simply a wnba fan

Sponsorships

silentlyluvnwnba — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:32:23 +0000

So everyone’s talking about the Tiger SNL skit, but I want to talk about a different one. The setting was a women’s bowling tournament in the 80s and had a clueless color analyst and a play by play guy who was trying his best to not take swipes at the women, dealing with an unqualified co-host, and more hilariously try to get in a few words about the sponsor – Vagisil. and this got me thinking how Tampax, Always, Vagisil, Midol, Cover Girl, Nair etc. should get into sponsorship with the W. Those are the products that A. players would love free samples from and B. I think it would be so funny if during a press conference says something like “Well I played well tonight because Midol made all my PMS symptoms disappear.” Though this plan might back fire and drive guys away, it could also draw new female viewers in, have players go on “The View” and give away free product samples. Free tickets aren’t the best promotion because fans to pay for gas, parking, food etc, but if we give away free samples of Secrete or shaving cream and have a players face on the product, then whenever the see the product they’ll see the face, and maybe eventually they’ll want to see this player play.

Speaking of sponsership I was thinking about, say Boston were to get a team – would the league allow them to be sponsered by Sam Adams the “Boston Sammies” – probably not after the Diana DUI thing – or we could do two sponsers in one shot, drink Sam Adams but let the MBTA take you safely home. But the safer sponsor would be Gillette Venus – could be the boston razors “We will cut you!!” or “Our silky smooth jumpshots are so match for our silky smooth legs.” – if Matt Ryan can shaving cream then I’m sure Candace Parker could (wasn’t she supposed to be a Cover Girl – I thought I heard that a few years ago.)

Also wouldn’t it have been awesome if instead of a tiny stake in the Miami Dolphins if Venus ans Serena became partial owners of a WNBA team instead. And not just them all the other Girl power celebraties. How come Rosie O’Donnell hasn’t become part owner of the Liberty – has she stopped supporting the leauge, she used to have them on her show. I think is this age of celebratiy worship one or two celebraty endorsments (not NBA players – like Ellen Degeneres or the Kardashians) would go along way.

While we’re kind of on the subject of increasing popularity/visibility, we need a player to sleep with a semi-celebrity and have a sex tape leaked, I know we as a society think we’re above this, and we as WNBA fans would be embarrassed – but seriously, it worked out good for Kim Kardashian – and her sisters. Worked for Paris Hilton, funny that it works out better for the females involved. We need a little controversy so a player can appear on the Today show and Larry King Live. Sorry I believe in the any press is good press philosophy. And maybe that player would get their own reality show. I heard that Shaq’s Ex is producing a new one about NBA wives/baby-mama’s. I’m thinking its going to be a not-so-flattering look into NBA players lives, I would think that if a WNBA player got one it wouldn’t have so much drama, mostly because there’s not as much moeny and kids involved but it could still have potential.

The ultimate come back

silentlyluvnwnba — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:29:29 +0000

So Marion Jones wants to make her big “I’ve changed” come back and do so in the league. There are many ways to look at this. Should she get a second chance? What does it say about the league if she makes it? Do we want a felon in our league? If track and field hasn’t forgiven her why should we? Is this just for press – this sounds like a perfect reality TV show. My first reaction was YAY! I’m all for it – if she can play. She’s a big name. Do you remember how big she was? Even now she’s bigger than the biggest name in the league, Candace Parker. Can she play is really the only question. I’ve never seen her play, but she was starting point guard on a national championship team, that’s pretty impressive. There are players in the league who didn’t even make it to the Final Four (I know that’s not really a fair comparison). She’s a world-class athlete – or was. She might not have the offensive skill set or a feel for the game, but I bet she’ll be able to get into the passing lanes and get some steals and fast breaks. If she takes this come back seriously and plays in Europe for a bit and then competes in a training camp and legitimately makes a team, it will be an awesome come back story. And more press then the league has received since its inception. I’ll admit I’d probably go see her play. I loved her, I was on her side, I watched her on Oprah, I believed every word she said (and I still think she was more of a victim and was attacked and targeted unfairly) she made some bad decisions, but as a society we tend to forgive and forget. We’ve forgiven worse, rapist, drug addicts, women abusers, hit and run drivers, cheaters, pretty much everything.

Her past doesn’t concern me as much as her age. There aren’t many 34 year olds in the league, it’s a young league. But I don’t think her body is the same as a 34 who’s played 12 W seasons and 12 European seasons, her body might not be as beaten up. Plus she was an elite track athlete, she received the best care for her body possible. The only real down side would be her making the team over another worthy player. But I don’t think that will happen, the coaches and GM’s job are too unstable. If they don’t win, more than likely they will get fired. They wouldn’t risk their job for a few extra ticket sales. Now with the Monarchs possibly leaving the league and only an 11 man roster her chances are small; Sheryl Swoopes and Nykesha Sales aren’t even in the league, though that might be more of a money/pride issue.

Some people will think this makes the league look like a joke, but i don’t see it like that, she’s not a scrub who’s never played at a high level. I’ve always thought she should try this actually, kind of like Jackie Joyner-Kersee playing in the ABL, they’re just about the same age, no one had an issue with her, and I’m pretty positive Marion’s game is much better – but one could easily argue that the W is a lot better than the ABL was back in ’96. This is not Nancy Lieberman trying to play at fifty. She has a better chance of making a team then Master P had at making a NBA team. This isn’t LeBron thinking he can play in the NFL because he dominated high school competition. This isn’t something new for her, she competed at a very high level – at that time the highest level. She said in her book that she’s always thought she could play in the leauge and was friends with some of the ’96 or ’00 Olympic team. I’ll be cheering for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did make a team and even saw decent playing time. She definitely has the drive, desire, and I would imagine she knows the amount of work she has to put in. And she’s already putting in the work with W coaches, its not a joke to her – it shouldn’t be to us. Oh and she’s straight, and we know how much the league likes the straight girls.

a sappy thanks to the w

silentlyluvnwnba — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:19:12 +0000

Since its Thanksgiving Day, I’ll be a little sappy, the biggest thing the W has given me is time with my mom (she’s alive and well – it’s not one of those tear jerker stories) As I said in my about me and first post, I haven’t had a real friend to share my W experiences with – some may come to a game with me and maybe know Parker and Taurasi’s names but they’re not really into it. Luckily my mom has more than filled that void. She grew up wanting to play, and played that antique ball where players couldn’t cross half court and underhanded foul shots. She played in softball leagues when I was a kid and encouraged me to get out and play as much as possible. It’s funny now, but when I was like 10ish I used to use an old basketball as a soccer ball, then when I finally got a soccer ball and I started wanting to play basketball, I think it was more I could finally throw the ball close to the rim. But she was out there playing with me. In fact 99% of all my sports memories involve my mom. And it wasn’t cuz she was a single parent – it was her choice. The 1% memory of my dad tho is him coming to a game slightly intoxicated and almost getting kicked out for arguing with a ref – easily my most embarrassing moment on the court.

Anyway, my mom’s the one that watched old Celtics or bulls games with me, she got me into another town’s league cuz mine didn’t have one, she found basketball camps and AAU teams. She rebounded for me and asked my neighbor if I could use their hoop cuz we didn’t have one, she drove me to parks because the one within biking distance didn’t always have rims. She bought me Sports Illustrated for women and any other basketball literature. And to this day, we go to the occasional Celtics, Red Sox, and maybe a hockey game if we get free tickets, we go to championship parades and Patriots’ open practices. If I need someone to talk to about the W she’s the one i go to. We love/hate the same teams, players and coaches (except Becky Hammon – she disapproved of the whole Russia thing, I say if team A doesn’t want you, play for team B) we drive the two hours to sun games to see our fav players. We watch all the games on tv as much as possible. My playing time has ended so there’s no more weekend AAU trips together, instead the W has given us day trips to Mohegan, Hartford, or BC, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Learning to love all

silentlyluvnwnba — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:18:39 +0000

Thank you WNBA for allowing me to appreciate Diana Taurasi’s game. Even tho I grew up in New England, I would never consider myself a UConn fan. But they do play a part in peaking my interest in basketball, I remember that the UConn/Tenn championship game was the first game I watched on tv, and I realized how much I didn’t know. I didn’t know that Tenn was one of the top teams in the country, I had never heard of Pat Summitt. Whether it was guilt for not knowing about Tenn; wanting to cheer for the top dog; or wanting to see a woman out coach a man (up to that point the only coaches were male or mother’s of a player on the team) I became an instant Tenn fan, which in turn made me Anti-All-Things-UConn. (that might have changed if my high school team went to UConn’s camp, but unfortunately that fell through). So of course I hated Diana Taurasi, (it was as natural a hatred as Red Sox fans hating Derek Jeter). I thought she was over rated, cocky and spent every final four of her career cheering against her – which was really frustrating.

But then came the Detroit/Phoenix finals. I pretty much hated the Shock (that’s another blog) and liked Cappie so I found myself cheering for Diana for the first time and found it much more enjoyable then cheering against her. I still wouldn’t consider myself a fan of hers but I have the utmost respect for her game and you can’t fight the fact that the women is flat-out a winner. And I guess technically I cheered for her first during the Olympics, but that wasn’t so much cheering for her, or all the other UConn women on that team, as it was cheering for American – as corny as that sounds. So thank you WNBA for releasing me from Diana-Denial.

starts at the bottom

silentlyluvnwnba — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:14:35 +0000

Women’s basketball shoes. Sounds simple – but for someone with narrow feet, wearing men’s shoes is just not an option unless I wanted to wear six pairs of socks. It just so happened that I entered the seventh grade right after the “Girl Power” hype of the ’96 olympics so, I was at the perfect age where I could wear Sheryl Swoopes’ shoes. Not that they were readily available, but I knew they were out there, so my mom and I drove to what seemed like every mall in Mass to find them. Soon I was ballin out in Swoopes’ shoes, unfortunately didn’t help me play like her – well maybe a little, I was quicker than most of the other girls, got into passing lanes and preferred to drive left.

But one thing I noticed even then, none of my teammates were really into basketball or the WNBA like I was. In fact even tho I played on AAU teams, travel teams, high school teams and even some DIII ball, I never had a teammate who liked to watch or even attempted to follow the W, looking back I don’t think even my college coach did. After I left college, I went to see the BC vs Maryland game after they won the national championship, and I really thought I would see my old college coach, but instead I saw another locals college’s coach (and players), he even talked to Brenda Frese, I was in awe, actually I was feeling more regret that I played for a coach that didn’t share the same appreciation for the game.

Back to the point, since Micheal Jordan shoes have been more a part of basketball than a pull-up J, so it was nice that women were given the opportunity to participate in the commercialization of the game. I’ve always enjoyed shopping for basketball shoes, almost as I enjoyed playing in them. Even tho I stopped playing I always take a look at the women’s basketball shoes, and even tho there aren’t as many choices as the men’s, it always brings me back to when me and my mom finally found Air Swoopes in my size. Mission accomplished.

PS I will be buying Parker’s shoe when it comes out!!!

Thankful for WNBA

silentlyluvnwnba — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:19:00 +0000

So this is my attempt at a WNBA blog. There are some out there already, and i applaud all of them – read most of them, just looking to be a different voice, give a new perspective and talk about topics that other coverage might not. This blog isn’t going to be a ton of game recaps, but you already know where to find stuff like that. I have no access to players or coaches (unless you consider twitter, but I’m not sure you can quote a players tweet, ya know). Since I don’t have an editor I have the freedom to write I blog about things that I would enjoy reading. There are more blogs about one NBA team than there are about all women’s basketball – it’s a shame. As you can probably tell, I have no journalism training or writing experience – unless you count AP English, which I aced! This will be written from a fans view, I played DIII college ball, read a lot of books, seen a lot of games but don’t posses any real analysis techniques.

I know there are good message boards out there too, but they make me feel uncomfortable, they remind me of clubs, some people love to mingle, listen to music, dance etc. but there’s some that want to start drama or who drink too much and pass out on the bathroom floor – plus there’s the hassle of actually trying to find the hottest club with the best DJ, strong fairly priced drinks and patrons of peers. I want this blog to be more like a welcoming pub, where you walk in give a nod to the bartender and by the time you take off your coat and say “Hi” to the regulars your Bud Light is waiting for you and you can enjoy the game with people you’re comfortable with.

First blog will be the start of my week of thankfulness of the W, with the disappearance of teams there’s a lot of negativity and even some panic, I want to share why I love the W to other fans and maybe some players/coaches if they find their way here. Everyday til thanksgiving I’ll write something that the W has given me that I’m thankful for. I’ve got it all written out already so hopefully no one will think I’m stealing ideas from anyone. Here’s a quick list of things that didn’t quite make the final list, a little preview of what this blog may be like.

I’m thankful for strong, beautiful, female role models. I didn’t grow up wanting to be the girl in the music video or the girl who has to dress or act like a slut to get attention. I wanted to be strong, independent and educated. I was never ashamed for being athletic. I took pride in being the girl who the boys would chose to be on their team before some of the other boys.

I’m thankful that I’m able to see players like Seimone Augustus, Lisa Leslie, Lauren Jackson live. Whether it was because in college they didn’t play in my area or because their from Australia, if it wasn’t for the W, I would never have seen some of the greatest players ever live.

Finally, seeing fans cheering passionately for women. Sometimes it can feel lonely following something that mainstream media doesn’t, I was in awe to see a such big crowd cheering for the Houston Comets when they won the first championship. I couldn’t wrap my head around that many people cheering for women, I’d gone to the varsity basketball playoff games and there would be maybe 100 people, and even tho our girls’ team was better than our boys’ team – there was always twice as many people at the boys’ game, and 5x at football games.

So that’s it for today. Look for tomorrow’s blog. I got a long list of ideas I want to talk about, definitely enough to entertain throughout the offseason. Please comment, good or bad (not too bad tho, I scare easily).

PS: Did yall know you can watch Notre Dame/Iona http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=nd and Kansas/Michigan http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=kan (sorry don’t know how to post links yet)

~til next time

*need to work on a catching good bye