The WNBA is Playing a Game Outside
We just got this from our friends at the League:
On Saturday, July 19, the first ever regular season outdoor professional basketball game will be played at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. The Liberty Outdoor Classic features the New York Liberty against the Indiana Fever in perhaps the biggest showcase of women’s basketball to date. Played under the stars, we expect the largest crowd in WNBA history.
The NBA/WNBA family, in partnership with the Liberty, is offering tickets to this historic event at discounted prices: lower level seats are available for only $30.00 (regularly $39.50) and upper level seats are just $10.00.In addition, the Liberty will donate $1.00 of every ticket sold to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation! http://www.bcrfcure.org/
Click here to access this special offer: http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/yupxik
Not a bad idea and it helps a great cause.
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June 20th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
shake&bake says:
Can I start off the comments with a: who cares?
June 20th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Austin Burton says:
@shake — Did you ever get in on this discussion?
http://dimemag.com/2008/05/dime-mag-whats-wrong-with-the-wnba/
I’d like to know your opinion.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Jim says:
I think it’s cool. Not that I am going to watch.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Blue says:
i agree with Jim…
the NBA should consider doing an exhibition game like that.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Celts Fan says:
Great idea. Loved it in hockey and it’s a great idea here too.
Any WNBA “showcase” has to feature Candace Parker though, right? ESPECIALLY in NYC. missed opportunity… To me, I love ball, but I don’t watch the WNBA cuz I like the above-the-rim game. Candace can do that.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
G says:
Good idea, and an even better idea to have it at Ashe stadium. I normally just see the WNBA while Im flipping through channels and havenever been to a game. But this would bring me out.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
hahns says:
gota agree w/ celts fan..
if youre going to do a stunt like this, gota have the league’s marquee players on the floor. i dont know many wnba players, but i sure as hell dont know any on the indiana fever….which goes to prove the point even more. to draw the causual fan out, better put as much star power on the floor as possible.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Yawn……
June 20th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Actually I’d start watching the WNBA if the baskets were set at like 7-8 feet. Watching those ladies try to dunk on one another would be interesting at the least.
Also, does anybody remember the uniforms of the Brazilian national team (or maybe it was the Australian team) at the 04′ olympics? I’d watch if the WNBA uniforms were like those. How can short spandex shorts on athletic women be a bad thing?
June 20th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
jimmhumm says:
Wnba isn’t that bad. Chicks just don’t dunk. But all of the people hating on the WNBA can’t either.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Jim says:
jimmhumm, I have no interest in watching it, at all, so it’s not like I’m saying oh, they can’t dunk so that disqualifies it.
Reggie never got above the rim for blocks and rebounds in his latter days and he was fun to watch. It’s just a different game. I have reffed girls ball, so it’s not like I have animosity towards it, I just don’t want to watch it on TV.
*Can dunk.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Austin Burton says:
Is dunking really THAT important? Tim Duncan dunks a lot and everyone on here keeps calling him boring. On the flip side, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Allen Iverson, etc. rarely dunk but sell plenty of tickets.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Kobeef says:
@Spliff
On that same wavelength…the pro beach volleyball ladies get lots of people out to their outdoor events…maybe the NBA should look into that to see why it works….(cough cough)
I also like the lower rim idea. Most women at 3-4 inches shorter than men and generally not as strong as male basketball players of the same caliber (elite men vs. elite women) so why is the rim the same height?
In Kiddie B-Ball the rim is 8′ and it makes total sense because the kids don’t have the strength to throw accurately at a 10′ rim. I think the WNBA should look at that.
9 foot high rims would make a lot of sense for the WNBA.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Austin Burton says:
Lowering the rim just doesn’t work on many levels. Basketball is supposed to be a universal sport, where everyone can go to a playground and play. Are you gonna make it so young women grow up playing on a 10-foot rim, then once they go pro it’s all of a sudden a foot or two shorter? That’s just nonsensical. It’s not like golf where you’re simply letting the ladies tee off from a shorter distance. You’re not altering the layout of the course for them. I think the basketball being smaller is enough as it is.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
pimpin says:
its not the dunking. Its the lack of athleticism. Women in basketball move like players from the 60s- they don’t move very smoothly. They move like they’re made of legos. The product just doesn’t look as appealing.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
@Austin
Good point about basketball being universal. Lowering the rims would make the WNBA more of a gimmick than anything else. So maybe instead of lowering the rim they raise the floor?
June 20th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Big Freeze says:
They should start a new team in Las Vegas and call em the Playboy Bunnies. That might boost the ratings.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
miamiVIS3 says:
What’s the difference between outside and inside? It’s the same damn game! If you have to play outside to get people to watch (which is the case here and was the case in hockey) you have major problems. This is the stupidest gimmick ever!
June 20th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
doc says:
Who is good on the Liberty?They better break out the girl Brazil Olympic unis real soon or they will have no fans except the lesbos.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
word says:
lmao @ big freeze
and dunking is extremely important. the main reason i like lebron is cuz hes a beast at the rim.
June 21st, 2008 at 1:35 am
Jeffrey says:
This is a very good idea. I hope they have covering cause it might rain. The wnba should get alot of attention because they’re just as good as the men