl in terms of frequency. Let's take a look at the pioneers of the Ladies Dunk.

1. 6'7" Georgeann Wells of the University of West Virginia Lady Mountaineers made history in December of 1984 by throwing down a dunk in competition. As the story goes, the game was played in Elkin, West Virginia's National Guard Armory during the Mountaineer Christmas Classic against Davis & Elkins College. Thrilling. She did it again once that season.

2. Charlotte Smith of the University of North Carolina, who is now an assistant coach at her alma mater pulled off the feat 10 years later. In 1994, Charlotte pulled off the "girl dunk" and wowed America all over again. She will always be remembered for her miracle shot against Lousiana Tech in the 1994 NCAA Tournament to give her team the victory 60-59. That is far more impressive to me, but whatever floats your boat.

3. July 30th, 2002. Lisa Leslie of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks finally gets her dunk. For years people talked about Leslie's chance to throw down in a professional game, and she gave her fans something to talk about. Leslie scored 101 points in the first half of a high school game, and had been a superstar in the women's basketball world for a very long time before her dunk. The dunk capped things off for her, and she went on to lead the Sparks to a second consecutive championship that year as well.

4. Michelle Snow, 6'5" Center for the Tennessee Lady Vols threw down a sick dunk in the Maui Invitational in 2004. She stole the ball, ran the break, and woofed a dunk with legs dangling underneath her. The picture says it all. That's a dunk! None of this lay it over the rim, George Mikan business. Michelle went on to dunk 2 more times in her collegiate career, and sparked the serious debate about whether it's good for the game or not. Gino Auriemma and John Wooden both chimed in to say they didn't like it. Waaaaaaaaah!!! Waaaaaaaaah!! Which is better, obsolete sport or 10 year old girls everywhere in the world challenging themselves to be stronger, faster, and better? Thank you.

That brings us to Candace Parker. The debate is going to start again, and you'll hear plenty about how the women's game isn't about dunking. Blah. Blah. Blah. It's not like you're going to see players on every team suddenly jump out of the gym like David Thompson, just because the taboo is broken or something. Eventually, I expect to see more players able to do what Candace Parker did against Army, but it's not the mens game and you're not likely to see any women busting out the 1988 Dominique Wilkins moves anytime soon, even if you see a women's player actually named Dominique.