There’s a movement happening in Seattle though for most people it’s under the surface.
No, we’re not talking another Nisqually earthquake.
Seattle’s women’s professional basketball team, the Storm, is one game from winning the national title. It could get decided tomorrow night, which means you’ve got one day to become anointed.
Anointed to the power, speed, skill, size and grace of the only team of professional women athletes in this city. Ready to celebrate the first national title by a local pro sports team since, well, since the Storm won it all in 2004.
Storm forward Swin Cash after sinking a bucket (Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images)
That’s right, I’m saying national title. This is the World Series of women’s basketball, though if you listened to the café conversations or bus stop chatter you might not even know it was happening.
38 years after the passage of Title IX and women still need to elbow their way into our communal sports consciousness. I’m amazed at the number of local sports fans I talked to on Monday, the day after the Storm won the first game of the series, after Sue Bird coolly drilled the ball through the net with less than 3 seconds to play, who were clueless. “Man, did you see the game?” I would ask. “Yeah, the Seahawks finally won one”, or “Yeah, the Mariners lost another.” Or the lamest one I heard, “I find girl’s basketball boring. The last time I watched was about 8 years ago.”
Sue Bird beats Angel McCoughtry to the bucket for two points.
Aaron Last/Storm Photos
As my daughter would respond sarcastically, “really?” Meaning, “really, are you that out of it?”
But I have to admit, I can see how they would be. Though it’s the biggest sporting event in town, you can’t watch it on network television (it’s not even broadcast on the main ESPN station, but on ESPN 2). The front page of the paper isn’t amping the hype as it might be for, say, a Sounders game in the middle of the season. If you didn’t know what the Storm team flag looked like, you’d think that the fabric waving from the top of the Space Needle might be signaling the end of national pancake month.
So, I’m lending a hand here. I’m helping you find your cool by directing you to a television set tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m. (Check here for places to gather before a communal screen). On Friday morning you’ll have lots to talk about at the bus stop. Maybe even a national title.
(click here to read my interview with Storm owner Ginny Gilder)
Comments