Meant to post this yesterday -- the Times had a great pair of articles yesterday, Harvey Araton on Taurasi, and Viv Bernstein on Beard. Reading the latter today reinforces the feelings of sadness for Alana.

Araton also makes a few smart remarks about the women's tourney generally. He tells the critics of the site selection system to calm down, because he recognizes it for what it is: an "inevitable imperfection... designed to maximize attendance for a sport plagued by a wildly uneven fan base."

The implication -- rather than blaming the committee and the NCAA, we as fans need to recognize that we're part of the problem. Start with the man in the mirror...