Hey, it's basketball, and if Seattle wins tonight, it'll be the first major pro sports crown for them since the '79 Sonics. They've gone the longest way without one for a city with *three* major teams, and it would be only their second since the 1917 Metropolitans were the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. Paul (from Philadelphia, where we can relate to championship droughts across the board all too well :| )
Let's see.... Yankees/BoSox or whoever the heck is playing in the WNBA Finals.... I had to work tonight so I watched neither.... Not a huge baseball fan and only support women's basketball at the local level at my alma mater. But if I had to choose between the two...baseball playoffs for sure. While I want any women's sports league to succeed in the US...the WNBA is in a really tough spot having to compete with football and MLB this time of year. If I were Val Ackerman...I'd start the season earlier so that the playoffs and final don't really conflict with this time of year.
The only reason the WNBA playoffs conflicted with baseball playoffs and football is because the league took a month off for the Olympics. We took time off for the Olympics so the US could take home gold. Every American on the roster plays in the WNBA. It was a tough decision for Val, I'm sure. It was important for the league that the US win the gold, but it would have hurt the league if teams had to choose between releasing their NTers or going for the trophy. Ironically, I thought that the Storm were hurt the most by the Olympics since the league's best player came back to us emotionally distraught and with even more injuries. I shouldn't have second guessed this team; I think every day of the break, Betty Lennox was in the gym or the weightroom...and taking silver only whetted LJ's appetite for a championship. Some people expected us to finish last in the West. I had my doubts too. At the beginning of the season, I knew Lauren was ready and Sue was healthy. But I wondered, "Who is this Betty Lennox who has bounced from team to team and is self-described as 'high-maintenance'? Who is Sheri Sam, who is Janell Burse, and are they worth giving up our pick in the deepest draft in league history?" But then, the first game I attended was a trouncing of LA, and I started to believe we had something special. I absolutely love that this city's first championship in a long time is brought to us by the women. I just wish Seattle would stand up and take notice. "Basketball is basketball. A player is a player." And a championship is a championship.
The good thing about the WNBA season being over is that Lauren Jackson will return to her native Australia, where they know how to attire women's basketball teams properly.