This is where you'll find Ruben's stained and cynical outlook on everything from Yak-riding races to Pacific Northwest Lumberjack competitions. These off-beat op-ed pieces don't always revolve around sporting events you don't really care about, but they will always provide some "colorful" commentary on just how much -- or how little -- you should ignore the rare sports world around you.

This week's pursuit: Women Slam Dunking? Oh, the Humanity!

She Did What?
An interesting thing happened in Hawaii a few months ago. During a Nov. 25 Maui invitational tournament game against Illinois, Michelle Snow -- the 6-foot-5 center for the University of Tennessee women's basketball team -- actually slam-dunked! Remarkable as it seems, since there has only been one other woman to ever slam-dunk in the history of women's college basketball, Snow's dunk is only half of the story. As her Lady Vols team walked off the court, fans booed and jeered, calling the dunk "classless."

I call it an outrage! Michelle Snow should be ashamed of herself for the way she has degraded her school and her entire gender through her crazy athletic antics. Women basketball players ... no, women athletes everywhere should hang their heads in shame and disgust.

There She Goes Again
As if her dunk in Maui did not succeed in revealing her complete lack of sportsmanship and respect for women in general, Snow recently did it again, this time in a game against longtime rival, Vanderbilt University! During the final seconds of that Jan. 20 game, Snow took a long pass from teammate Kara Lawson, dribbled down court uncontested and threw down a two-handed slam with 7.3 seconds left on the clock, helping boost her Lady Vols team to 70-64 victory over their ranked opponents.

Since then, Snow's story has spread and she has had to deal with mounting negative reaction to her most recent two-handed jam. She has been accused of trying to "make a statement" in a close game where the Lady Vols trailed by as many as six points midway through the second half. Even Snow's coach, Pat Summitt, has been forced to answer for Snow's play.

Truly Offensive Behavior
I'd say she has gotten off easy. In fact, if there were ever a justification for fans to expel an athlete from their sport in reaction to a tasteless display of sportsmanship, Snow's slam-dunk last Nov. 25 would certainly be it. Really! What audacity for a female athlete to dunk home two points in an effort to help her team win. How offensive that a woman basketball player would attempt to "make a statement" through her physical style of play and her competitive approach to the game. If women's basketball is ever to reach a level of popularity that rivals men's game, then Snow should seriously consider taking a lesson from her male basketball counterparts who rarely, if ever, look to perform such self-centered, gratuitously-showy opportunities on the court.

Perhaps the ugliest result of the entire incident was that Snow's dunk clearly hurt the feelings of Vanderbilt center Chantelle Anderson. Although she had fouled out over seven minutes earlier and thus was not actually in the game at the time of the Snow's ridiculous on-court antics, Anderson was visibly -- and rightfully -- distraught after witnessing the dunk. "That's my team. That's our home court," Anderson sadly stated after the game. One can only wonder how Snow did not pause on her way to the basket during the game's final seconds to ponder the potential reaction of the opposing team's players before performing her senseless dunk. How utterly inconsiderate!

What's Next?
It's a wonder why Snow would even attempt the stunt anyway, since basketball fans have clearly rejected the whole concept of the slam-dunk. Thus, Snow's selfish act of arrogance only serves to bode the question: what's next? It was degrading enough for women's athletics when female players started shooting 3-point shots. But, if Snow's recent pattern of reckless performance go unpunished by the NCAA, it is a sure bet that female players will not stop at flashy slam-dunks or 3-pointers. It will only be a matter of time before we see women point guards floating ally-oop passes to teammates who slam it home with authority. That will be followed, with ugly certainty, by national sports networks showing more and more highlights from women's basketball games. All of this will further fuel the ugly downward spiral of women's athletics -- a downward spiral spawned by the self-serving antics of Michelle Snow.