Hi, C here...So, okay, I was at the craft store (I do too, go to the craft store on a regular bases) and saw a package of little jingle bells…..so I got this great idea. I am bringing them to the next game and will pass them out and every time freshmen Jocelyn Tinkle touches the ball we shake the bells. Maybe only three times, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, to let her know we appreciate her! Really, she looked great in the first preseason game; her moves were very reminiscent of Jayne Appel. We expect big things out of her. So if you are at the craft store yourself, pick up some jingle bells, not the big cow bells, although they had a big ol’ clapper bell I almost bought but then R would have killed me. Just the little jingle bell kind. Well, I did get three different sizes to experiment with the sound, but pick up the size you like and meet me at Maples on Sunday.
Speaking of Jayne, she received another honor. She was named to the Associated Press' preseason All-America team. I am sure it is well deserved. She had a great year last year and when healthy, hopefully more of the same. But isn’t picking a preseason All Star Team really just voting on last year’s performance? I mean it is preseason, no one has done anything yet, right?
After getting whooped by Stanford 107-49, Vanguard went over to Cal and Cal ONLY beat them 101-81. HA. But two of their five hundred freshmen shined brightly, so we are worried about the youth factor. Let’s hope brains and experience can beat them when we meet Cal.
Okay, C and R are always happy when one of our local newspaper, the SF Chronicle this time, pays attention to women’s basketball, so it was nice to see an article about Nekka Ogwumike and her “skying” ability (hey, that’s what we call it when she jumps so high, too). Jayne says she is jumping even higher this year. So much so that Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer is concerned that Ogwumike will get called for goal-tending this season. Gulp! And, oh, the Chron used the spelling of her nickname Nneka. So we have to get with the program and start using it, too.
Come out Sunday with your tinkle bells to see Jocelyn, Jayne, Nneka and the rest, here on Gilligan’s Isle, we mean Maples Pavilion. Sunday at 2:00 PM.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Exhibition
Okay, we must admit, when the announcer said, “Welcome to the first game of Stanford’s season”, we got goose bumps! Even though it was an exhibition game, even though it was a low turn out of a crowd, we were so excited to be back at Maples.
Yes, yes, Stanford opened its season with an exhibition game Sunday and we are sorry we didn’t write earlier. But we got side tracked with a gorgeous trip to the beach. But I bet you are glad we are taking that count down scoreboard thingie down, now that basketball is here!
So, we walked into Maples Sunday and were disappointed by the low turn out in the stands. To be fair, the Stanford women’s soccer team was playing right outside on another gorgeous California Fall Day. Make that the unbeaten, number one team in the country Stanford women’s soccer team playing right out side and maybe that drew some of the fans. Although by the time Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Nekka to us now) lined up for the jump ball, it was an okay crowd (sorry we don’t have the numbers).
We like to get there early to watch warm ups. We aren’t the only ones, as the jumbotron scoreboard started to show last years highlights, the Stanford women looked up to watch. It’s easy to forget these young ladies are only in their late teens and early twenties and it’s nice to see they are not jaded about watching all the great things they accomplished last year.
We get to see the new freshmen, Mikela Ruef (as in “the Roof is one fire”), from Beavercreek Ohio, near C’s old hometown of Dayton, and Jocelyn Tinkle. To keep C from being childishly immature about her last name, R might have to buy her a small bell so she can tinkle it when Tinkle grabs a rebound or scores a point.
And wow, Sarah Boothe has lost a lot of weight. So much that she has resculpted her body. And she has a stress fracture in her foot. If she can still find away to exercise and lose weight, then there is hope for C and R! The staff is still unsure of she is going to red-shirt and give up this season.
C and R scope out our opponents. Vanguard University. C sure hopes we beat them because Vanguard is the one that lost nearly half her money in her 401(k)! No? She is confusing the Vanguard Company with little Vanguard University? She does that every year we play them. C and R have to use R’s fancy phone to look them up and remind themselves that Vanguard University is a small Christian school near LA. There must be a connection to Stanford and Vanguard, a former Cardinal on the athletic staff perhaps? We will have to work on that one and get back to you.
Anyhoo, Vanguard is small, with only two players over 6 feet tall. So small that when Nekka jumps for the ball to start the game, their center does not even jump and the rest of the team falls back on defense, conceding the ball.
C and R hate to say this, but Stanford doesn’t look all that sharp to start the game. C says they look ragged. R says they look nervous. They seem to miss many open players. Both teams make turnovers. Neither team scores until 2:20 into the contest, when Nekka gets a lay up.
Dependable Jeanette Pohlen starts hustling and dropping shots. Nekka is so athletic, and can really sky when she jumps. She even steals a pass out of the air meant for center Jayne Appel, and makes the basket. Speaking of Jayne, she still does not look 100% with her injured knee and we hope she can rehabilitate it in time for the opening game.
Stanford finds a rhythm and it is 25-7 when the subs come in. We get to see a lot of Tinkle. She blocks a shot and then gets a rebound on the other end and she looks almost identical to Jayne. Same build, same moves, wow, she is going to be effective off the bench early on!
After a half time of expensive hot dogs, the game starts up again and we notice two things. Stanford is almost predictable in its offensive movement and the out of bounds play takes 4 and-a-half seconds to develop. IN the out of bounds play under the basket, the ref hands the ball off and starts counting and by the time the guard comes around the horn from Africa, the count has reached 4.5 and at 5 seconds they lose the ball. It is pretty close. Maybe this is one time you don’t want to have all those reads and options and instead just throw it in.
So on offense, it could be this is the only offense they have had time to practice, or want to show this early on, but even C and R knew where the players are going to stand and when they would cut. The one bright spot is when Nekka gets the ball and can’t find anyone open, she is athletic enough to create her own path to the basket. If I were a coach, I might want to clear out everyone and hand the ball to Nekka and say, “Go score!” Maybe they could do it every third rotation or something.
At one point, a Vanguard player gets tangled with Kayla Pederson and they both go down but only Kayla gets back up. The Vanguard player stays down and the refs call time out. Finally, one of the Vanguard trainers comes out to her, and another follows. They appear to only have the two trainers. They eventfully help the player up and after the required polite crowd applause, the smaller trainer tries to put her arm around her shorter shoulders and support her weight. Stanford player JJ Hones, out for the game so the subs can play, taps the trainer on the shoulder and offers to take her place to help support the Vanguard player and proceeds to help take her to the visiting locker room. JJ has torn her ACL, twice, so she knows a thing or two about hobbling off the court. Still, C and R thought that was pretty classy.
As the game continues, it is hard to nitpick on a team that is closing in one 100 points. Lindy LaRocque hits another three and Cinnamon (Ashley Cimino) gets us to 100 points. R makes the observation that Melanie Murphy looks really good. She has great ball handling skills, is good at spotting the open players underneath the basket and is not afraid to pull the trigger on passes. She even hits a couple of outside shots. Very impressive.
The game ends 107-49. The Stanford players slap hands and all wait their turn to shake hands with the fallen Vanguard player, now out of the locker room on crutches with a big bag of ice strapped to her knee. Again, very classy. They return to the Stanford bench and ask where are the red balls to fire into the crowd after a victory? Even a preseason victory is a victory. They look just as disappointed as C when the media relations women shakes her head and tells them, “no red balls to throw”. Darn.
Still we get to exit out into the warm California sunshine. Same time next week.
Yes, yes, Stanford opened its season with an exhibition game Sunday and we are sorry we didn’t write earlier. But we got side tracked with a gorgeous trip to the beach. But I bet you are glad we are taking that count down scoreboard thingie down, now that basketball is here!
So, we walked into Maples Sunday and were disappointed by the low turn out in the stands. To be fair, the Stanford women’s soccer team was playing right outside on another gorgeous California Fall Day. Make that the unbeaten, number one team in the country Stanford women’s soccer team playing right out side and maybe that drew some of the fans. Although by the time Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Nekka to us now) lined up for the jump ball, it was an okay crowd (sorry we don’t have the numbers).
We like to get there early to watch warm ups. We aren’t the only ones, as the jumbotron scoreboard started to show last years highlights, the Stanford women looked up to watch. It’s easy to forget these young ladies are only in their late teens and early twenties and it’s nice to see they are not jaded about watching all the great things they accomplished last year.
We get to see the new freshmen, Mikela Ruef (as in “the Roof is one fire”), from Beavercreek Ohio, near C’s old hometown of Dayton, and Jocelyn Tinkle. To keep C from being childishly immature about her last name, R might have to buy her a small bell so she can tinkle it when Tinkle grabs a rebound or scores a point.
And wow, Sarah Boothe has lost a lot of weight. So much that she has resculpted her body. And she has a stress fracture in her foot. If she can still find away to exercise and lose weight, then there is hope for C and R! The staff is still unsure of she is going to red-shirt and give up this season.
C and R scope out our opponents. Vanguard University. C sure hopes we beat them because Vanguard is the one that lost nearly half her money in her 401(k)! No? She is confusing the Vanguard Company with little Vanguard University? She does that every year we play them. C and R have to use R’s fancy phone to look them up and remind themselves that Vanguard University is a small Christian school near LA. There must be a connection to Stanford and Vanguard, a former Cardinal on the athletic staff perhaps? We will have to work on that one and get back to you.
Anyhoo, Vanguard is small, with only two players over 6 feet tall. So small that when Nekka jumps for the ball to start the game, their center does not even jump and the rest of the team falls back on defense, conceding the ball.
C and R hate to say this, but Stanford doesn’t look all that sharp to start the game. C says they look ragged. R says they look nervous. They seem to miss many open players. Both teams make turnovers. Neither team scores until 2:20 into the contest, when Nekka gets a lay up.
Dependable Jeanette Pohlen starts hustling and dropping shots. Nekka is so athletic, and can really sky when she jumps. She even steals a pass out of the air meant for center Jayne Appel, and makes the basket. Speaking of Jayne, she still does not look 100% with her injured knee and we hope she can rehabilitate it in time for the opening game.
Stanford finds a rhythm and it is 25-7 when the subs come in. We get to see a lot of Tinkle. She blocks a shot and then gets a rebound on the other end and she looks almost identical to Jayne. Same build, same moves, wow, she is going to be effective off the bench early on!
After a half time of expensive hot dogs, the game starts up again and we notice two things. Stanford is almost predictable in its offensive movement and the out of bounds play takes 4 and-a-half seconds to develop. IN the out of bounds play under the basket, the ref hands the ball off and starts counting and by the time the guard comes around the horn from Africa, the count has reached 4.5 and at 5 seconds they lose the ball. It is pretty close. Maybe this is one time you don’t want to have all those reads and options and instead just throw it in.
So on offense, it could be this is the only offense they have had time to practice, or want to show this early on, but even C and R knew where the players are going to stand and when they would cut. The one bright spot is when Nekka gets the ball and can’t find anyone open, she is athletic enough to create her own path to the basket. If I were a coach, I might want to clear out everyone and hand the ball to Nekka and say, “Go score!” Maybe they could do it every third rotation or something.
At one point, a Vanguard player gets tangled with Kayla Pederson and they both go down but only Kayla gets back up. The Vanguard player stays down and the refs call time out. Finally, one of the Vanguard trainers comes out to her, and another follows. They appear to only have the two trainers. They eventfully help the player up and after the required polite crowd applause, the smaller trainer tries to put her arm around her shorter shoulders and support her weight. Stanford player JJ Hones, out for the game so the subs can play, taps the trainer on the shoulder and offers to take her place to help support the Vanguard player and proceeds to help take her to the visiting locker room. JJ has torn her ACL, twice, so she knows a thing or two about hobbling off the court. Still, C and R thought that was pretty classy.
As the game continues, it is hard to nitpick on a team that is closing in one 100 points. Lindy LaRocque hits another three and Cinnamon (Ashley Cimino) gets us to 100 points. R makes the observation that Melanie Murphy looks really good. She has great ball handling skills, is good at spotting the open players underneath the basket and is not afraid to pull the trigger on passes. She even hits a couple of outside shots. Very impressive.
The game ends 107-49. The Stanford players slap hands and all wait their turn to shake hands with the fallen Vanguard player, now out of the locker room on crutches with a big bag of ice strapped to her knee. Again, very classy. They return to the Stanford bench and ask where are the red balls to fire into the crowd after a victory? Even a preseason victory is a victory. They look just as disappointed as C when the media relations women shakes her head and tells them, “no red balls to throw”. Darn.
Still we get to exit out into the warm California sunshine. Same time next week.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Practice Makes Perfect
If you have been as mesmerized by our little count down graphic at the top of the page as we have, then you would know Stanford plays its first exhibition game of the season this Sunday, November 1st!
All C and R can say is…FINALLY!
We know these girls are smart, they do attend Stanford classes, after all, but now they have to go to point guard camp. The SF chronicle reported that Tara is running a camp for point guards. R thinks are biggest question mark will be the point guard spot, although she loved the look she got from JJ Hones in an early practice. Now, let’s hope she is healthy in time for regular season play.
The Chron article also said that they want Jayne to, gulp, take more threes?!? We know Kayla plays that way, and that you want to be more versatile as a team, but don’t take your best player away from her strength. Jayne scores her points close to the basket, rebounds well close to the basket, and when double-teamed near the basket, is the best passer to find the open player even closer to the basket. I think it would be a mistake to have Jayne on the perimeter.
Well, we will find out in the coming weeks…
All C and R can say is…FINALLY!
We know these girls are smart, they do attend Stanford classes, after all, but now they have to go to point guard camp. The SF chronicle reported that Tara is running a camp for point guards. R thinks are biggest question mark will be the point guard spot, although she loved the look she got from JJ Hones in an early practice. Now, let’s hope she is healthy in time for regular season play.
The Chron article also said that they want Jayne to, gulp, take more threes?!? We know Kayla plays that way, and that you want to be more versatile as a team, but don’t take your best player away from her strength. Jayne scores her points close to the basket, rebounds well close to the basket, and when double-teamed near the basket, is the best passer to find the open player even closer to the basket. I think it would be a mistake to have Jayne on the perimeter.
Well, we will find out in the coming weeks…
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Open Practice
Hi, it is R (solo) again, a second blog in a month! And you thought the world was going to end in 2012! Anyhoo, I told C that I was going to Stanford today to watch Lacrosse and support Coach Jaime. She couldn’t go because she was going to watch her son dunk other boys, I mean play water polo. She informed me that Stanford Women’s Basketball is having an open practice and BBQ and although she was bummed to miss that, she told me to go and take notes. These “open” events are for the Fast Break Club - fans who contribute financially to support Stanford’s program. Since I am not a member of the FBC, I rationalize that our blog helps with PR or marketing efforts or hmm, and well, I walked into Maples Pavilion to watch an impressive scrimmage with Refs!
After the scrimmage and before the BBQ, I saw a Lacrosse game. OMG, that is a sport for the toughest chicks with stix and Stanford’s team is good. They were killin’ their opponent. I was amazed and confused at this new sport. How much time do you have before you have to pass or shoot – is it unlimited?
And, after a goal is scored what is the ref doing with those two opponents before whistling the start? (Wikipedia: The "draw" is what starts the game and keeps the game going after a point. The draw is when two girls, one from each team, stand in the center circle with the backs of their sticks facing each other. Then the referee places the ball between the two sticks. Each player has to push their sticks together parallel to the ground to contain the ball.) Bizarre. If I were reffing, I’d be sure to get the heck outta Dodge before whistling the start.
And, had I had the opportunity to run around a field and smack another kid with a stick when I was growing up, huh, basketball may have taken a back seat! I immediately call C to tell her all of this. She shouts into her dying cell phone she would love to go to a Lacrosse practice and run around with a stick and chase a ball.
So, after about 45 minutes, I head back to the Basketball BBQ. As I approach Jimmy V’s, I see Jayne and her entourage, I mean the Stanford Women’s Basketball team leaving. Boy, Jayne is the one everyone gravitates towards. Everyone wants to be in her orbit!
With the team exiting, I figured that I missed my opportunity to mingle. But then I heard Tara addressing the fans, so I walked in, again. Tara impressed me. She seems to be growing and learning along with her players. She mentioned the pressure defense we will face this fall and how competitive this season will be – I read her words to mean that we will not have an easy time, even winning games in the Pac-10 will be challenging.
Specifically, Tara named a few who will make the rotation and continued that not all 12 women play in every game. She said Jayne is in the rotation although not 100% healthy today, and maybe will be at full strength in a month or so. She named Kayla and new and improved Nneka as great contributors (notice the new way we will spell Nneka’s name. I think we saw it in a press guide once). Then she mentioned the two freshmen; Joslyn could be in the rotation and continued that Mikaela is probably not ready. Tara added that Jayne improved immensely from her freshman year to her sophomore year -- giving hope for Mikaela next season.
Tara said that many players are battling staying healthy and that Ros lost her big toenail in today’s scimmage – and showed it to Tara –purple nail polish and all. I don’t know if Tara talked about her starting point guard, but I hope it is JJ Hones. I saw JJ pass the ball today – well, she reminded me of Diana Taurasi. Overall, I was impressed with the high level of play at the scrimmage. I don’t think we are any match for Geno’s team, but we will likely win most of our Pac-10 games. The fresh start of a new season always brings such unbridled hope and anticipation. I can’t wait for the games!
After the scrimmage and before the BBQ, I saw a Lacrosse game. OMG, that is a sport for the toughest chicks with stix and Stanford’s team is good. They were killin’ their opponent. I was amazed and confused at this new sport. How much time do you have before you have to pass or shoot – is it unlimited?
And, after a goal is scored what is the ref doing with those two opponents before whistling the start? (Wikipedia: The "draw" is what starts the game and keeps the game going after a point. The draw is when two girls, one from each team, stand in the center circle with the backs of their sticks facing each other. Then the referee places the ball between the two sticks. Each player has to push their sticks together parallel to the ground to contain the ball.) Bizarre. If I were reffing, I’d be sure to get the heck outta Dodge before whistling the start.
And, had I had the opportunity to run around a field and smack another kid with a stick when I was growing up, huh, basketball may have taken a back seat! I immediately call C to tell her all of this. She shouts into her dying cell phone she would love to go to a Lacrosse practice and run around with a stick and chase a ball.
So, after about 45 minutes, I head back to the Basketball BBQ. As I approach Jimmy V’s, I see Jayne and her entourage, I mean the Stanford Women’s Basketball team leaving. Boy, Jayne is the one everyone gravitates towards. Everyone wants to be in her orbit!
With the team exiting, I figured that I missed my opportunity to mingle. But then I heard Tara addressing the fans, so I walked in, again. Tara impressed me. She seems to be growing and learning along with her players. She mentioned the pressure defense we will face this fall and how competitive this season will be – I read her words to mean that we will not have an easy time, even winning games in the Pac-10 will be challenging.
Specifically, Tara named a few who will make the rotation and continued that not all 12 women play in every game. She said Jayne is in the rotation although not 100% healthy today, and maybe will be at full strength in a month or so. She named Kayla and new and improved Nneka as great contributors (notice the new way we will spell Nneka’s name. I think we saw it in a press guide once). Then she mentioned the two freshmen; Joslyn could be in the rotation and continued that Mikaela is probably not ready. Tara added that Jayne improved immensely from her freshman year to her sophomore year -- giving hope for Mikaela next season.
Tara said that many players are battling staying healthy and that Ros lost her big toenail in today’s scimmage – and showed it to Tara –purple nail polish and all. I don’t know if Tara talked about her starting point guard, but I hope it is JJ Hones. I saw JJ pass the ball today – well, she reminded me of Diana Taurasi. Overall, I was impressed with the high level of play at the scrimmage. I don’t think we are any match for Geno’s team, but we will likely win most of our Pac-10 games. The fresh start of a new season always brings such unbridled hope and anticipation. I can’t wait for the games!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Jaime Part II
Remember we talked to Jaime Sellers, Stanford Assistant Women’s Lacrosse Coach. We recently heard from Jaime and she had some more to say. Previously we asked her how she got a paying coaching job right out of college and Jaime wanted to talk more about her wonderful head coach Amy Bokker.
“When I was hired, I recognized Amy was taking a risk in hiring someone with very little to no actual coaching experience. Amy's mentoring nature and giving young aspiring coaches the opportunity to be a part of something great is one thing the Amy feels is of the utmost importance to the growth of not only lacrosse, but women in sport. I feel lucky that a coach of Amy's caliber and experience believed in my ability and desire to coach.”
Wow, we are lovin’ Stanford’s head coach more and more. C and R enjoyed listening to Jaime talk about her experiences with trying out for the national team. We have never personally known someone who has made it that far in her sport, so we appreciated the insight and first hand knowledge. Jaime wanted to add to what she said.
“ The experience was great, but I am unsure I will participate in the process again. I felt the try-out was very well organized, but by the end I started to feel that the coaches already had in mind who they were most likely going to pick. With my best play coming at the end of the weekend, I was hoping I could impress the selection committee, but unfortunately it was a little too late and I fell short of doing so. Overall, I want to stress how honored I felt to make it to the last round and that it was, above all, a great learning experience.”
“When I was hired, I recognized Amy was taking a risk in hiring someone with very little to no actual coaching experience. Amy's mentoring nature and giving young aspiring coaches the opportunity to be a part of something great is one thing the Amy feels is of the utmost importance to the growth of not only lacrosse, but women in sport. I feel lucky that a coach of Amy's caliber and experience believed in my ability and desire to coach.”
Wow, we are lovin’ Stanford’s head coach more and more. C and R enjoyed listening to Jaime talk about her experiences with trying out for the national team. We have never personally known someone who has made it that far in her sport, so we appreciated the insight and first hand knowledge. Jaime wanted to add to what she said.
“ The experience was great, but I am unsure I will participate in the process again. I felt the try-out was very well organized, but by the end I started to feel that the coaches already had in mind who they were most likely going to pick. With my best play coming at the end of the weekend, I was hoping I could impress the selection committee, but unfortunately it was a little too late and I fell short of doing so. Overall, I want to stress how honored I felt to make it to the last round and that it was, above all, a great learning experience.”
Monday, October 12, 2009
WNBA Finals
Congratulations to the Phoenix Mercury, for winning the WNBA Championship over the Indiana Fever in a best of five competition. The papers say it was the “big three”, Diana Taurasi, Cappie Pondexter and Penny Taylor that did it, but we sooooo love Diana Taurasi. The powers that be agreed with us by voting Taurasi the Finals MVP to go along with her league MVP. Diana didn’t always have the most points, but she contributes in so many ways. She really helped her team by stepping up her rebounding and her defense.
This is Phoenix’s second championship in three years. Phoenix won it with the super-speed style that then-coach Paul Westhead used in 2007 and Corey Gaines adopted when he took over. And we love this quote:
“When I first started coaching in the WNBA coach Westhead, who is my mentor — who we owe this championship to as much as him being here right now — he told me, ‘We're going to coach the players as players, not women, ball players”' Gaines said. “And it's funny how they embraced it because they enjoyed being treated that way. Instead of being treated as women basketball players, we treat them as ball players.”
We love that many are saying this WNBA finals is the finest in the WNBA’s 13 year history. The five games were entertaining and so well played that it gave a lot of attention and respect to the WNBA.
In the deciding game five in Phoenix, Phoenix Suns captains Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Grant Hill purchased the tickets in the upper bowl of US Airways Center, then gave them away, leading to a sellout crowd of 17,313. We here at C and R wish they didn't have to do that, that the public will come out on their own after seeing and hearing how great these women play.
The great Mechelle Voepel reports that:
“Television ratings and attendance were up, with the last three games of the Finals being sellouts. The total attendance for the series was a record 82,018. Upper-deck seats were bought and distributed by members of the Suns organization for the contests in Phoenix, which no doubt helped. But both games in Indianapolis sold out with no freebies.”
Going from on the verge of losing the WNBA franchise, so selling out your home games in the finals is great for Indiana. We hope they are around next year for Phoenix to beat again!
This is Phoenix’s second championship in three years. Phoenix won it with the super-speed style that then-coach Paul Westhead used in 2007 and Corey Gaines adopted when he took over. And we love this quote:
“When I first started coaching in the WNBA coach Westhead, who is my mentor — who we owe this championship to as much as him being here right now — he told me, ‘We're going to coach the players as players, not women, ball players”' Gaines said. “And it's funny how they embraced it because they enjoyed being treated that way. Instead of being treated as women basketball players, we treat them as ball players.”
We love that many are saying this WNBA finals is the finest in the WNBA’s 13 year history. The five games were entertaining and so well played that it gave a lot of attention and respect to the WNBA.
In the deciding game five in Phoenix, Phoenix Suns captains Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash and Grant Hill purchased the tickets in the upper bowl of US Airways Center, then gave them away, leading to a sellout crowd of 17,313. We here at C and R wish they didn't have to do that, that the public will come out on their own after seeing and hearing how great these women play.
The great Mechelle Voepel reports that:
“Television ratings and attendance were up, with the last three games of the Finals being sellouts. The total attendance for the series was a record 82,018. Upper-deck seats were bought and distributed by members of the Suns organization for the contests in Phoenix, which no doubt helped. But both games in Indianapolis sold out with no freebies.”
Going from on the verge of losing the WNBA franchise, so selling out your home games in the finals is great for Indiana. We hope they are around next year for Phoenix to beat again!
Friday, October 9, 2009
#1 Fan?
C and R got an email from the University of San Francisco Athletics Department. They wanted to let us know about their new ad campaign to attract more fans to their women’s basketball games and wanted our help to get the word out. Then a week later we got a similar email from St. Mary’s. At first we thought, boy, we are glad someone out there knows how to use Google! Then we realized we are turning up in Google when people are searching for women’s college basketball. Cool! Nothing like invented pride to swell ones head! Our little ol’ blog is getting noticed, typos and all. And with a great blog about women’s college basketball comes great responsibility. So we want to do our part to help promote women’s basketball, not just Stanford.
So I picked up the phone and had a wonderful talk with Rachel Engrissei, Assistant Media Relations Director for theUniversity of San Francisco Athletics Department. Anytime I get to talk women’s college basketball with someone equally excited, it’s a good day! We both acknowledged that there is a need to attract more fans to women’s games in general. She told me The West Coast Conference has launched an innovative marketing campaign titled the “WCC Fan Draft”. She gave me some background on this new campaign.
Wait, first, go to the website listed below, pick a team and try it out. It is cute! Then come back and finish the rest of this post.
In the quest to find the “No. 1 fan” for all eight institutions, fans should visit http://wccfandraft.com/ and enter their name and phone number to attend the virtual WCC Fan Camp and have a chance to win tickets to the 2010 Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships on March 5-8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. (What happens in Vegas…hmmm, maybe C and R will go to the Final Four this year!)
The ad is based on a clever idea Gonzaga had last year that sparked a lot of buzz in the sport business/marketing world. The other colleges in the conference wanted to try it out, but marketing takes money, and we are talking about women's basketball…..so the WCC applied for a grant!
The program was funded by a 2009 -10 NCAA Women’s Basketball Marketing Grant. The West Coast Conference was one of only 18 recipients of the grant program, which dedicated approximately $750,000 nationally to increase awareness, exposure and increase attendance of women’s basketball.
“With the help of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Grant, the West Coast Conference and its institutions were given the opportunity to design and implement a new and unique viral marketing campaign that would have not been possible in the past,” said WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich. “We feel very strongly about promoting our women’s basketball programs as much as possible, and feel that the WCC Fan Draft concept will greatly enhance each of our school’s women’s basketball marketing efforts for the 2009-10 season. We hope that success from this program will help us to continue to earn these grants in the future.”
We love that the WCC Commissioner feels strongly about promoting women’s basketball. We are going to do our part and some WCC games. Do yours too, and meet us there!
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