The WNBA Draft yesterday was held at ESPN's HQs in Bristol, Conn., and the proceedings “appeared to go off without any major problems” with “dozens of national media personnel in attendance, in addition to ESPN’s own staff televising the event live,” according to Paul Angilly of the BRISTOL PRESS. The event marked the first time ESPN had hosted a league's draft, with “fifteen of the top players and their guests” making the trip. ESPN VP/Programming & Acquisitions Carol Stiff said, “It was a great success for us. I think everyone was very pleased. There was a lot of energy here today.” It has yet to be determined “if the WNBA Draft will return to Bristol next year.” Stiff: “We’ll discuss it with the league, see what they thought, what worked, what didn’t work. We’ll have those conversations, I’m sure, in the near future.” Meanwhile, Angilly notes the players on Sunday “gave a clinic for the children” of ESPN employees (BRISTOL PRESS, 4/12).
FINAL FAREWELL? In Orlando, Shannon Owens writes the WNBA Draft “should be part of a continuing celebration of women’s basketball,” but instead it “ends up serving more as a sad farewell before the game’s top stars disappear into oblivion.” Owens: “We love ‘em and leave ‘em right after the graduation ceremony. By we, I’m mostly referring to the media” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/12).
