Lisa Leslie

Somewhere between the mashed carrots and mixed vegetables, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker began to sense it. Leslie, the Sparks' three-time league most valuable player, and Parker, the team's highly acclaimed rookie, were in a South Bay grocery store shopping for Mother's Day cards and baby food. And then it happened. Next thing they knew, they were holding an impromptu autograph session in Aisle 2.

WASHINGTON -- Candace Parker was 10 years old when she watched Lisa Leslie win her first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. Twelve years later, Parker gets a chance to help her Sparks teammate win an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold in the Beijing Olympics. "I was sitting on my couch watching the 1996 Olympics with tears in my eyes saying I'm going to be there one day," Parker said. They were two of the nine players placed on the U.S. women's basketball team Saturday.

A wounded knee couldn't bury a champion's heart. ... "Great fight," Tiger Woods said. ... Great theater too. ... Monday's drama at Torrey Pines, with 24,000 golf fans ditching work to line the fairways and Rocco Mediate refusing to fold, made you wonder why the other majors don't embrace 18-hole playoffs. ... At the Masters, sudden death is used to break ties. ...

Playing Chicago without center Sylvia Fowles, the Sparks used a height advantage at every frontcourt position and dominated the Sky inside to win their fourth game in a row, 80-67, on Wednesday night at Staples Center. Fowles, a 6-foot-6 rookie from Louisiana State, was the team's second leading rebounder before sitting out the last four games because of a sprained knee. She played the last time the Sky and Sparks met, a game the Sparks won, 81-77, in overtime.

It was a long wait. Candace Parker's dunk Sunday against the Indiana Fever gave Sparks teammate Lisa Leslie some company, at last, in their select group: women who have dunked in a WNBA game. It only took six years. But if you ask Parker, who stuffed it in the last minute of the Sparks' 77-63 victory, she says it shouldn't take long for someone else to join them.

There aren't enough hours in the day for Lisa Leslie to accomplish all she wants to do. Naps have become a fond memory since she gave birth to her daughter, Lauren, on June 15, 2007. So meticulous about her appearance that she wears makeup during games, she no longer has time to get her hair done, have her nails polished, get a massage. But one recent day she stayed on the court long after the Sparks' practice had ended, tutoring teammate Jessica Moore on the fine points of rebounding.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Lindsay Whalen scored 13 of her 22 points in the third quarter and the Connecticut Sun beat the short-handed Sparks, 87-61, Thursday night. The Sparks were without Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones, all of whom were all suspended for one game by the WNBA for their involvement in Tuesday's altercation with the Detroit Shock. The three Olympians combined to average 48 points and 24 rebounds.

The WNBA suspended five Sparks players, including Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie, and five Detroit Shock players and assistant coach Rick Mahorn Thursday for their involvement in an on-court fight in Tuesday's game. As a result, the Sparks were without four starters, including Olympians Parker, Leslie and DeLisha Milton-Jones for their game against the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Sparks lost, 87-61, to the Sun.

NEW YORK -- The Sparks got Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and DeLisha Milton-Jones back from their one-game suspensions but still lost to the New York Liberty, 69-68, Friday at Madison Square Garden. The Sparks came back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter before Janel McCarville's layup with 6.4 seconds left lifted the Liberty (14-10). Leslie, Parker and Milton-Jones -- the Sparks' three U.S.

BEIJING -- The U.S. women's basketball team spent part of today touring the Great Wall. In the specific universe that is women's basketball, Lisa Leslie is a similar institution. The four-time Olympian and team captain suffered a minor left hip injury in the Americans' Friday night victory over Spain. Given that a lead shriveled quickly as she briefly exited to attend to the injury, Coach Anne Donovan wants no part in imagining life without Leslie. More proof of Leslie's influence?