This past weekend, some of the most awesome and influential women in sports (and me) gathered at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., for the announcement of ESPNW. Up until now, W has been an internal initiative headed by a few passionate women gaining steam while those women and their team collected research and ideas on how to better serve the women who feel under-served by our network. The three days were inspiring.

BILLY JEAN KING, INFUSING US ALL WITH GIRL POWER …

Billy Jean King kicked off the event. The next day, she and USA soccer star Joulie Foudy spoke during breakfast. Amy Palmiero Winters, the first adaptive athlete to make the U.S. track team, spoke at lunch. If you have never heard of Amy, read this. I’ve met few people as remarkable. Shannon Miller, Lolo Jones, Laila Ali, Gretchen Bleiler, Jessica Mendoza and a handful of other high school, college and pro athletes sat on panels during the three-day retreat. The heads of networks, sportswear brands, publishing companies and leagues were wandering the halls of The Lodge at Torrey Pines. I spoke on a panel about women in sports journalism alongside Doris Burke, Hannah Storm and Helene Elliott. What amazing company. And man, does Hannah have kickin’ dance moves … and a sweet air guitar.

FIRST NEW ESPNW SHOW: DANCE, TALK, SPORTS. HOSTED BY HANNAH STORM (LEFT) AND ME AND STARRING OUR FIRST GUEST, LOLO JONES (RIGHT). …

Now we are all back in our respective homes thinking about the future of ESPNW. The first incarnation will be a blog, which will launch sometime around March 2011. After that, who knows. The sky’s the limit, right? The key right now is figuring out how to speak to women like myself–women who love sports and feel like we get what we need as fans from ESPN–without alienating those women or making them feel like they (or women’s sports or female journalists) are being marginalized. And we need to keep that in mind while creating content that attracts women who are not currently drawn to ESPN. It’s a tough challenge. We’ve talked about a women’s network/magazine/website for years. I think there is a need for it and if done right, it will fill a gap I don’t think many women even know exists. Like Henry Ford said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Now we just have to invent our Model T.

YOU CAN’T LEAVE TORREY PINES–HOME OF THE 2008 U.S. OPEN–WITHOUT PLAYING A ROUND OF GOLF …