Ventin' in Trenton
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- By Rebecca Lobo | March 31, 2009 3:15:17 PM PDT
I'll huff and I'll puff … The Arizona State women's basketball team uses performance coach Al Fuentes to help the team prepare for success. He works with the women on visualization exercises and breathing techniques. Danielle Orsillo said, "Breathing is one thing you can control. You can slow it down and recover faster." Orsillo said that she has struggled with asthma, and while she still has to take a few puffs of her inhaler before the games, the breathing techniques have almost cured it.... and I'll blow you away: Orsillo's older brother, Mark, has Down syndrome. Danielle's dream is to start a basketball camp for mentally disabled adults and she has already raised $4,000 toward that effort.Deb Antonelli, our ESPN analyst in the Trenton Regional, has a son, Frankie, who also has Down syndrome. "Frankie is 11 years old and in the fourth grade," Deb says. "He's smart, handsome, bright, funny, athletic, and happens to have Down syndrome."Shake, rattle and roll: Tiffany Hayes wears Diana Taurasi's No. 3 on her jersey and sometimes plays with a moxie reminiscent of the UConn great. After hitting a deep 3-pointer against Cal, Hayes did a little shoulder roll going back down the court. "I did that to entertain myself," she says. "I was actually nervous before the Cal game and did that to shake the jitters out."Adds Maya Moore: "Just the way Tiffany played got us excited. She made shot after shot, good decision after good decision. And her laughter shows her personality. I was glad to see that."Tweet 16: A member of the Twitterati asked me why I wasn't tweeting during the Louisville-Maryland game on Monday night. I explained to her I was watching it in a restaurant and didn't want to violate my first rule of Twitter etiquette: "It's rude to Tweet when out to eat."Paging Johnny Cochran. Your table is ready.
