WNBA Monarchs See Season-High At Arco With Gay Pride Promo

The WNBA Monarchs hosted their first Gay Pride event Saturday at Arco Arena for their game against the Shock, and "coincidentally, the Monarchs hosted more than 300 high school girls basketball players that same afternoon for a daylong event dubbed 'Hoop To Do,'" according to Debbie Arrington of the SACRAMENTO BEE. While attendance at the game was "among Arco's highest of the year at 9,365 — 1,001 more than for the league-leading" Sparks on Thursday — there was "nothing confrontational; no protests and no shock." Monarchs fan Kat Fox, wearing a "Davis Dykes salute the Maloofs" button, said, "I'm loving it. There's more people here than any game I've seen this season, and Detroit is not a draw. There's even a lot of gay guys" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/22). Also in Sacramento, Ailene Voisin: "For the better part of five seasons, the WNBA largely ignored the whispers — and a significant percentage of its own fan base — until a handful of owners and league officials noticed the drop in attendance and did the math. ... And then they did the smart thing. They stopped overlooking one group of fans (lesbians) for fear of alienating another (families), and with a few franchises taking the lead, expanded their marketing plans to include members of the lesbian community. ... The WNBA needs lesbians. The WNBA needs people, period." Meanwhile, as "there will be complaints, and undoubtedly some defections" because of efforts to market to the lesbian community, Kings co-Owner Joe Maloof, in a "preemptive strike," met with a rep from Capitol Resource Institute, a non-profit group that "advocates for conservative, family-oriented legislation," and he agreed to hold the upcoming Traditional Marriage Night. Maloof said the rep was "worried that we were favoring one group over another, but I explained to him that we're eager to have all groups" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/21).

SITTING ON THE FENCE? In Miami, Greg Cote, on WNBA President Val Ackerman saying the league is "trending upward": "If this is 'trending upward,' somebody must be holding Val's chart upside down." The WNBA "weighs how to grow its fan base," and it "faces a unique quandary in that. Call it the Lesbian Factor. It is a sensitive topic. I can see sweat beading on my editors' foreheads at the very mention of it here." The league "isn't quite sure whether to worry it has too many lesbian fans ... or sincerely wish it had a heck of a lot more." Meanwhile, as Mercury F Lisa Harrison, who won Playboy.com's recent "Sexiest Babe of the WNBA" poll, has said she may pose nude for the magazine, the "poor league isn't sure whether to be aghast over its Nudegate, or grateful for the pub" (MIAMI HERALD, 7/21).

MERCURY RISING: In CA, Bob Keisser, on Harrison possibly posing nude: "It is a dicey issue. Female athletes want to be taken seriously, but slipping between the pages of a men's magazine out of uniform just reinforces old stereotypes and the well-worn double standard" (Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM, 7/21). In Charlotte, Tom Sorensen, on Harrison: "If she wants to pose, she should. ... If fans want to buy tickets to watch women play basketball in the summer, they should, and if a woman wants to pose nude or nearly nude for Playboy, she should" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/22). In Portland, Abby Haight: "Harrison should say no. ... It is naive to think that Playboy and Sports Illustrated were merely intent on showing strong, beautiful women. They just wanted the beauty part. Nude beauty. ... Harrison's beauty, like that of all athletes, is in her grace and her effort" (OREGONIAN, 7/22). In Palm Beach, Karen Crouse writes, "Having worked so long and hard for control, why would any female athlete want to go strike a pose of weakness?" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/23).

BUZZLESS IN SEATTLE: In Seattle, Steve Kelley, on the Storm, who have lost 10 of their last 11 games: "The fact is, the Storm is playing in a vacuum. Take away the niche-group of about 4,000 fans and nobody else in this city cares. This team is making no grand-scale impact. It hasn't convinced Seattle's real sports fans it deserves their attention. It hasn't been entertaining" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/23).

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