Interview With Barry Carlin of NBA Entertainment

Interview With Barry Carlin of NBA Entertainment

Secretary Condoleezza Rice Washington, DC July 13, 2007

QUESTION: Well, what a day today. You've received awards before, and today it's the 2007 WNBA Inspiration Award. Why is this award special to you?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, it's special, first of all, because it's the WNBA and I'm a huge sports fan, and that the WNBA would think that I was an inspiration to them is really quite great because I love women athletes and I love what women athletes have achieved in recent years. And so they're inspirational to me, so it's nice to be welcomed in that way.

QUESTION: People who inspire others, at some point, obviously have had people who have inspired them. So looking back on your life and your travels as you went through your career, especially as we celebrate women and inspiration, who were some of the women who inspired you?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, clearly, I had very strong parental support. My mother was important to me. And my grandmother, who taught me to play the piano when I couldn't yet read; I could read music because of her. I had wonderful family members. But I also looked up to women in sports. In particular, I remember being just fixated on the television when Billie Jean King played and loved watching her. And I loved what she did then for women's sports. So I have a lot of -- I have myself been lucky to have a lot of role models.

QUESTION: What a week this is in Washington as the WNBA hosts their annual all-star week here in Washington, D.C. From what you know about the WNBA and its athletes, how do they serve to inspire others?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, one of the things that I'm going to talk about in the speech is the degree to which women have come so far in athletics but they've also come a long way and now being really visible presences for young girls who want to do that, who want to be able to fully explore their talents, who no longer want to be kept to limited horizons. And I think that's what these women represent.

They also have been great ambassadors for us abroad. We have worked with Donna Orender and others on programs to reach out to women in Afghanistan, to women in the Middle East. We've had NBA and WNBA players travel, so I'm going to thank them for the role they've played in bringing people together through the common language of sports.

QUESTION: I have one more question for you. From what everybody on your staff tells me, you are a really, avid, passionate football fan. Redskins?

SECRETARY RICE: Oh, well, I'm sorry to say no.

QUESTION: Which one?

SECRETARY RICE: Cleveland Browns.

QUESTION: Oh, okay.

SECRETARY RICE: Cleveland Browns, from the time that I was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, and it was the team that we got on TV all the time.

QUESTION: Well, anyway, that's not my question. (Laughter.) Where I'm going with this is that you have the Mystics here in Washington. Have you made the -- well, not the switch, but have you been converted to be a WNBA fan?

SECRETARY RICE: Oh, I can definitely pull for the Mystics. And I have to say that I get less time to watch sports than I would like, and but the truth of the matter is I like anything with a score at the end, I love sports, but I'm a huge fan of women's basketball. I've been to a couple of women's Final Fours, college games. Stanford had a great women's program. And yeah, once in a while I catch a WNBA game as well.

QUESTION: That's great. Thank you so much.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Thanks so much.

ENDS

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