"Five Reasons Why Now Is The Time To Give The Seattle Storm A Chance" (A few notes)

My favorite quote from this SBN Seattle article about the Seattle Storm was from Lauren Jackson:

"You're dumb if you haven't already been," said Jackson, when asked what she thinks about fans who are reluctant to accept women's basketball. "Seriously, it's so much fun. Why wouldn't you come?"

And honestly, if you weren't one of the 2-3 people standing there when she said it after practice this summer there's no way to get the full effect -- eye rolls, choosing her words carefully, and a dismissive tone for people who simply refuse to see WNBA games.

The dismissive tone underlying Jackson's comment is something worth noting when reading this -- it's not like they were desperate to beg the world to see Storm games. As indicated in a NPR article earlier this year and repeated later in the season, they're not out to get disaffected Sonics fans who might see the WNBA as a novelty act.

"If they're a basketball fan then they would enjoy it," said Agler when interviewed for the article. "If they are a fan that is like a highlight type fan that likes to see dunks and things like that, they're probably going to walk away not overly impressed because they’re not going to see any dunks."

So it's not as though the Storm were defensive or hostile toward the fans who choose to hate on the WNBA -- quite to the contrary, I'd say they could be described as a whole as dismissive. The following quote from Agler captures that:

"There’s certain people that you’re not going to convince," said Agler. "For someone that’s been in women’s basketball now for over 20 years, I don’t think we have to apologize for anything. We’ve got a great game, we need to keep the people that are supporting us, and our fan base is going to grow. There’s going to be the Neanderthal demographic we’re not going to convince. So why bother?...there’s a certain amount of people that we’re not going to convince and we don’t need ‘em. And unfortunately, that’s just the way it is. I’m tired of trying to apologize and convince people to come out and watch."

He's correct. So the article wasn't written as a "plea" in defense of the Storm or the WNBA and it's not like they were anxious to respond to detractors -- similar to how WPS has described their marketing campaign this season, they're unapologetically female athletes. No need to cajole you into watching, real fans of the game will come. That of course has implications for the ongoing effort to market to male fans: is that something the league should continue to focus on or is it time to head in a different direction?

So the article stands more as a suggestion to Seattle basketball fans who could be missing good basketball -- among the best you'll ever see in the women's game -- simply because they hold flawed preconceived notions of the league. If you don't come, the Storm won't be waiting for you as they make what could be a title run.

To read the article: Five Reasons Why Now Is The Time To Give The Seattle Storm A Chance