It is completely true what they say about the longer you live, the more you realize what you don't know.

	After sitting out 2001, will Tamika Catchings contend for Rookie of the Year honors?

Like for example, I just found out recently how to pronounce the capital of South Dakota. All this time, I thought you said "Pierre" like it was the name of a French guy. Which makes sense, because it was settled by a French fur trader, like practically every other town in America.

Then I was informed by Kansas State player and native South Dakotan Megan Mahoney that it's pronounced "peer." Like in, "Found guilty by a jury of your peers." Or "pier," if you prefer. Like in, "Go take a long walk off a short pier."

Back when we were memorizing state capitals in whatever middle-school grade it was, no one told us that we were saying it wrong. Many couldn't ever remember what the state capital of South Dakota was -- Rushmore? Something Falls? Springfield? (Every state has a Springfield, right?) -- giving them no opportunity to mispronounce Pierre.

But some of us little smarty-pants had to show off by knowing all 50 -- and now I find out I wasn't even saying one of them right. Some things you only have to learn once, though. Other things ...

Alas, it's summer, and I'll get to discover again how much I don't know about the WNBA. Oh, sure, I act like I know a lot. I talk big. Couple of years ago, we did a WNBA fantasy-league in our office. My team got out of the gates like the Three Stooges exiting quicksand. Stayed loyal to my players. Paid off with a last-place finish.

It's all weird. Some players who were awesome in college as recently as two months ago are now cast-offs from the WNBA. Some players show up 5 minutes before their teams' first game, having just finished their seasons overseas, packed, flown in, slept in the cab and are like, "OK, uh, what day is this again?" Then go out and score 20 points.

The rookies who make the cut? No telling what they'll do. There are always a lot of rude awakenings in this league. The players who got good and serious in the so-called offseason? Don't know for sure who they are yet.

Will Minnesota Lynx coach Brian Agler's latest "Why is he playing her there?" experiment work? (We've heard Betty Lennox as a part-time point guard. Are there not enough shots in one building for Lennox and Katie Smith?)

Is Tamika Catchings about ready to burst out of her sneakers with the Indiana Fever? Eager to show how good she is and remind people who haven't gotten to see her play since January 2001?

Will the Charlotte Sting, now a solo act since the Hornets are headed for New Orleans, keep "Team ACC" in ACC territory?

When does Hartford get a team? (Or will UConn agree to play in the WNBA?)

Have the Mystics finally gotten the chemistry to no longer be Team Dysfunctional? Does Orlando have a plan or is the season one long "Evening at the Improv?"

	At 36, the Liberty's Teresa Weatherspoon just keeps going and going.

Will Teresa Weatherspoon and Sue Wicks still be with the Liberty when Sheryl Swoopes' son is deciding whether he'll return to college for his senior year or cash in for the expected $1 gazillion he'll get from the team that drafts him? And will T-Spoon be wearing bifocal shades indoors then?

And what about Swoopes? The birth of her son kept her out much of the '97 inaugural season, and a knee injury forced her to miss all of last year. The other three seasons, she has been magnificent. Will it be SOS this season -- Same Old Swoopes?

Also in Houston, does Michelle Snow at last become the player everyone kept waiting for her to be at Tennessee? Too late for Cynthia Cooper to decide to lace 'em up for Phoenix?

Are the Sacramento Monarchs simply cursed by the bad luck of being in the Western Conference? Or can they somehow outdo the four-time champion Comets and the reigning big dogs, the Los Angeles Sparks?

Which leads to the overriding question: Can the Sparks and true superstar Lisa Leslie win a title when Swoopes is playing? Not to say that a Swoopes-led Comets group would have stopped the Sparks last year. After falling to Houston in the previous two playoffs, L.A. had laser vision on the title.

Now the Sparks will have a rookie, albeit a talented one, playing a lot of point-guard minutes, Nikki Teasley. Leslie seems able to catch and score off any pass, and Teasley can throw any pass. A perfect match?

Tamecka Dixon, for a while thought of as a jack-it-up specialist, showed a more well-rounded game last season for the Sparks. Mwade Mabika has about as much talent as anyone in the league.

Whatever small holes you might see with the Sparks, coach Michael Cooper seems ready to plug. Surely, you've heard him talking about a perfect season -- maybe not an attainable goal, but one he probably thinks is reasonable to aim for.

So will the Sparks repeat? Uh, I'll get back to you on that one later, maybe after we see L.A. and Houston face off (Monday, noon ET, NBC). Now I can say Pierre right, but I'm not ready to pronounce a WNBA champion.

Mechelle Voepel of the Kansas City Star is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. She can be reached at mvoepel@kcstar.com.