ATLANTA -- They give us transcripts from the Final Four news conferences, which is nice and very helpful. Sometimes, though, they miss on a word, and it's funny.

You might remember the 1997 Final Four, when Old Dominion's Ticha Penicheiro said that being a point guard was like "driving the ship.'' Except, she's Portuguese, so it sounded like -- and came out on the transcript as -- "driving the sheep.''

Of course, it's really like that, too, isn't it, guards?

Anyway, one of Saturday's transcript funnies was Tennessee coach Pat Summitt talking about "parity'' in the women's game, and it was spelled "parody.''

The parity issue is an interesting one. As in: Is it a bad thing that UConn and Tennessee are back at the Final Four again?

"I think we're always thinking that parity and new teams would be better. That's what they say; I haven't figured out who 'they' are,'' Summitt said. "I think with the recognition of a Tennessee, a Connecticut, a Duke and even a Texas -- Jody Conradt is no stranger to Final Fours -- I think that brings a great excitement and a lot of recognition to Atlanta this weekend. From that point, it is very positive.''

Actually, I go back and forth on all this. UConn and Tennessee consistently play such high-quality basketball, they always represent the sport very well. UConn brings the added element of a very big media following. Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt are names even people who never watch women's hoops know. (Well, most people. A TV sports anchor in Atlanta on Saturday night did refer to the UConn coach as "Gene Arisma.'')

The problem is, too often women's basketball is dismissed as nothing but Tennessee and UConn. There's reason for that; the programs have won six of the last eight national championships. Combined, they've been in the Final Four 21 times. The only time in the last nine years that one or both wasn't in the Final Four was 1999.

But the thing is, Purdue won the Final Four that year and then made the national championship game in 2001. But to a large degree, the Boilermakers' success gets ignored.

This is Duke's third Final Four, but the Blue Devils haven't won a title yet. Oklahoma made a breakthrough last year, but was affected by graduation and injuries and lost in the first round this year. Louisiana Tech has been to the Final Four 10 times, but not since 1999.

It just comes down to the fact that UConn and Tennessee keep doing it over and over and over. So is it good or bad?

"It is somewhat predictable. But it will become less predictable, I think,'' Auriemma said. "Not less predictable in the sense that certain teams won't always be in the mix, but ... in who the four teams will be.

"You had Oklahoma last year, never been there before. Texas this year, which hadn't been here in a long time. Rutgers a couple of years ago, Southwest Missouri State, Notre Dame.

"But you will still have one or two teams out here every year that everybody goes, 'Oh, yeah.' I don't know if you can ever get away from that.''

Of course, all of that tends to be true on the men's side, too. But it's common for the national media to paint the women's game with a broad brush -- plus you add in the fact that the sport doesn't really get that much national exposure except for at the Final Four.

There are great games in different conferences every season. But for a lot of the viewing public, everything gets distilled down to just a few games and a few days.

There's not much that can be done to change that if those folks don't get interested enough to pay more attention throughout the season.

Will they get more interested if UConn and Tennessee don't make the final? Would a Texas-Duke final add to the overall interest in the sport?

One thing that's for certain, whatever Summitt or Auriemma say about parity, take it with a grain of salt. I mean, come on, why should they pound the drum for that? They want to be at the Final Four every year.

Those two coaches and their programs have more than done their part for the sport by playing so well for so long. If other teams want a piece of the action, they've got to take it from UConn and Tennessee.

They're not giving it away.

Duke hasn't won a title yet, but the program is trying to go toe-to-toe with the big two consistently. The mindset is there, and that's something.

"It's a big risk in some ways, to reach that point like they are where you're just expected to make the Final Four,'' Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We want to be that kind of program, but we have to keep working on it. It is high-risk, high-reward.''

And nothing against Tennessee or UConn, but if that mentality continues to spread, the game really is the better for it.