By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
The children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School won't be returning to classes for another week, but officials from the town, school district and local agencies are doing their best in the meantime to keep them occupied following a massacre at their school two weeks ago.
Mike Thibault, who led the Connecticut Sun to eight playoff appearances but no WNBA championships in his 10 seasons, was fired by the team on Tuesday.
It's been a difficult time of late for the Washington Mystics, who went 0-3 on the road last week against Indiana, Atlanta and New York. Their homecoming present was no gift either, a matchup with the Eastern Conference leading Connecticut Sun.
Expected to dominate, they did.
The United States won its first gold medal in women's water polo, getting five goals from Maggie Steffens and a sterling performance from goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong en route to an 8-5 win over Spain on Thursday.
Coach Geno Auriemma is looking for little ways to improve an already dominant U.S.women's basketball team.
Tina Charles and Candace Parker each had double-doubles and Angel McCoughtry provided a spark off the bench to help the U.S. women's team overcome a sloppy performance Saturday to beat Croatia 81-56 in their Olympic opener.
The Connecticut Sun honored their two Olympians, Asjha Jones and Tina Charles, after Wednesday night's final home game before the London Games.
Asjha Jones tied her season-high with 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Tina Charles added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the Connecticut Sun cruised to a 77-64 victory over the Washington Mystics Friday night.
Tina Charles had 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics 94-86 on Sunday.
There isn't a likely franchise player in WNBA draft on Monday, such as Candace Parker, Angel McCoughtry, Tina Charles and Maya Moore _ the No. 1 picks the last four years.
Tina Charles' 28 points weren't enough to help the United States overcome too many turnovers in a 83-77 loss to 2011 Czech League champion USK Prague on Saturday.
Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles was selected the WNBA's defensive player of the year for the first time on Thursday.
Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever has been selected the WNBA's most valuable player for the first time.
One down, one to go for Tamika Catchings.
"Coach definitely put an emphasis of getting on the offensive boards," said Charles, who grabbed 15 rebounds and had 16 points. "We got to keep doing that."
Angel McCoughtry scored 18 points and Tina Charles added 16 to lead the United States to an 89-58 victory over Turkey on Wednesday night.
