There's nothing like standing out on the empty floor of a major sports arena knowing you have no clue what you're doing.
I was one of those kids who was humiliated on the basketball court. I had no idea how to play, but I was forced in gym class to compete with girls on the basketball team. Two decades later, I'm still just getting over it -- just in time to take to the hardwood with the L.A. Sparks WNBA team.
I warmed up with help from Bob Dominguez, the strength and conditioning coach for the Sparks, who made me sprint, stretch and sprint some more. It was a tough drill that got my heart racing.
Sparks assistant coach Margaret Moore worked through some dribbling drills with me and News & Notes executive producer Nicole Childers. Dribbling is to basketball what kicking is to soccer -- Moore taught me a controlled dribble and the speed dribble.
My head-to-head match with Lisa Willis, a rookie guard for the Sparks, proved I didn't have mad skills. But at the end of the shootout, everyone was a winner -- except my knees, which were killing me.
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