Articles + Interviews
Sports Leadership students learn realities of life from annual ‘Baggage’ project
From ‘Hashtags’ to ‘Baggage’, Sports Leadership students learn realities of life by sharing their harbored throughs in a mental health essay
RANKS: Empire State of Mind for No. 1 New York
New York takes over the top spot this week after handing Connecticut its first loss of the season, while two-time defending champion Las Vegas plummets into the bottom half of the rankings.
RANKS: Top 4 look the same, but in different order
Three teams went undefeated last week, including top-ranked Connecticut (8-0), which remains undefeated after winning all three of its games. The Sun remain No. 1, but 2-4 have changed once again.
NOTES: VanDerveer’s impact carries into WNBA
Of the 12 teams in the WNBA, Stanford is represented on six of the teams, with seven active players who played under former coach Tara VanDerveer, the all-time winningest basketball coach for both men and women.
RANKS: Sun rise, Lynx prowl, Aces drop…
Time to shake up the power rankings for Week 3, as the Connecticut Sun are the only unbeaten team in the WNBA, but where does that leave the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces?
The existence of mental health issues in the WNBA
The WNBA is a heavy dose of reality and can certainly interfere with the elation rookies feel after achieving their dream of making it to the league. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but sustaining cerebral durability for the next four or five months is a challenge they acknowledge they're up against.
NOTES: WNBA rookie class living up to its billing
The 2024 WNBA rookie class has quickly lived up to its billing after the first week of the regular season.
RANKS: Solid camp helps Lynx open season 2-0
POWER RANKINGS: The top three in this week’s WNBA power rankings. From there, there was plenty of movement with one team making the biggest jump to No. 4 after a 2-0 start.
NOTES: Athletes Unlimited well represented in WNBA
Of the 41 players who competed at some point during the 2024 Athletes Unlimited season, 18 are set to begin with WNBA teams when the season tips off Tuesday.
RANKS: Defending champs open season atop WNBA
POWER RANKINGS: There's no question which team is No. 1 coming into the season. But who follows the Las Vegas Aces in my first WNBA rankings of the season?
Sometimes believing in something deeper, is coping
I pay tribute to my own grandfather, Andrew E. Anka, and explain how I was able to transition from my pain of losing him while I was 23, to coping by looking at the next chapter of my life.
Hawley family isn’t coping; they endure
Brooke Hawley was one of three teenagers killed when a drunk driver slammed into their stopped car at a stoplight. A fourth teen survived. Life as the Hawley family knew it - full of laughter, and vibrancy, and energy, and wildness, and love, and camping, and hunting, and trips to their cabin - ended abruptly. The Hawley's nightmare continues.
Fleury has found peace since father’s passing
When Marc-Andre Fleury and I spoke in late February, he admitted it took some time to get used to playing games and not having his father to call. It was a tradition he enjoyed following games, be it directly afterward or the next day. It was something he looked forward to, quite frankly, any day of the week. Those normal everyday conversations fathers and sons have, Fleury doesn't anymore.
Lupo Masden: Saving lives, one at a time
Jody Lupo Masden and I met when she was in high school. I was covering a wide variety of community topics, and she was softball star at Bishop Gorman High School. Her parents, Joe and Sandy, are wonderful people I also became close with. Nearly 25 years later, Jody is an influential member of the Clark County Juvenile Probation Department, changing youths lives for the better, in some cases saving them. I spoke to Jody and her husband Aaron, also a juvenile probation officer, and how these kids are just as impactful as they are to them.
I was ready to check out from one of two places: Vegas, or life
How Las Vegas Aces guard Kayla McBride’s self-penned article in The Players’ Tribune helped one sports writer sit down and put his own journey with depression and suicidal thoughts into a column.
When love helps conquer tougher days
Shelby Estocado lost the use of her legs in a snowboarding accident. Molly Weikart suffers from anxiety attacks. The two fell in love in July and are “both learning off each other what it means to be with someone of a different disability.”
Mental Health does not discriminate
When it comes to mental health, everyone is equal. That includes three professional athletes who represent Las Vegas in respective sports: Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner, Las Vegas Aced guard Kayla McBride and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller.
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