Catching up with Mechelle:

While pondering how to celebrate Title IX's 37th birthday, MV has a a flashback that makes her cranky: Keep on throwing and catching, Jody

I never watched this “Girl With Something Extra” show when it was on – not a lot of people did, as it was cancelled after one season – but several years later, I was channel surfing and came across a re-run. And, wow, did it TICK ME OFF.

Read the synopsis and, um, see if you can guess why:

Sally’s tomboy niece is having trouble relating to old-fashioned John. She likes football, but he prefers girls who wear dresses.

The name of the episode was, “Sugar and Spice and Quarterback Sneak” and it originally aired on Nov. 30, 1973. Had I seen it then, when I was an 8-year-old football fanatic, my head might have exploded in rage. As it was, coming across it accidentally when I was 22, I felt like punching a wall.

On Epiph's exit:

A lot of folks have weighed in on Prince’s decision, which seems mainly motivated by the desire to improve her family’s living situation. But no one who watched Rutgers this past season could have failed to notice the refrigerator that Prince was carrying on her back. With a leader like Essence Carson gone, senior Kia Vaughn in her on-again-off-again funk, and a bunch of what-the-hell-are-we-doing freshmen running around, a big burden was on Prince.

Maybe she was ready to be relieved of that, which was the accelerant on the already existing fire to start earning money sooner rather than later.

I won’t pretend to put myself in Prince’s shoes, as I never felt any financial responsibility when I was 21. All I was worried about was graduating from college on time (as long as that didn’t interfere with my TV obligations like Creature Feature). I figured once I finished school, then I’d start thinking about getting a job.

But where I’m concerned for Prince’s sake is hoping she doesn’t end up regretting this decision. She won’t have a senior night at Rutgers, won’t have another Big East tournament or NCAA tournament, won’t have that one last chance – however elusive it may seem – at a national championship.

And finally: Soccer fever: Was it really a decade ago?

It was hours before the United States’ opening match of the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, but many of us sportswriters were already there in the press box. We had been told the place would be packed, so we’d better not risk getting stuck in traffic.

Instead, we risked getting an ‘N Sync song stuck in our heads.

“But when we are apart, I feel it too …”

’N Sync was going to perform at halftime of the U.S.-Denmark match, and someone in the press box who had a daughter suggested that this was truly a day straight out of heaven for thousands of tween-and-younger girls. There would be nearly 79,000 people at Giants Stadium that day, and a good many of them would be screaming their little pig-tailed heads off.

And it occurred to me that I was, indeed, going to be seeing something rather different this afternoon. Kids going crazy with glee watching “girls” play sports and “boys” sing and dance. Interesting …

I'm reminded of that day in Giants Stadium every time I look at the World Cup banner hanging on my bathroom wall. And yes, I kept the ticket stub.