Steve Kelley

TUKWILA, Wash. -- Roger Levesque didn't know much about Osvaldo Alonso the first time they met on a soccer field in 2008.

Levesque was playing for the USL Sounders, and Alonso was with the Charleston Battery. Levesque was aware that Charleston had a talented, young midfielder from Cuba, but it wasn't like he was given a stack of game tapes of Alonso to study before the game.

SEATTLE -- Sue Bird is in the eye of the hurricane.

As she races to the top of the key, keeping her dribble alive, keeping her head up and allowing her eyes to scan the frontcourt, the hoop computer in her head assesses the possibilities.

She can square up and quick-trigger a jumper. She can run off a screen and decide whether to drive, pass or shoot. She can fire a pass to Swin Cash or Katie Smith curling around a pick.

SEATTLE -- Awkwardly navigating on a pair of metallic red crutches, Seattle Storm center Lauren Jackson hobbled onto the floor, under the KeyArena spotlight during Tuesday afternoon's player introductions.

And watching her stand uncomfortably during the national anthem before her team's 79-71 win over Washington, I couldn't help thinking how unfair sports can be.

For the third time in the past four years Jackson is out of the lineup, after suffering a torn labrum and undergoing surgery June 30 on her left hip.

SEATTLE -- Two bags were packed as Keith Miller waited for the phone call from the Denver Broncos. If they invited him to training camp in Greeley, Colo., Miller was taking one bag and heading west.

If Denver decided against signing him, Miller was leaving Minneapolis and heading east, to the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Hancock, Mich., where, after a successful audition, he was invited to make his professional singing debut.

Miller liked his chances with the Broncos. A former fullback at Colorado, he had played in the XFL and in the Arena League. He worked out for both Denver and Oakland, and believed he'd made an impression on the Broncos.

SEATTLE -- That moment before the opening bell on a mega boxing night--when the seconds have climbed out of the ring and the only men standing are the two fighters and the referee--is one of the most charged moments in sports.

As a spectator you can sense the electricity in the building and you feel a combination of thrills and guilt. You're about to watch two men try to knock each other unconscious. You understand the dangers they face, the potential long-term brain injuries, even death.

And still, you feel your pulse racing and you fight the urge to stand.

SEATTLE -- I grew up in a white-bread world. There was only one African-American family in my neighborhood. My elementary, junior and senior high schools were predominantly white.

If it hadn't been for basketball, I would have had no understanding of diversity, outside of the few pages devoted to black leaders in my history books.

Without basketball, I wouldn't have had any shared experiences with the black community. My life wouldn't have been nearly as rich.

TUKWILA, Wash. -- The fever wouldn't break and the violence of the vomiting was frightening. For the second time in his young life, teenager Sanna Nyassi had contracted malaria and this time he thought he was going to die.