Margo Dydek, the tallest WNBA female basketball player ever, has died of a heart attack at the age of 37.

She was 7'2" tall.

Despite Dydek’s prowess in Europe, American scouts were lukewarm before she arrived in the United States in 1998 for a predraft camp. There was a reason: because of a clerical error, her height was listed as 6-6 in the advance materials they had been given.

Then Dydek walked through the door. The scouts scrambled.

The tallest teenage girl.

Originally from Jamaica, now going to school (and playing basketball) in New Jersey, Marvadene Anderson is 5" taller than Michael Jordan.

"People are friendly with me because of my height and my personality. If I was tall and mean, I think I'd have a problem," she said.

"The rudest thing anybody ever said about my height is that I'm not going to be able to find a husband."

I identify. I was told when I was a kid that I'd never be able to find a husband. Not that I was tall. I wasn't.

Alicia de Larrocha "cultivated a poetic interpretive style in which gracefulness was prized over technical flashiness or grand, temperamental gestures."

"But her approach, combined with her small stature — she was only 4-foot-9 — was deceptive: early in her career she played all the big Romantic concertos, including those of Liszt and Rachmaninoff, and she could produce a surprisingly large, beautifully sculptured sound. Even so, it was in music that demanded focus, compactness and subtle coloristic breadth that Ms. de Larrocha excelled."

RIP.

"The first thing I want to do is have a car that I can fit in, but more than that I want to get married."

"Up until now it's been really difficult to find a girlfriend. I've never had one, they were usually scared of me. I'm hoping now I will find one. Hopefully now that I'm famous I'll be able to meet lots of girls. I'd like to get married."

We like our Presidents tall and not too thin.

This chart illustrates the proposition that the more substantial -- physically substantially -- man wins. Think about it:



(View that clip in its 4 minute context here.)

Say what you want about weight -- and give Barack some cheeseburgers if he needs to bulk up -- I think the chart mainly demonstrates the shocking advantage of height in politics.

You just know those men were lording it over others all their lives. Any short ones probably had to develop their bullying tendencies to get as far as they did.... like that little bastard James Madison, the shrimpiest President. 5'4" and 100 pounds? Like a 13-year-old girl with bulimia! Picture him in the school yard! And here's the woman who married him:



Now, what is it about these successful, little men?