Slightly OT: WNBA team in Portland?

[Norman Dale]

Probably not the place to ask this, but I will anyway. Would the Blazers be interested in bringing the LA Sparks to Portland? From what I understand, the Sparks are $12 mil. in debt and the owners just turned the team over to the league. With McGowan's connections to the LA area and the Blazers looking to add dates to the Moda Center after the Blazers season (i.e. Arena Football), would they look to bring back the WNBA? The Sparks have Candace Parker, who I guess is a great player (I haven't watched a WNBA game in a long time) and some other pretty good players, and they were a final 4 team last year. Anyway, I know with the success of the Thorns in women's soccer, maybe it's time to bring back the WNBA to Portland. I know my two girls would love it.

 

[Reep]

Didn't they have a WNBA team at one point?

Yup:

The Portland Fire joined the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000 as the counterpart to the NBA team the Portland Trail Blazers. They played their games at Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. The team folded after the 2002 season, after just three seasons in the league. They were the only WNBA team that had never made the playoffs, until the Chicago Sky joined the league.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

No thanks.

 

[Norman Dale]

Yes, 11 years ago. I seem to remember someone named Jackie Stiles being drafted by them. Before the Fire, there was the Portland Power, with Katy Steding. That was before the WNBA got started though. Not sure the name of that league. I think Portland's changed a bit though since the last team was here. We also had Arena Football before, the Fire Dragons, and they're bringing that back. Maybe we'll see the Lumberjacks come back too!

 

[Reep]

It must kill Seattle to have a WNBA team, but no NBA team.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Portland would probably support it.

 

[BlazerWookee]

"Slightly," lol...

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Yes, 11 years ago. I seem to remember someone named Jackie Stiles being drafted by them. Before the Fire, there was the Portland Power, with Katy Steding. That was before the WNBA got started though. Not sure the name of that league. I think Portland's changed a bit though since the last team was here. We also had Arena Football before, the Fire Dragons, and they're bringing that back. Maybe we'll see the Lumberjacks come back too!

Stiles was quite the prolific scorer back in the day. Short, blonde, athletic, with some big braces. Kinda cute, too, back then. That was about the only interest I ever had in women's basketball. Same with women's soccer. You see them in a commercial or in a magazine, learn the name, and that's about the extent of the connection with their sport (Um, yeah....... Alex Morgan anyone? I'd go watch women's soccer if she were my girlfriend).

 

[Natebishop3]

It flopped before, and I blame the WNBA for inspiring the Blazers to create that stupid mascot Blaze. I used to be proud of our team for not having some goofy idiotic mascot running around.

 

[Draco]

If they had tournaments where a WNBA team played a high school boys team I'd be much more interested in the league.

 

[BlazerWookee]

If they had tournaments where a WNBA team played a high school boys team I'd be much more interested in the league.

There'd be better competition if it was a middle school boys team...

 

[Natebishop3]

There'd be better competition if it was a middle school boys team...

Come on now.... that's just rude.

At least put them up against a men's wheel chair league.

The Wheel Blazers maybe?

 

[Draco]

Theres a lot of womens sports I really enjoy; track, gynastics, soccer, figure skating, but probably mostly tennis. Womens crossfit is actually pretty interesting too.

Basketball is just not a sport that its enjoyable to watch women play. I'm all for girls playing it, especially youth. But don't expect people to support a pro team of it.

 

[BlazerWookee]

Theres a lot of womens sports I really enjoy; track, gynastics, soccer, figure skating, but probably mostly tennis.

Basketball is just not a sport that its enjoyable to watch women play. I'm all for girls playing it, especially youth. But don't expect people to support a pro team of it.

Hell, I'd watch women's hockey before I'd watch WNBA basketball.

 

[Natebishop3]

Theres a lot of womens sports I really enjoy; track, gynastics, soccer, figure skating, but probably mostly tennis. Womens crossfit is actually pretty interesting too.

Basketball is just not a sport that its enjoyable to watch women play. I'm all for girls playing it, especially youth. But don't expect people to support a pro team of it.

Two words:

Women's

Volleyball.

I won't even watch the men. There's no reason to.

 

[Draco]

Two words:

Women's

Volleyball.

I won't even watch the men. There's no reason to.

Oh yeah can't believe I forgot that one.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Didn't they have a WNBA team at one point?

Yup:

My college friend Jenny Mowe played on that team, iirc. She was a sweetheart.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Stiles was quite the prolific scorer back in the day. Short, blonde, athletic, with some big braces. Kinda cute, too, back then. That was about the only interest I ever had in women's basketball. Same with women's soccer. You see them in a commercial or in a magazine, learn the name, and that's about the extent of the connection with their sport (Um, yeah....... Alex Morgan anyone? I'd go watch women's soccer if she were my girlfriend).

Actually I watched a couple of Fire games since I hate MLB during the summer, and Stiles was a bust. She was the big draft pick that Portland was going to build around, but never became much more than a run of the mill player. I attended one game and saw more turnovers than the Blazers sometimes have in a 3-game homestand.

 

[julius]

Two words:

Women's

Volleyball.

I won't even watch the men. There's no reason to.

men play volleyball?

I like the Womens Beach Volleyball though. Love me some Kerri Walsh

 

[BrianFromWA]

duh.

 

[julius]

duh.

what you don't see in that clip is that the other actors, Anthony Edwards and Val Kilmer, are both playing in 18 inch deep trenches, so Tom Cruise wouldn't look like a child. Pretty sophisticated editing for the early 80's.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I'd watch it Ironically.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

It flopped before.

The expectations were too high and was run by a very bloated SPAM management team. The last season in Portland they averaged 8041 attendees. That is better than 8 of the current 12 franchises totals for last year.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

I cannot watch it on TV, but would definitely go see them at the Moda Center. My wife would love them too.

 

[riverman]

It'll never replace rollerderby!

 

[jlprk]

Longer thread 3 days ago.

http://sportstwo.com/threads/254863...t-in-the-NBA?p=3226397&viewfull=1#post3226397