Tuesday night the Sacramento Monarchs won the WNBA Championship in game four of a best of five Finals series over the Connecticut Sun. While this is not one of the "big four" professional sports in the United States, it is a major accomplishment for a Valley team. ESPN 2 analysts and WNBA proponents all pointed out that this is the first professional basketball championship in the history of Sacramento.

This is true, but it is not the first professional sports championship for Sacramento. The Sacramento Capitals have been very successful over the years in World Team Tennis. The Sacramento Rivercats have won the Pacific Coast League championship. The semi-pro women's football team Sacramento Sirens have won their league's championship. The Sacramento Surge won the World Bowl the year before the World Football League reorganized into NFL Europe.

Still, there is little question that the WNBA is a legitimate sports league. OK, there is a little, but not as far as ValleyVue is concerned. The WNBA is the number one professional sports league for women, and Sacramento is now the champion.

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UC Davis Football Beats Stanford in Palo Alto

There is another major sporting accomplishment that occurred this week involving a Valley sports team. On Saturday, UC Davis, a college that is in the process of going from the NCAA's Division II to Division IAA, beat Division IA Stanford of the Pac-10 in football. Stanford is definitely in an off-year, but that should not take away from the accomplishment of UCD. NCAA football is decidedly on the decline in the Valley. UC Davis, Sacramento State, and Fresno State are the only Valley schools fielding teams, all at Division I.