I had a routine this summer. Every time a WNBA game was on, I’d record it and watch while I worked out on my Nordic Track. I watched a lot of basketball and got some great workouts in. (Hint: a great way to do interval training is to sprint every time your team has the ball.) It’s no secret that I’m a huge women’s basketball fan. Going to the Women’s Final Four in Boston in 2006 was one of the high points of my life, even if my beloved Lady Vols didn’t make it.
But lately, I’m wondering, am I the only one who cares? I did see that 22,000 fans crowded into Detroit Palace to watch game five of the championship series. But no one I know even knew there was a playoff.
Portland used to have a great ABL team: The Portland Power, with great players like Michelle Marciniak, Natalie Williams and Katy Steding. Then the ABL folded and we were granted a WNBA team, the Portland Fire. I can’t remember being happier than the day we took Jackie Stiles as the fourth pick in the 2001 draft. To this day, Jackie Stiles was one of my favorite plays to watch.
But sadly, the Portland Fire folded in 2002, leaving us with no professional women’s basketball team. And one by one, all of my friends lost interest in the game. Adjoa moved to Buffalo. Chama went off to college in Corvallis. Dionne got too busy with her business. My girlfriend, trying to be supportive, would sit and read her book in the living room while the games were on. When someone made a great play and I would cheer, she would sit up and say, “What happened?” And I’d feebly try to explain the incredible feed Kelly Miller just dished to Penny Taylor or Cappie Pondexter’s amazing cut to the basket. Tiger would smile, nod and go back to her book.
It's lonely out here for a ball fan. How about you out there? Does anyone watch the WNBA or is it just me?
1 comment:
I was rooting for the Shock, but congrats to the Merc.
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