We're in a sprint from baseball and football to basketball and hockey in sports, which leaves me even more disoriented than usual.

That's my excuse for a segmented version of our weekly rendezvous.

'RED' MASON'S INFLUENCE

It's been an historically successful season for the WNBA, which will crown a champion Sunday night in a best-of-five series finale between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty.

Attendance has soared and TV ratings are up, so much so that the league will switch to a best-of-seven format next season for its championship series like the NBA.

Current stars like rookie Caitlin Clark and league MVP A'ja Wilson deserve much credit for the league's rise in popularity. But I can't help but think of the pioneers of women's basketball, former players like Willa Faye "Red" Mason of Siloam Springs, who helped make it all possible.

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