Slog

I agree with some of this. The only way I knew there was even a Storm game on yesterday was that I happened to see some fans wearing jerseys in the parking garage.

The letter writer is right. The Storm is the best ticket in town.

Sorry nothing against women athletes on a personal level but women's basketball is painful to watch most of the time and they shouldn't be playing in large arenas in the first place. The Storm are no substitute for the Sonics.

Yeah, I had absolutely no idea that the WNBA playoffs were even going on right now until I saw a mention of it last night on the news. They definitely need to do more (or at least better) in terms of advertising. I probably won't go, but that's just because I'm not a pro basketball fan.

Brendan is a sexist, shithead son of a bitch.

Great argument Carollani. That'll fill the seats! You should suggest that to the Storm marketing team as the new Slogan:

"Seattle Storm, if you don't enjoy watching us, you are a sexist, shithead son of a bitch!"

The Majestics went undefeated this year up to the conference championship. The Storm's not the only winning team we've got.

@5,

i'm glad to take my girls to Storm games. i'm glad to buy them Sue Bird jerseys. Brendan's comments are, however, absolutely correct. the basketball is painful to watch. the one player they had who can really ball (Lauren Jackson) is out.

and you don't do yourself any favors with the vitriol. it's clear he doesn't have a problem with female athletes, or the Storm, per se.

i am now prepared to be called names.

Blame the morons who scheduled the Storm game at the same time as the Seahawks game. Frankly the league is stupid to play its games during the summer anyhow.

@3 nailed it. That is exactly what I was thinking too when I read the post.

Women's basketball is painful to watch. They throw up more bricks and airballs than I'd ever imagine. It is shameful to watch a game.

The WNBA simply isn't fully of quality talent. Sure there is 10 players in the entire league that have talent, but basketball is a team game, and honestly I wouldn't waste my time at a game even if the tickets were free.

Many many people feel that way. It has nothing to do with sexism, but rather how I choose to spend my free time watching quality athletic competition.

It just isn't there folks. @5 you can call names all you want, but a fact is a fact.

Werd.

@6: I don't care if you don't like watching basketball, and that's not what I was referring to in Brendan's comment. I was referring to this ignorant-ass blather:

"women's basketball is painful to watch most of the time and they shouldn't be playing in large arenas"

the problem with the WNBA is one part marketing, one part season dates, one part game style.

Um, who are the Majestics?

I'm a UW hoops fan who started attending Storm games out of withdrawal. They are fun to watch, a really good team, tickets are affordable, and the family atmosphere/ inclusion of kids in the festivities is really refreshing. It sucks that Lauren Jackson isn't playing-- as she's a spectacular athlete and a fierce competitor who is amazing to watch-- but there are women on the LA Sparks who DUNK. And this is the playoffs. You gotta go!

I don't think that the stadium was half empty. And I think the fans more than made up for it. Though I definitely recommend that people fill it up Tuesday.

As an aside, while the teams are great, the refs at Storm games are mind-bogglinly terrible. I don't understand why, but they are consistently clueless.

@10: When was the last time you watched a Storm game? Get off it.

@14: So true. Some of the worst calls ever.

@10 ITA. You can be an enlightened, liberal feminist and not enjoy the WNBA.

Unlike women's tennis or soccer, where the lack of athleticism actually makes for a more aesthetically pleasing game, women's basketball is a visibly worse product than the men's version--by far. When you don't have the ability to dunk or power through your opponent, the game shrinks to the level of a mediocre high school team. Nobody will pay money to see the equivalent of a 14-year-old Steve Nash.

Pro sports is about seeing world-class athletes. The WNBA, sadly, is not world-class. The reason the USA women's basketball team won a gold medal is simply because other countries are way more sexist than we are and don't have laws like Title IX to promote women's athletics.

I was hanging out in a bar the night the Storm won it all in 2004. Nobody was watching the game and, in fact, someone had to nag the bartender to turn it on.

Storm wins and... no jubilant shouts from the bar. A few heads swivel up to the TV and the general reaction is "Oh, that's nice." Their victory parade didn't draw very well either. In a team as championship starved as Seattle, nobody cared.

Bill Simmons had a great question: Take the sports team in question and would the average person rather (a) see that team win it all, or (b) find fifty bucks on the sidewalk. I could see a lot of sports fans bypassing the fifty for a Mariners world series win or a Seahawks superbowl victory. A Storm WNBA championship? Based on the citywide shrug over their last championship, most folks would take the fifty. I know I would.

Friends don't let friends watch girls try to be good at sports.

This is not so hard to fathom. People don't go because women's basketball is boring.

I'd pay to see a 14 year old steve nash play in the WNBA in drag.

@Carollani: I feel your pain. I had a guy tell me yesterday that women can't throw a football because 'their bodies just aren't made for it'. Not that they couldn't be linemen or running backs. Nope, that we can't throw the football because our arm muscles will never been good enough.

When I suggested that maybe it's because we don't play pass in the yard everyday, or because there arent a million womens football teams to play in when we are like, 4, he shrugged and said 'nope, not to be sexist, but women are just bad atheletes.'

We are still fighting a battle, and it sucks. I think men forget that in the 1970's (or was it 60s?) women were not allowed to run with the ball in basketball, since they thought it was bad for their health and would possibly faint or have a heart attack.

@Carollani - 64-50. That was the final score yesterday. Americans like scoring, and the WNBA doesn't have enough.

Also, the Sparks made 31% of their shots, while the Storm made 36% of theirs. That sounds like an ass-ugly game, and it is a typical WNBA stat-line.

All of the women are good athletes, but the GAME is not as aesthetically pleasing as the men's game.

Agree with Doug@9. The Storm are surprisingly fun to watch, but scheduling it alongside the Seahawks game meant that you lost a lot of the potential fanbase. That's where I was: I would have loved to do both if possible. :(

Carolanni, for someone who wants to give the impression of being knowledgeable about sports, you really ought to know that Sundays are for football. That is the answer to your question.

holy shit, there's a women's basketball league?!?
god, good luck marketing that.

Let's get things strait here, I didn't give a shit about the Sonics and I won't give a shit about the Storm. Granted though one of the biggest things to tip me off about the Sonics being in the playoffs was the local media, and this was the first time I've heard the Storm mentioned in the media in the past year. I never went to a Sonics game, and I don't plan to go to a Storm game, basketball is boring, needs more phasers.

Most if not all the haters here have probably never been to a Storm game. But that doesn't excuse your criticism. If you expect women to play just like men, when yes their bodies are different, you're dumb. But if you think their not playing like men makes the game lame, you're more than dumb. You are sexist.

"Lack of athleticism actually makes for a more aesthetically pleasing game"? That's just totally fucked up. If that were the case then no one would watch college sports because compared to pros, the players would seem to "lack athleticism." So what if the women in the WNBA can't play in the NBA? They are still great athletes who deserve more respect than they're getting.

Monique, you have to be kidding me. Women in professional football? If you think the barrier to entry is simply availability of opportunity for women in football then you're only looking at part of the picture.

I like the idea of the Storm, but the main reason I don't follow the team or go to games is that I just really, really don't give a crap about basketball. Plus, there's the constant shoe squeaking. God, the shoe squeaking.

The "ashamed of my city" line reminds me of people I know who express similar sentiments when the shows they are in don't sell out. (Although they usually say they are ashamed of their whole country.)

When their shows do sell out, they complain that the crowds of douchebags are ruining what used to be a cool vibe.

If you're a Storm fan you can get tickets for a very reasonable price and have good seats. Awesome! What's wrong with that? Are you really dying to sit behind the same fans that crowd Seahawks games?

@28 sorry but the reality is even more severe than your hypothetical about college sports

In basketball many people actually like men's college ball MORE than the NBA because the style of play is different, whereas there are many high school men's teams in the US that could beat a WNBA team. People watch sports for entertainment, bricks and airballs are not entertaining. I am not a sexist just because I don't enjoy the WNBA.

Trevor, how can a preference of game style be sexist? people don't like the WNBA because it's played by women, it's because they can't do anything we've become accustomed to with the NBA or even better, college basketball. There is nothing wrong in having a preference of one game over another if you accept one style over another.

@22 - For a fair comparison, we can look at the javelin throw, at which both men and women compete.

At the world class level, men throw the javelin around 90m, while women throw it around 70m. It should be added that the men's javelin weights 33% more than the women's.

That isn't to say that women are bad athletes, because that is obviously wrong. But, I don't think it's sexist to observe that men and women are different physically.

@28 sorry but the reality is even more severe than your hypothetical about college sports

In basketball many people actually like men's college ball MORE than the NBA because the style of play is different, whereas there are many high school men's teams in the US that could beat a WNBA team. People watch sports for entertainment, bricks and airballs are not entertaining. I am not a sexist just because I don't enjoy the WNBA.

Men's basketball is painful to watch. Have any of you even seen robo-basketball? Robo-ballers make 100% of their 3 point attempts and stand 20 feet tall. I can't believe those suckers who went to Sonics games, good riddance.

Pro football is for brutes - and - it is not a game for women at the pro level

the vagina on the field is often the quarter back....who is also the team cocksucker

I have tried to go to Storm games several times and just had to leave early. Painful.

But seemingly a good social time for all the ladies and their ladies and their kids ... beware the city will give them money to kep them at Key Arena

Also, maybe they need to advertise a bit ... marketing in sports is big

well i think we've reached the 'you're a sexist!' quota for this thread. anybody ready to compare someone to hitler? come on, storm fans - you're gonna have to step up your game if you want to shame people into caring.

i went to the game, the Storm looked aight. I think part of the lack of fans is the fact that Lauren wimped out and decided to go have her surgery, eventhough, she was well enough to play in the olympics for her aussie team. she abandoned her team mates when they were one of the best teams in the WNBA. say what you will, but gary payton WOULD HAVE NEVER DONE THAT. he would have been out there if his team was in the playoffs. she could have waited to get her surgery after the championship. she obviously was well enough to play in the olympics, but its her choice, but it shows her heart is not in the storm. too bad, she is the best hoops player ive seen since cooper lit it up for Houston, and without her (LJ), the Storm looks sloppy and they have no inside game. Sue Bird is on and off. somedays she is on fire, others she cant find her shot. the Storm is not going anywhere without LJ. and i know her fans are all kissy feely and they have all the " we love you LJ signs, but the fact is she walked out and the team is gonna lose. that's why there werent that many fans.

I don't there is really a debate conerning whether women's bodies are well suited to playing football. Shit, there's a question as to whether women's bodies are well suited to playing soccer--girls get more concussions playing soccer than boys get playing football.

As far as the WNBA is concerned, America simply does not care about professional soccer or women's athletics. MLS soccer owners understand, and that's why the owners have started building smaller stadiums that can actually sellout--more excitement, higher ticket prices, more advance tickets (i.e. people go to games on shitty days becuase they already bought a ticket), etc. That's all the ealier poster meant about women should play in smaller stadiums. It would help the WNBA immensely.

Bellevue, I am not advocating that women be in pro-football...there are lots of reasons why. I was simply stating he said women can't throw a football because 'our bodies aren't built for it'. And that is stupid. Sure, we may not be built to take a hit from a lineman, or deliver said hit. But just standing around throwing a football, come on. And for the record, I used to be able to throw a football pretty good. Back when I was in a men's wrestling team and doing 400+ pushups a day.

You should have thrown a football at his groin to prove him wrong.

Also, a comparison about javelin is not a good comparison. Throwing a football is about accuracy and speed, not just distance. The fact that most passes are, what, 30 yards? My point is that with something about speed and accuracy (taking out the game, just standing and throwing) I think if a woman was trained in the same way as men are, she could be just as good.

@13: Um, who are the Storm?

The Majestics are Seattle's IWFL team. And since you're too retarded to know how to use Google, the IWFL is the Independent Women's Football League.

Seattle has another winning team, and it's not in a boring, male-dominated sport like basketball. The Rat City Rollergirls are ranked 2nd in their division and third nationally, which I believe is equal to the Storm's current ranking. Hopefully they'll be able to start playing in Key Arena soon and give the general public a dose of a real women's sport.

I liked watching and took my family to the Reign games in the Mercer Arena. But that was because those games were played during basketball season, not on one of the few beautiful evenings we have here. (It didn't hurt that 7 of the 9 City Council members back then were women and you could get a lot of schmoozing done at a game, which were all packed with fans.) Basketball is an indoor, winter sport. Since the NBA killed the former women's league out of fear of competition and made the WNBA play during the summer, I say fuck 'em all.

As I have said for years, ever since she made fun of the retarded, she is a complete and total cunt.

How you sit there and blast people for being sexist for not enjoying a cut rate sport, while you sit on your high horse and make fun of the developmentally disabled, is pathetic. Chances are, you went to the game cause A: you had nothing else better to do, and B: you thought you could get laid.

Grow up and join the human race you bacon strip fish pot.

^ was for our illustrious Carollani.

Last night's game was atypically low-scoring, for both teams. Yes the scoring percentages were pretty dismal, but again, lower than normal. Also, the lower bowl was way more than half full. I'd say at least 75% full - although I was disappointed they didn't have to open at least one section of the upper bowl.

Original Monique is making the most sense in this thread. Love how we've reached the "you're a sexist" threshold but not the sexist comment threshold.

@43 - Granted, javelin isn't a good measure of accuracy. But, speed and distance are the same thing. Throwing it fast is basically the same as throwing it far, except aiming lower.

I think javelin is a good example because I'm comparing well-trained world class male and female athletes. And, in this case, when taking into account the weight difference of the javelins, men throw about 70% farther than women.

I can't believe we ripped through 45 comments before Henry @45 finally mentioned the one team in the NW that everyone should marvel at, regardless if you're a sports fan or not. Who just happen to be women. The Rat-City Roller-Girls.

They're the only sports team made of people who actually reside in this area, bout against teams from all over the country, and have also headlined Key Arena once before.

What they have accomplished these last 5 years is nothing short of breath-taking. Half of these women are undeniably world class athletes. Seeing these people skate leaves you with the feeling that roller-derby will be a televised mainstream sport in the very near future.

They may have suffered some humiliating losses this year, but I am hoping they pull together and take back the championship this year. They still have a lot of key players, and plenty of talent. They are the only sports team that has made me proud to be from Seattle.

@33 & 35: It's about more than preference for a style of play if your main reason for preferring one over the other is gender-- look back at the comments on this blog if you don't believe that most of the anti-WNBA posts aren't hating on women's athletic ability in general, hating on the very concept of professional women's sports. The Storm plays good basketball (usually). It's not like basketball with an asterisk.

If you think women can't shoot a basketball, you've probably never seen a storm game, and you probably missed the fact that the Storm hits more of their free throws than the UW men's bball team (which I'm also a fan of). In fact, the Storm have been much more fun to watch than the Huskies or the Sonics in part because they WIN. Also because LJ rocks.

Also: what @49 said.

it's not that nobody's talking about the storm, because, um, we've been covering the storn over at seattlest. heh. just saying.

it's not that nobody's talking about the storm, because, um, we've been covering the storm over at seattlest. heh. just saying.

I went to the game on Sunday. It was so freakin fun. I'm male, 27, and enjoy football, basketball, and soccer. I tell you I can't get enough of the Storm. They're passionate, love their fans, and DO put on a good show unlike the Mariners or Seahawks. Bottom line is don't talk trash about the WNBA if you haven't seen a game. It's the most intimate sporting experience you could possibly have and the team will most likely win. They will need all the support they can get for Tuesday's big game. You will not find a much better 1st game to watch so give it a go. 6pm KeyArena. You won't be disappointed!