In April, 2005 Christine Brennan wrote on the 25 anniversary of the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympics. The piece opens:

They are in their 40s now, the age when people tend to start celebrating anniversaries, if only this were one to celebrate. Why would they want to remember this? Why note the anniversary of something they were prevented from doing, the anniversary of the worst moment of their athletic lives?

Current talk of the Olympics and boycotts have raised some old ghosts, as Harvey Araton notes. He speaks with Carol Blazejowski and writes "Boycott Tarnishes Gold Medal Dreams."

“What I remember is that some of the players felt, Well, it’s tough luck, but I have to support my country,” Blazejowski said. “And others felt, I just spent all these years preparing to compete.”

And the high-scoring Jersey girl from little Montclair State, the one they reverently called the Blaze? “My reaction was more reality than apple pie and red, white and blue,” she said. “For me, it was about the years I’d put in. I did feel that we unfortunately were innocent victims.”

The humanist in me aches for their stifled dreams. The historian in me wonders what might have happened to professional basketball in the US if the team had been allowed to play. Consider the roster of the 1979 World Championship team.

Carol Blazejowski F Montclair State Col. Fairview, NJ
Barbara Brown C Stephen F. Austin State Dallas, TX
Denise Curry F 6 UCLA Davis, CA
Tara Heiss G Maryland Bethesda, MD
Kris Kirchner C Maryland New Providence, NJ
Nancy Lieberman F 5-10 Old Dominion Far Rockaway, NY
Ann Meyers G 5-9 UCLA La Habra, CA
Jill Rankin F 6-3 Wayland Baptist Col. Phillips, TX
Jackie Swaim C 6-1 Texas Jacksonville, TX
Jan Trombly F 6-0 Old Dominion Chazy, NY
Rosie Walker C 6-1 Stephen F. Austin State Emerson, AR
Holly Warlick G 5-6 Tennessee Knoxville, TN

Coaches: Pat Head, Betty Jo Crumm

FYI: In case you're wondering why Stephen F. players were included, just ask Jody Conradt about her early years at Texas when the Ladyjacks defeated the Longhorns in four out of five games from February 1980 to May 1981. "They were not 'like' institutions, but at that point in time, the teenie-weenies were better than the state schools," admitted Conradt with a smile.

There's a good article from 2005 "Facing SFA once meant plaing the elite in women's basketball. "When Gunter coached players such as Rosie Walker and Barbara Brown, SFA was ranked as high as No. 2 in The Associated Press poll in 1980."

And, if I can just make a plea: Sports Information Directors? Take a lesson from ODU and write up bios of your past greats. Google is only my friend when you bother to put up information I can access.

Oh, and I still hate the USA Basketball website. Hate. It.