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Events and Attractions

Seattle Lauded As Host For WNBA All-Star Game, With Large Crowd, Celebs At KeyArena

The WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday "delivered a satisfying spectacle" that included an "ample amount of highlights and limited doses of defense" in front of 15,221 at KeyArena in Seattle, according to Percy Allen of the SEATTLE TIMES. Celebrities in attendance at the event included Basketball HOFers Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens, former NBAers Fred Brown and Gus Williams, Seahawks CB Richard Sherman, Celtics G Isaiah Thomas and USWNT MF Megan Rapinoe (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/23). In Seattle, Larry Stone wrote the arena was "filled nearly to the rafters," and was "rocking again, a paean to its glorious past and perhaps a harbinger of a prosperous future." They "all but blew the iconic roof off the place." The fan favorites were Storm G Sue Bird and F Breanna Stewart, whose "every appearance and every move was rapturously received." However, what "shined brightest on this afternoon, which brought out the best and brightest of our sports scene" was the "universal appreciation for Seattle as host." Mercury G Diana Taurasi: "This fan base is one of the best I've ever seen in any sport, in any country I've played in." Stone noted with the ninth anniversary of the Sonics’ departure for Oklahoma City having "recently passed July 2, the All-Star festivities were one of those periodic reminders of the power of a community coming together for a sports event" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/23). WNBA President Lisa Borders said, "I have to give all credit to the team here. The Seattle Storm worked collaboratively with the city; they have made us feel so welcomed. Turning the city orange and bringing us all together has been incredible. Raising the flag at the Space Needle -- unique and iconic experiences." Bird said, "This city really takes pride in its basketball. I’ve felt that for 16 years and I’m just really happy the All-Stars can feel it” (“WNBA All-Star Game,” ABC, 7/22).

STORM BREWING
: The AP's Doug Feinberg noted the Storm's owners "know it's a great opportunity to show off the city, the franchise and the team's passionate fans to a national audience." The trio of Lisa Brummel, Dawn Trudeau and Ginny Gilder "bought the team nearly 10 years ago to help keep it in Seattle" when the SuperSonics were leaving town (AP, 7/22). ESPNW's Matt Eisenberg profiled Storm Senior VP/Marketing & Business Operations Shannon Burley, who was "part of the crew that helped bring" the All-Star Game to Seattle for the first time (ESPNW.com, 7/21). 

THE SOCIAL ASPECT: In N.Y., Howard Megdal notes Brummel, Trudeau and Gilder "constitute one of only two all-female ownership groups in major American sports, and they understood the role that they could play in furthering the progressive causes they believed in." Gilder: "I definitely got involved in the ownership group because I saw that this was the intersection of three things that I love: sports, business and social justice." The Storm "showed their activist bent" with last Tuesday's rally for Planned Parenthood, "raising $41,790 by donating ticket proceeds." Megdal notes teaming with Planned Parenthood is "anything but a cautious choice." The "decision to take advocacy from implicit to explicit came directly from the days after the presidential election last fall." Deciding to hold the Planned Parenthood event "grew from this desire to do more, but the owners did not want the players to feel pressured to join." So the idea was "discussed at the team’s annual dinner." Trudeau: "We told them at that dinner that we were planning on doing this, that it was an owner initiative, that they had no responsibility to participate." But it turned out "many Storm players wished" to do so. The Storm’s event was "not too surprising, however, in a league where social activism has become common." Trudeau "sees the effort by the Storm as reflective of that environment." She said, "It’s like what we’ve seen with athletes in recent years. You’re living in this world. And you’re saying: ‘This isn’t right. What can I do?’ And all of us look at what assets, what tools, are available to us. I want to make a difference" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/24). 

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