What I quoted on Salpy Tchokarian was based on "Daily Star" feature
articles about her some years back also documented on an unofficial
Hekmeh website. I have no reason to discount those aricles. Although
personally I don't have priviledged information about the exact
reasons why she was turned down by WNBA's Detroit Shock, I don't
want to speculate further.

Politics may have been involved in turning her down, I can perceive
that. There is always some politics in anything we do, so why not
here in this case. This is very possible indeed. But frankly, I
don't have the details (I wasn't there...), and I certainly wouldn't
try to delve further.

On the other hand though, couldn't it have been just a "technical"
decision on part of the team staff rather than an a biased and ill
perceived "political" decision as you claim? I mean tens of people
could have applied to the tryouts in that specific day but were
never signed eventually. One doesn't follow the other automatically,
and we shouldn't see red in every decision we are confronted with
that turns out not to our favor.

I mean just yesterday, I attended tryouts for young players at
Ghazir. There were no less than 120-130 young men in the tryouts and
only 15 or 20 must be chosen. Should the rest of the guys cry foul
and bad politics simply because they were not eventually chosen? The
picking panel / committee whatever cannot choose each and every one
who came to the tryouts would they? Some will be turned down even
when they were good and made the cut in all aspects.

Coming back to the NBA and the WNBA choosing process, there was
always an American bias earlier. But don't forget that these leagues
are increasingly becoming more and more "international", so adding
Salpy Tchokarian would have only added more to the WNBA mosaic and
improved its "political" image too.

Charming,
I was just commenting that particularly with Detroit being one of
the earliest and biggest of Lebanese and Arab communities in the
States, inclusion of a Lebanese player in the Detroit Shock would
have created far better goodwill and attendance and politics would
have helped rather than hindered her prospects. But I rest my case.

I have become tired of arguments in this particular case. After
reading all the countless comments by you and others that I have
received throughout these months yet again for so many times, I now
have come to the conclusion this matter will remain an endless
source of argument, will never be resolved and has become counter-
productive. It will only serve in helping spread of even more ill
feelings, and very needlessly if I may say so. Throughout my posts,
I just wanted to have some pride in the fact that Salpy is very
deserving to have been even considered for such a position, and
acknowledge her undoubted talents, only to be confronted yet again
with a higher dosage of bitter response. So let's rather let it rest
if you may.

You will no doubt have your last right of response, but without
further comments from me, and then we move on to other things....