An idea: WNBA games outdoors!

StevenHW

Starter
(I posted part of this message on the women's b-ball message board on ESPN.com, but I thought I'd share this with you as well.)

On the Charlotte Sting page, Sam Smith (the team's play-by-play radio guy) got inspired when he found out that the Arizona State Sun Devils' women's b-ball team will be hosting Texas Tech on December 18th (a week before Xmas) at Chase Field, a retractable domed stadium in Phoenix that the Arizona Diamondback baseball team uses. It was formerly called the Bank One Ballpark (or "The BOB", for short).

(click below):
http://www.wnba.com/sting/blog_smith_06.html


As for outdoor basketball, I really like the idea, but not on a regular basis. Since the WNBA is a summer league, the weather can get really hot (depending on which city you live in), so perhaps a night game might be better!

I'm not sure what place the Monarchs could play games outdoors, though. Maybe at Raley Field? Hornet Stadium at Sac State?

Besides, many basketball players got their start playing outdoors, either on their parent's driveway, garage, public basketball courts (or "street basketball"), or at a schoolyard. So, it will be like a trip back to their childhood for many of the WNBA players! :)

According to the following weblink, there was also an outdoor game Dec. 27, 2000, which involved the UT Lady Vols and the Arizona State Sun Devils. Ticket proceeds went to benefit breast cancer research. The Volunteers won that game, 67-63. It was the first-ever NCAA Women's Basketball game held outdoors, and it drew 16,282, the largest crowd to see a Pac-10 women's basketball game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=2583854

The more I think of the idea, the more I like it: outdoor WNBA games under the stars during a hot summer night! C'mon, Donna, make it happen! :)
 
um, well it's a great idea, but that's why I don't often attend the Rivercats games. Sun in your face, hot, water is expensive...
 
um, well it's a great idea, but that's why I don't often attend the Rivercats games. Sun in your face, hot, water is expensive...


Yes, but if they had the outdoor Monarchs games at nighttime, then it might not be that bad! They would need a later starting time, though, because at 7:00 p.m., there is still sunlight.
 
Eh...no to the outdoor games....I attended that game ASU hosted back in 2000 @ what used to be called Bank One Ballpark. And it was their first attempt at doing that. The next one they did was back indoors and I ended up going to that one as well. The outdoor thing was an interesting concept, but the practicality was a little off.

I was in town anyway for the college bowl game Phx hosts so I grabbed a ticket for the basketball game, and how often do you get to see Tennessee out in the West?

The problem was first, the way the seats are situated @ Chase/BankOne it wasn't condusive to good basketball watching. Even tho they only used a part of the seating in the ballpark, it still was tough because all the seats there are situated to be facing home plate. Second of all, it was COLD as all get out that night (in December) and the fans were freezing, the players were freezing and more problematically, the COURT was freezing and alternatingly thawing. They couldn't put too much heat on the players because it would cause condensation on the court. So they were all huddled up under heavy coats and blankets on the bench with some space heaters when they weren't in the game.

I can't imagine what it would be like trying to get a M's game going in the dead of summer here. The Rivercats had a hard enough time during that heatwave and it barely cooled down when the sun went down.
 
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