JACKIE STILES WATCH: The Topeka Capital-Journal gives you the story of Jackie Stiles, the all-time NCAA basketball scoring leader, former WNBA rookie of the year and now an afterthought, taken by the Sparks in the Portland dispersal draft. An excerpt:

The dream went pro in the spring of 2001, when the Portland Fire made her the fourth pick in the WNBA draft. She received a two-year, $110,000 contract, and began her career as a professional without missing a step, averaging 15 points and becoming the league's rookie of the year.

But sometime during that first year, it all began to unravel. After the adrenaline wore off from a late-season game against the Los Angeles Sparks, Stiles noticed pain in her right wrist. A lot of pain. There were bone spurs and scar tissue and ligament damage and, well, "there was a lot wrong," she said.

She underwent surgery on Sept. 11, 2001, but it didn't take. She was damaged goods from the very start of the 2002 season. Her normal range of motion had been 90 degrees. After surgery, that was reduced to 40 degrees or less.

Her pristine jump shot lost its follow-through. She lost her edge.

"Mentally, I wanted to do everything, but, functionally, I just couldn't do it," she said. "The team expected me to score, and I had no idea where the ball was going when it left my hand."

Not much at all about Stiles in the LA Times, by the way, but you can't slam anybody too much for not caring about the WNBA. I say this a lot, but the WNBA has got to cultify itself if it's going to survive. Which is probably their only choice at this point; the mass-marketing has clearly failed.