10 years later

We met in the fourth grade. I was nine years old. At Ms. Jeannie's house on Miles Street, I was the ultimate tomboy, playing football, tag, suicide, and whatever creative games we made up, with the boys after school. One warm afternoon, the boys asked me if I wanted to play basketball, which I had never played. Of course I agreed, I was not one to turn down a good competition. We played a game of five on five right there on Miles Street using a stolen milk crate attached to the telephone pole as our basket. Tamir had somehow cut the bottom out. I still have no idea how he did that. I can't remember if my team won, but I played my heart out. I even uttered my first curse word out of frustration of missing a shot. It was a great feeling. We played until the street lights came on and even then I didn't want to stop.

I came to love the game of basketball. I learned about the game from my older friend Tamir, by watching NBA games and playing NBA Live video games. I played pick up games here and there. I watched faithfully as the infamous UConn Women's basketball team in '95 went a whole season undefeated (30-0) , dethroned the reigning national champion, Tennessee Lady Volunteers, and put Women's basketball on the map. I had favorite players, but I never had a favorite team. In most cases I would root for the underdog, but when it came to college basketball, men or women(this is still true) UConn was the team I was rooting for.

In the sixth grade, I thought I wanted to play pop warner football, but myAuntie convinced me that it would be dangerous. PAL (Police Activities League) kinda found me that year. All of the guys in my school were playing ball on a team for them, so I decided to go out for a team that year. I ended up being the only girl on my team, named after the college team, Villanova. I played center, given that I was taller than all of the guys on my team at the time. They all probably got me by about a foot by now. We had a horrible season, winning only one game. We were a new team, every other team had veteran players and had been playing with eachother for at least a year. We had to adjust to one another. We flipped that around the next year and almost went undefeated until the post season, losing in the first round of the playoffs. I'll never forget Coach Carlos and my boys. I learned so much and developed into a pretty decent player.

During my second season playing for Villanova, it was announced that the innaugural season of the WNBA would start that summer('97). I could not have been more excited. The now defunct ABL had already been in action, but there was so much more hype with the formation of the WNBA. The Women's Olympic team had formed their own "Dream Team" and
just won the gold in Atlanta. The likes of Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Rebecca Lobo (Uconn Alum) would be automatic bids in the innaugural draft. I remember attending the New York Liberty's first game at the Garden that season. I think they played the Phoenix Mercury. Back then I took ballin more seriously and thought I might one day be in the WNBA. I watched every game that was televised that season and Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets (champions that season and for the next three seasons) became my favorite player. I modeled my style of play after her, when I became a shooting guard in high school. I wore the same signature ponytail she had and I even wore her number (14) when I played in high school. She was the Michael Jordan of the WNBA.

Now, ten years later, the WNBA is still going strong, and I am still a loyal fan of the game. In ten years they have twice as many teams. There were only eight teams in 1997 and there are now 14 teams. There is even a team in my home state ( Go Conneticut Suns!). It is the tenth anniversary and no longer are they the unknowns proclaiming "We got next!" I feel like I have grown with the league over these last ten years. I watched as teams got added and then removed the next season, and as my favorite players retired or were traded to a new team, i.e Cynthia Cooper, Sue Wicks, Kym Hampton, Teresa Weatherspoon, Sophia Witherspoon. I watched and cried as Kim Perrot, of the Houston Comets, fought and lost her battle with breast cancer.

The tenth anniversary season tips off 15 days from now and I will be watching as usual. If you haven't gotten a chance to experience a WNBA game, you should. If you love the game of basketball, you will enjoy it. If you are looking for the flash or dunks that the NBA sometimes brings, you will not find that here. Their style is defined by hustle, defense, and fundamentally sound play. Although there is almost a guarantee you will get a dose of flash or dunks if you watch a game featuring the play of Diana Taurasi( Phoenix Mercury and UConn Alum:) ), Ticha Penicheiro(Sacramento Monarchs) or Michelle Snow(Houston Comets).

22 televised games this season. Watch it. :)