The Magazine  Game Changer   Sep 15, 2008, Vol. 14, No. 01 • By
JESSICA GAVORA Widget tooltip Single Page Print Larger Text
Smaller Text Alerts  "Al I ever really needed to know I learned
on the basketball court."  That's Sarah Palin, circa 2004, when
she was merely, as the Obama campaign would say, "the former
mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience."
More than once on her way to becoming a national political
phenom as John McCain's running mate, Palin has said she owes it
all to playing hoops. But she's not just talking about
basketball.  She's talking about girls' basketball.  In Alaska.
In the seventies.  It was a time and a place before identity
politics. Before feminists made young female athletes the
bright, shiny faces of their graying crusade; before Nike cut
treacly, black and white commercials featuring sweaty and
empowered young women; and before the law mandated that all six-
year-old girls, regardless of race, color, creed, or total lack
of interest, strap on shin guards an