***official wnba thread*** (1 Viewer)

[SWC]

Should this just be renamed to like the official 2024 WNBA thread or something?

in a word hell yes it should but tim is asleep at the switch let me know if you brohans want the old swcer to start a new thread becuse frankly i would be honored to actually have a long running thread like that so i could change the headlines like my name is cappy take that to the bank bromigos

 

[pollardsvision]

I got to see Brink play her senior year and walked from one side of the court to other during warmups very close to where she was practicing. Amazing seeing her up close as I don't encounter many women that are 6'4".

Her team was playing our local HS and by the end of the 1st half, her team had 22 points. She scored 19 of those. I'm pretty sure I could have suited up and had as much of an impact as her teammates. However, she was in foul trouble early in the 2nd and my buddy's daughter (who was a freshman then) played amazing defense on Brink and got her to foul out. That was the ballgame. Our team was a TEAM. They recently won the 6A HS championship and my buddy's daughter is now playing ball at the University of Portland.

I've probably told that story before. I don't really have many close encounters with greatness.

Did you encounter go like this?

 

[JAA]

x.com

x.com

So you away-from-the-play foul a teams start player and you are all that their fans are pissed?

cmon now

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Should this just be renamed to like the official 2024 WNBA thread or something?

in a word hell yes it should but tim is asleep at the switch let me know if you brohans want the old swcer to start a new thread becuse frankly i would be honored to actually have a long running thread like that so i could change the headlines like my name is cappy take that to the bank bromigos

@FBG Moderator can you make the swcer in charge here? Thanks brotatochip

 

[massraider]

I got to see Brink play her senior year and walked from one side of the court to other during warmups very close to where she was practicing. Amazing seeing her up close as I don't encounter many women that are 6'4".

Her team was playing our local HS and by the end of the 1st half, her team had 22 points. She scored 19 of those. I'm pretty sure I could have suited up and had as much of an impact as her teammates. However, she was in foul trouble early in the 2nd and my buddy's daughter (who was a freshman then) played amazing defense on Brink and got her to foul out. That was the ballgame. Our team was a TEAM. They recently won the 6A HS championship and my buddy's daughter is now playing ball at the University of Portland.

I've probably told that story before. I don't really have many close encounters with greatness.

The people with the easiest job in the world are the team in charge of her marketing.

 

[General Malaise]

I got to see Brink play her senior year and walked from one side of the court to other during warmups very close to where she was practicing. Amazing seeing her up close as I don't encounter many women that are 6'4".

Her team was playing our local HS and by the end of the 1st half, her team had 22 points. She scored 19 of those. I'm pretty sure I could have suited up and had as much of an impact as her teammates. However, she was in foul trouble early in the 2nd and my buddy's daughter (who was a freshman then) played amazing defense on Brink and got her to foul out. That was the ballgame. Our team was a TEAM. They recently won the 6A HS championship and my buddy's daughter is now playing ball at the University of Portland.

I've probably told that story before. I don't really have many close encounters with greatness.

Did you encounter go like this?

Blessedly, she wasn't wearing heels at the time so I just came up to her elbows.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

From the Uproxx interview

What part do you want to play in that?

I could go way deeper into this, but I would just say growing the fan base to support all types of players. I will acknowledge there’s a privilege for the younger white players of the league. That’s not always true, but there is a privilege that we have inherently, and the privilege of appearing feminine. Some of my teammates are more masculine. Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look. I know I can feed into that because I like to dress femininely, but that’s just me. I want everyone to be accepted — not just paid attention to because of how they look.

As somebody who often sticks my foot in my mouth, it seems to me her heart is in the right place.

These people are essentially children and are expected to be philosophical in front of a microphone. There’s gonna be hiccups one way or another, but, imo, it’s obvious she didn’t have any ill intent

 

[nirad3]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

 

[fruity pebbles]

From the Uproxx interview

What part do you want to play in that?

I could go way deeper into this, but I would just say growing the fan base to support all types of players. I will acknowledge there’s a privilege for the younger white players of the league. That’s not always true, but there is a privilege that we have inherently, and the privilege of appearing feminine. Some of my teammates are more masculine. Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look. I know I can feed into that because I like to dress femininely, but that’s just me. I want everyone to be accepted — not just paid attention to because of how they look.

As somebody who often sticks my foot in my mouth, it seems to me her heart is in the right place.

These people are essentially children and are expected to be philosophical in front of a microphone. There’s gonna be hiccups one way or another, but, imo, it’s obvious she didn’t have any ill intent

I think so too. The error, and it might just be in print, was the correlation with white players being more feminine. I don’t think that’s how she meant it. I think they were two separate trains of thought. In print it appears linear.

 

[pollardsvision]

Holy hell, A'Ja is something else.

And so is Arike. What a game.

i got to see her play high school ball here in milwaukee and she was worth the price of admission and then some take that to the bank brochachos

She's absolutely electric. So far, I think she's my favorite player. Although, I'm 5'6" and always partial to the shorter players in any league.
Love the way she's carrying this Dallas team decimated by injuries on her back.
And since she's also a Milwaukee girl, that probably seals it. Wisconsin is the greatest state in the Union with the best people.

Also love Jackie Young, so I guess I should have been paying more attention to the Notre Dame title team (also with Marina Mabrey, I think).

 

[pollardsvision]

And also, I really like this Wings hat

 

[Desert_Power]

Should this just be renamed to like the official 2024 WNBA thread or something?

in a word hell yes it should but tim is asleep at the switch let me know if you brohans want the old swcer to start a new thread becuse frankly i would be honored to actually have a long running thread like that so i could change the headlines like my name is cappy take that to the bank bromigos

Go for it.

 

[pollardsvision]

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

 

[General Malaise]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

2.6 blocks per game. Nice.

 

[pollardsvision]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

Kate Martin at #3 is interesting.

She only came to the draft to support her best friend/college teammate, not expecting to get drafted. Of course the smartest organization in the league snapped her up at #18. She made the team (in the W, being a small league with short rosters, anybody drafted after the top 10-12 is no where near guaranteed to make a roster).

But she made it and has been great so far. Well, oddly enough, except for last night, which was her 24th birthday. The birthday got a lot of attention with the best player in the league picking up her birthday cake and such personally, and the biggest star in the league making her first social media post in weeks to wish her a happy birthday.

Pretty awesome story for her so far, only adding to the intrigue of this rookie class.

 

[pollardsvision]

Brink is a smart kid, so I'm sure she's got out her notebook as the undersized Collier is taking her to school tonight.

 

[Cowboysfan8]

x.com

x.com

So you away-from-the-play foul a teams start player and you are all that their fans are pissed?

cmon now

Yeah, I got a lil chuckle out of that myself

 

[Ghost Rider]

Should this just be renamed to like the official 2024 WNBA thread or something?

it's been suggested a few times already.....OP too busy ranking elevator music songs from the late 70s to make the change.

This made me LOL for real.

*golf clap*

 

[pollardsvision]

Some nice blocks from Brink.

 

[pollardsvision]

But the fouls. She literally just ripped off 3 fouls in 3.5 minutes of game play. Puts her at 5.

From what I've heard, fouls and turnovers are the hardest things for really good WNBA rookies.
Players are just a lot faster than they were 3 months ago, so passing windows are closed, and what used to be a blocked shot not means you are 6 inches late swatting a hand.

 

[pollardsvision]

BTW, if you're wondering why veteran teams keep curb-stomping young teams well after it's over, the Commissioner's Cup factors in margin of victory.

This year, it's just games June 1-13.

But the winning team gets $500K to split amongst the players. In a league where you have to be a really good vet to make $100K a year, a $60K bonus is taken seriously.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Kind of ironic that Brink will likely not get a ton of blowback because of exactly the point she was making.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

Kate Martin at #3 is interesting.

She only came to the draft to support her best friend/college teammate, not expecting to get drafted. Of course the smartest organization in the league snapped her up at #18. She made the team (in the W, being a small league with short rosters, anybody drafted after the top 10-12 is no where near guaranteed to make a roster).

But she made it and has been great so far. Well, oddly enough, except for last night, which was her 24th birthday. The birthday got a lot of attention with the best player in the league picking up her birthday cake and such personally, and the biggest star in the league making her first social media post in weeks to wish her a happy birthday.

Pretty awesome story for her so far, only adding to the intrigue of this rookie class.

Big fan of Kate Martin. Happy for her.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

BTW, if you're wondering why veteran teams keep curb-stomping young teams well after it's over, the Commissioner's Cup factors in margin of victory.

This year, it's just games June 1-13.

But the winning team gets $500K to split amongst the players. In a league where you have to be a really good vet to make $100K a year, a $60K bonus is taken seriously.

I love it. We need more of this. $$$$ motivates athletes.

 

[pollardsvision]

Sparks hanging around because Dearica Hamby refuses to let them go into that good night.

Sparks have a really bright future with Brink and Rickea. Them getting to learn from Hamby is great.

 

[belljr]

BTW, if you're wondering why veteran teams keep curb-stomping young teams well after it's over, the Commissioner's Cup factors in margin of victory.

This year, it's just games June 1-13.

But the winning team gets $500K to split amongst the players. In a league where you have to be a really good vet to make $100K a year, a $60K bonus is taken seriously.

I love it. We need more of this. $$$$ motivates athletes.

This is the entire athletes unlimited pro softball model

 

[pollardsvision]

Mystics playing tonight and tomorrow night in Capital One Arena to accommodate all the extra fans coming to see the rookie class (Chicago tonight, Indiana tomorrow).

And btw, tonight, Aaliyah Edwards is reminding people that she's a big part of that exciting rookie class too.

 

[Phil Elliott]

FWIW - the Ion channel is televising many WNBA games.

Watch WNBA games Friday nights on ION

Don't miss out on the most exciting WNBA games of the week! Watch WNBA games every Friday night on ION, available on broadcast and streaming!

www.ionwnba.com

 

[pollardsvision]

You just gotta love what the Sky have cooking.

This team probably won't do much this year, but they've got a lot of young talent and they play with passion. Tonight was only the Mystics, but they got punched in the mouth and fought back (as they've done over and over this season).

At some point, this team is going to be very good.

 

[pollardsvision]

Here's Zion Williamson discussing Weatherspoon

She's gonna keep getting the best out of this young team.

 

[Nugget]

FWIW - the Ion channel is televising many WNBA games.

Watch WNBA games Friday nights on ION

Don't miss out on the most exciting WNBA games of the week! Watch WNBA games every Friday night on ION, available on broadcast and streaming!

www.ionwnba.com

They also do many NWSL games. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with my free access to KC Current soccer between Ion and NWSL+

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Mystics playing tonight and tomorrow night in Capital One Arena to accommodate all the extra fans coming to see the rookie class (Chicago tonight, Indiana tomorrow).

And btw, tonight, Aaliyah Edwards is reminding people that she's a big part of that exciting rookie class too.

Thank you for mentioning this. I think I’ll head to the game tomorrow.

 

[Chadstroma]

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

The worst things about Davis is his haircut and not being f u filthy rich like all the other owners.

He tries to hire the best people he can find and then let them do their job. Some of those decisions have not panned out but no team makes 100% choices all the time. Hiring Morgan as team President has seemed like a solid choice. Hiring Champ from Chicago was a highly underrated boon for the Raiders. Bringing in an experienced GM over giving Champ the go ahead but retaining him was a good move and I liked what Telesco did in the draft. Telesco, Champ and Jojo are three guys that I really think are upper tier for what they do.

He invested in the Raiders with their move to Vegas. Heck, getting the Raiders to Vegas was basically all him and a huge win for the organization. You hear the players talk about the facilities being some of the best there are and they get high marks on the player surveys. The valuation of the team has skyrocketed since the move.

It seems like we finally have a HC and some momentum. The Chefs are the class of the league so it is a tall order to bring them down but we did beat them. I have heard a lot of negative comments by Raider fans about Davis but I have never seen any reason to be down on him.... other than that hideous haircut.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

Both?

The raiders have all the facilities in place and really are a first class organization from that standpoint. They scored really highly in the last players poll.

But they need players and coaching. They may have something in AP. And this years roster is better than last years. We shall see.

 

[pollardsvision]

Mystics playing tonight and tomorrow night in Capital One Arena to accommodate all the extra fans coming to see the rookie class (Chicago tonight, Indiana tomorrow).

And btw, tonight, Aaliyah Edwards is reminding people that she's a big part of that exciting rookie class too.

Thank you for mentioning this. I think I’ll head to the game tomorrow.

It's going to be a fun one.
Fever finally got some rest and some time to practice. And they aren't playing a loaded veteran team (although Edwards and the Mystics were showing signs of life last night).

Contrasting the Fever with the Sky, I think, highlights some of the challenges Clark is facing (among the many).
Sky are young, but they've got some veteran leadership. And coaches? I don't know Chrissy Sides all that well, but from what I can tell , when things are rough, you want SIdes or T-Spoon?

And it has to be really hard being a guard asked to run the offense on a young team with no practice.
I've seen Reese go into a total offensive funk (not her strong suit yet anyway), but just be able to go play defense and rebound until she gets in a rhythm. Let Evans, Mabry, Carter handle running the offense, find your shot when you can.
Same for Brink.

Sort of like in real-life, on the court, Clark has nowhere to hide, so to speak. Being to play able to play a role and develop is far different than being asked to orchestrate for an entire team.
The best I've seen them play is when they did take some of the facilitating duties off of Clark's shoulders for a stretches in the Sky game. She's always going to need to be the main facilitator, but it seemed to help to at give her a break here and there.

Either way, tonight should be fun.

 

[parasaurolophus]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

A woman among boys.

 

[General Malaise]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

2.6 blocks per game.

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

The worst things about Davis is his haircut and not being f u filthy rich like all the other owners.

He tries to hire the best people he can find and then let them do their job. Some of those decisions have not panned out but no team makes 100% choices all the time. Hiring Morgan as team President has seemed like a solid choice. Hiring Champ from Chicago was a highly underrated boon for the Raiders. Bringing in an experienced GM over giving Champ the go ahead but retaining him was a good move and I liked what Telesco did in the draft. Telesco, Champ and Jojo are three guys that I really think are upper tier for what they do.

He invested in the Raiders with their move to Vegas. Heck, getting the Raiders to Vegas was basically all him and a huge win for the organization. You hear the players talk about the facilities being some of the best there are and they get high marks on the player surveys. The valuation of the team has skyrocketed since the move.

It seems like we finally have a HC and some momentum. The Chefs are the class of the league so it is a tall order to bring them down but we did beat them. I have heard a lot of negative comments by Raider fans about Davis but I have never seen any reason to be down on him.... other than that hideous haircut.

Yeah, I watched a Real Sports (I think it was) about him a few years ago and came away really liking him. His childhood wasn't all chocolate covered berries and scones. Despite growing up with money, his parents kind of messed him up IIRC.

 

[Donny Loved Bowling]

Should this just be renamed to like the official 2024 WNBA thread or something?

Nah, if you call it the WNBA thread then nobody will pay any attention to it. Attaching Clark's name is the only way to attract any eyeballs.

 

[Chadstroma]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

2.6 blocks per game.

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

The worst things about Davis is his haircut and not being f u filthy rich like all the other owners.

He tries to hire the best people he can find and then let them do their job. Some of those decisions have not panned out but no team makes 100% choices all the time. Hiring Morgan as team President has seemed like a solid choice. Hiring Champ from Chicago was a highly underrated boon for the Raiders. Bringing in an experienced GM over giving Champ the go ahead but retaining him was a good move and I liked what Telesco did in the draft. Telesco, Champ and Jojo are three guys that I really think are upper tier for what they do.

He invested in the Raiders with their move to Vegas. Heck, getting the Raiders to Vegas was basically all him and a huge win for the organization. You hear the players talk about the facilities being some of the best there are and they get high marks on the player surveys. The valuation of the team has skyrocketed since the move.

It seems like we finally have a HC and some momentum. The Chefs are the class of the league so it is a tall order to bring them down but we did beat them. I have heard a lot of negative comments by Raider fans about Davis but I have never seen any reason to be down on him.... other than that hideous haircut.

Yeah, I watched a Real Sports (I think it was) about him a few years ago and came away really liking him. His childhood wasn't all chocolate covered berries and scones. Despite growing up with money, his parents kind of messed him up IIRC.

Al was a pioneer and awesome football man like no other has ever been (even if he somewhat 'lost' it in his later years) but I can't say that I would expect him to be a great father.

 

[pollardsvision]

I trust Clark will bring it tonight.

She's going to need to to follow up the show Chennedy Carter put on in DC last night.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Well ****. I asked too late, all of our tickets are spoken for.

That would be a first for WNBA.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

2.6 blocks per game.

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

The worst things about Davis is his haircut and not being f u filthy rich like all the other owners.

He tries to hire the best people he can find and then let them do their job. Some of those decisions have not panned out but no team makes 100% choices all the time. Hiring Morgan as team President has seemed like a solid choice. Hiring Champ from Chicago was a highly underrated boon for the Raiders. Bringing in an experienced GM over giving Champ the go ahead but retaining him was a good move and I liked what Telesco did in the draft. Telesco, Champ and Jojo are three guys that I really think are upper tier for what they do.

He invested in the Raiders with their move to Vegas. Heck, getting the Raiders to Vegas was basically all him and a huge win for the organization. You hear the players talk about the facilities being some of the best there are and they get high marks on the player surveys. The valuation of the team has skyrocketed since the move.

It seems like we finally have a HC and some momentum. The Chefs are the class of the league so it is a tall order to bring them down but we did beat them. I have heard a lot of negative comments by Raider fans about Davis but I have never seen any reason to be down on him.... other than that hideous haircut.

Yeah, I watched a Real Sports (I think it was) about him a few years ago and came away really liking him. His childhood wasn't all chocolate covered berries and scones. Despite growing up with money, his parents kind of messed him up IIRC.

Al was a pioneer and awesome football man like no other has ever been (even if he somewhat 'lost' it in his later years) but I can't say that I would expect him to be a great father.

Somewhat? Al Davis is/was the man. He was a loon at the end. Sad.

 

[General Malaise]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

2.6 blocks per game.

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

The worst things about Davis is his haircut and not being f u filthy rich like all the other owners.

He tries to hire the best people he can find and then let them do their job. Some of those decisions have not panned out but no team makes 100% choices all the time. Hiring Morgan as team President has seemed like a solid choice. Hiring Champ from Chicago was a highly underrated boon for the Raiders. Bringing in an experienced GM over giving Champ the go ahead but retaining him was a good move and I liked what Telesco did in the draft. Telesco, Champ and Jojo are three guys that I really think are upper tier for what they do.

He invested in the Raiders with their move to Vegas. Heck, getting the Raiders to Vegas was basically all him and a huge win for the organization. You hear the players talk about the facilities being some of the best there are and they get high marks on the player surveys. The valuation of the team has skyrocketed since the move.

It seems like we finally have a HC and some momentum. The Chefs are the class of the league so it is a tall order to bring them down but we did beat them. I have heard a lot of negative comments by Raider fans about Davis but I have never seen any reason to be down on him.... other than that hideous haircut.

Yeah, I watched a Real Sports (I think it was) about him a few years ago and came away really liking him. His childhood wasn't all chocolate covered berries and scones. Despite growing up with money, his parents kind of messed him up IIRC.

Al was a pioneer and awesome football man like no other has ever been (even if he somewhat 'lost' it in his later years) but I can't say that I would expect him to be a great father.

Somewhat? Al Davis is/was the man. He was a loon at the end. Sad.

Mark tells a story about Al firing him at age 14 for spotting the football wrong at practice.

 

[Chadstroma]

The stats say Brink is #1 rookie thus far

2.6 blocks per game.

BTW, @DA RAIDERS , how does it make you feel that the Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas franchise was an absolute dumpster fire until Mark Davis bought them?

It was a decades long dumpster fire that culminated in 3 straight #1 overall picks. Than Mark Davis bought them, gave them the best facilities in the league, spared no expense in the front office and coaching staff. Cream of the crop organization in the league since he bought them. Obviously, A'ja helped, but she was there years before he bought them.

Does It give you hope or irritate you?
Genuinely curious.

The worst things about Davis is his haircut and not being f u filthy rich like all the other owners.

He tries to hire the best people he can find and then let them do their job. Some of those decisions have not panned out but no team makes 100% choices all the time. Hiring Morgan as team President has seemed like a solid choice. Hiring Champ from Chicago was a highly underrated boon for the Raiders. Bringing in an experienced GM over giving Champ the go ahead but retaining him was a good move and I liked what Telesco did in the draft. Telesco, Champ and Jojo are three guys that I really think are upper tier for what they do.

He invested in the Raiders with their move to Vegas. Heck, getting the Raiders to Vegas was basically all him and a huge win for the organization. You hear the players talk about the facilities being some of the best there are and they get high marks on the player surveys. The valuation of the team has skyrocketed since the move.

It seems like we finally have a HC and some momentum. The Chefs are the class of the league so it is a tall order to bring them down but we did beat them. I have heard a lot of negative comments by Raider fans about Davis but I have never seen any reason to be down on him.... other than that hideous haircut.

Yeah, I watched a Real Sports (I think it was) about him a few years ago and came away really liking him. His childhood wasn't all chocolate covered berries and scones. Despite growing up with money, his parents kind of messed him up IIRC.

Al was a pioneer and awesome football man like no other has ever been (even if he somewhat 'lost' it in his later years) but I can't say that I would expect him to be a great father.

Somewhat? Al Davis is/was the man. He was a loon at the end. Sad.

Mark tells a story about Al firing him at age 14 for spotting the football wrong at practice.

That sounds 100% like him

 

[pollardsvision]

Trying to buy as many WNBA hats as I can (can't decide on a favorite team, so why not all?)
It's been a more interesting quest than I thought it would be.

Lets's just say I'm not the target demographic for WNBA merch. Read: I'm an old fart with no style. I buy most of my clothes at Sam's.
So, when it comes to a hat, I wouldn't want to, nor could I ever, pull off a flat-brimmed hat (get off my lawn!). Also, not doing skullies/beanies/tobagans. Also not doing bucket/gardening hats.

Just a curved brim ball cap for me, thanks. For the record, no I don't wear white New Balance sneakers.
Also not trying to go a bunch of random sites. Just teams stores or Amazon (no luck there anyway).

Anyway, it's a far more difficult endeavor than you might imagine.

Best I can tell, about half the teams don't really even sell ball caps. Or at least nothing an old fart would consider a "hat".

I'm going to do you fellas a favor because I know you'll be shopping for a hat soon. Here are all the hats I can find on the WNBA team stores.

Atlanta Dream Actually a pretty good selection by WNBA standards
Chicago Sky Hats hidden under accessories. They have 2 actual hats . Both sold out indefinitely
Phoenix Mercury 1 hat. Flat-brimmed.
Connecticut Sun That one solid hat keeps showing up on the site, but no way to actually buy it the best I can tell.
Dallas WIngs Solid. That 920 is on the way
Indiana Fever 2 hats for adults. Both say "Clark". I'll just leave that at that.
LV Aces Solid selection (good job Mark). Not much on pure white or black hats and don't love the logo on a hat though. Gonna get that red one.
LA Sparks Can't find any merch at all. Which is fine. I can't imagine curved ball caps are allowed in LA anyway.
Minnesota Lynx Headware link goes to nothing. Although I love them, that's fine. Not trying to buy knock-off T-Wolves hat.
NY Liberty Only 1 hat, but it works. If you're okay buying a hat for a NY superteam.
Seattle Storm Not terrible if you're into fuzzy stuff, beanies, and gardening hats.
Washington Mystics I can't find any.

 

[djmich]

Lets's just say I'm not the target demographic for WNBA merch. Read: I'm an old fart with no style. I buy most of my clothes at Sam's.

Not sure that isn't the target market or at least a significant one...

 

[pollardsvision]

Lets's just say I'm not the target demographic for WNBA merch. Read: I'm an old fart with no style. I buy most of my clothes at Sam's.

Not sure that isn't the target market or at least a significant one...

If there's an entourage of middle-aged dudes that can't get enough WNBA, please send them my way. I can't find them in the wild.

 

[pollardsvision]

Great game so far.

Both fun young teams just sort of starting to find their way.

 

[pollardsvision]

How can you not love this!

Whoever wins, both of these teams taking major steps forward.

 

[Moe.]

I don't pretend to know anything about this subject that Brink is talking about.

I'll just say the reaction on the WNBA subreddit seems overwhelmingly positive about her comments.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/1d8vci5/la_sparks_cameron_brink_there_is_a_privilege_for/

Alright, in the full context, I don't think that's too bad. Might not have used the word 'masculine' there, though. Yikes.

Being charitable, I think there's a good chance that she didn't mean it the way it comes off in writing. I imagine she was probably acknowledging two separate privileges she has in the area of general popularity/fan support - being a white player (as opposed to her black teammates) and being more feminine (as opposed to her teammates with other gender identities) - but just awkwardly seemed to combine things by the way she stated it.

I don't think you have to be charitable to understand her point. Its just that she's acknowledging out loud what most people are uncomfortable discussing.

I'll give an example - when I hosted a watch party for the NCAA final four women's volleyball tournament last year (my alma Wisconsin is a perineal powerhouse and made the final four), guess what most of the guys are all focused on? Of course I get it, but is that hard for a group of grown men to watch these incredible athletes (who are less than half our age) play their sport without constant comments about their sexual appearance? These athletes aren't dressed up for a photo shoot, they're competing at the highest level of their game and yet many spectators can't help but focus on the masculine features and sexuality of the athletes.

a what now?