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WNBA makes the cut with basketball fans
Wednesday, September 02, 1998 By L.A. Johnson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
They readied themselves for the big game.
Napkin-lined baskets of cheese curls, pretzels and potato chips in a junk-food wagon train circled the end table. They wore the long, baggy shorts and jerseys of their favorite teams. Even the golden retriever, Tassie, sported a league T-shirt.
Poised on the edge of the loveseat, with their elbows resting on their knees, they gazed at the TV screen. Their eyes followed the basketball's trajectory.
"Yessssssssssss!" they hissed in whispers, pumping their fists in mini-victory as the ball plunged through the hoop.
Moments later, they giggled and cooed about three cute and cuddly brown bears in a Rice Krispies Treats commercial.
What kind of fans are these?
They're Women's National Basketball Association fans, some of the most dedicated and rabidly enthusiastic sports fans on the planet - even in Pittsburgh, a city without a WNBA team.
"If anything has defined the league, it's the quality of the fan support in all of our team cities," WNBA president Val Ackerman said yesterday before the final championship game between the Phoenix Mercury and the Houston Comets. "We've been amazed by the enthusiasm and passion and loyalty of the fans."
Even Pittsburgh fans have traveled to Cleveland, the nearest WNBA city, for games.
The WNBA inspires girls and women from 8 to 80, whether they're weekend athletes, never-been athletes or diehard jock-ettes. The league's stars are role models to hundreds of thousands of boys and girls who never before had the chance to know their female sports idols up close and personal, Ackerman said.
"You have to be able to see something to dream it and when you dream it, you can try to set the goal to achieve it," said Nancy Lieberman-Cline, general manager and head coach of the WNBA's Detroit Shock and president-elect of the Women's Sports Foundation, on the eve of the championship final.
The WNBA's not just a women's professional basketball league. It's a movement.
"They have to keep her off the line. That's four for six!" Lauren Burdelsky, 12, of Brentwood said in disgust to her friend and St. Sylvester's basketball teammate Jaime Zurawsky, also 12, as Houston guard and two-time league MVP Cynthia Cooper nailed a free throw in Game 1.
"No! Shoot! Geeeeeez!!!!!" Lauren added when Houston scored again.
Late in Game 1, Lauren had reason to be happy.
"Yessssssss! Big shot! Biiiiiiiiig shot!!!" she cheered, as Phoenix forward Jennifer "Grandmama" Gillom drilled a shot that put the Mercury ahead.
Lauren and Jaime are the new breed of fan spawned by the success of the WNBA, which was slated to end its second season last night. (This story went to press before last night's deciding game between the defending champion Houston Comets and the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3.)
The first game in the three-game championship series was simulcast on ESPN and Lifetime Thursday. The girls watched it on ESPN because they prefer savvy sports analysis. They've watched so many games, they know the words to all the stock commercials shown during the games on ESPN, Lifetime and NBC.
Last week, Lauren, Jaime and Lauren's father, Jim Burdelsky, drove to Cleveland for a WNBA Cleveland Rockers-Phoenix Mercury semifinal game. Everything about it was exciting - from the brand new Gund Arena to the trinkets (similar to the Steelers' terrible towels) fans received to the acrobatic feats of the team mascot at half time, Lauren said.
"This is tremendous for kids," said Lauren's father, Jim, 47. "I'm a male. We've always had people to look up to, and this is something new for them. These are their Michael Jordans."
He is especially impressed with the athletes' responsiveness to their young fans.
"[Lauren] has written five or six letters to different people in the league. Every one of them has responded with at least an autographed picture," he said. "[The Detroit Shock's] Korie Hlede sent her a handwritten letter, two pages, and a picture. She was in heaven."
Hlede, a former Duquesne University basketball player, is Lauren's favorite player.
Former Penn State basketball star Suzie McConnell Serio, of the WNBA's Cleveland Rockers, is Audrey Tabon's favorite player. At 13, Audrey stands 6 feet 1 inch tall and loves everything about basketball.
"I hope to be good enough to play in the WNBA," said the Point Breeze teen, who plays on the Winchester Thurston School team and played with the PA Lady Hoop Stars in the American Athletic Union's summer league. "I want a scholarship to college."
Kate Romano, 14, who plays forward for Canevin Catholic, has crossed state lines to see the Cleveland Rockers play the Phoenix Mercury and the Detroit Shock. McConnell Serio is her favorite player, too.
"I've met her and everything, and seeing her play was one of the best experiences I've had," said Kate, who has attended some of McConnell Serio's basketball camps.
Billy Clapper, 15, of Saxton, Bedford County, dreams of becoming an NBA star and jokes that he would love to marry a WNBA star. His favorite NBA team is the Charlotte Hornets; his favorite WNBA team is the Charlotte Sting.
"After college, you know, the best should still have another league to go on to," said Billy, a shooting guard with the Tussey Mountain Titans. "Before, it was to Europe. Now, there's an American league and you can keep track of the good players."
"Instead of seeing people like [Phoenix Mercury coach] Cheryl Miller, [Detroit Shock coach] Nancy Lieberman-Cline and [ESPN commentator] Ann Miller in the [basketball] hall of fame for their college careers, now players will make the hall of fame for their WNBA careers," he said.
The WNBA has an energy and spirit all its own.
"They play a lot harder in person than it looks like on TV, " Jim Burdelsky said. "These women can play."
There's also a more pure and humble enthusiasm in and for the WNBA than exists around the NBA because big money and scandal haven't yet corrupted the league, he said.
"The WNBA certainly affects the lives of young girls, but it has affected the lives of older women, of corporate America, of dads and their relationships with their young girls and families," said Lieberman-Cline, who does color commentary for ESPN. "It's done so much on so many levels."
The WNBA has forged partnerships with community groups and businesses that help women and children. The league has sponsored breast cancer awareness programs before games.
"You just want to try to be like them," Kate said. "They all have such great talent and I think they get that from practicing so much, and if I practice more, I think I can get better and strive to be just as good as they are."
Industry insiders and experts believe the WNBA has staying power. It's good, clean, affordable family entertainment. About 65 to 70 percent of the fans are female. The average ticket price is $13. The average attendance at games in the 10-team league increased 12 percent this season to about 10,870 per game, said Abraham Madkour, editor-in-chief of the Sports Business Daily in New York.
Some believe the WNBA eventually will have to merge with the other women's professional league, the American Basketball League, just like the ABA merged with the NBA. ABL court play and base pay are better than the WNBA's, but the WNBA has superior deep-pocket backing from Big Brother NBA, player endorsements and TV contracts, experts said. Olympian and former ABL star Dawn Staley defected to the WNBA two days ago.
Excellent publicity drew non-athlete and professional spectator Sylvia Cagle, 35, to her first Sacramento Monarchs game.
"I certainly didn't have anything like this growing up," said Cagle, who started the WNBA fan Web magazine The 3 Pointer at www.the3pointer.com. "Maybe I would have played basketball in high school and maybe I would be more physically fit."
The league's visibility is paramount to its success and important for boys and girls.
"Why can't a little boy's role model be Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper or Korie Hlede, if he likes the way they play? My little 4-year-son walks around with a [Detroit Shock] Rhonda Blades jersey," Lieberman-Cline said.
It's happening. Susan Hofacre, who heads the Robert Morris College sports administration department, knew attitudes were shifting when she overheard two male students discussing a basketball game several years ago.
"They were talking about Sheryl Swoopes and how awesome she was in the game they'd seen the night before," Hofacre said. "They not only knew her name, they'd watched her play and they commented on what a great player she was. When 19-year-old males are sitting around talking about a women's basketball player, we're heading in the right direction."
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