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undersized_post
Joined: 01 Mar 2021
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 Posted: 04/04/21 10:24 pm ::: Budding WNBA Fan |
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So this feels like a silly post, but I'm genuinely interested in you all have to say.
I've never followed the WNBA, or any professional sports for that matter. But in the last 3 years or so I've developed an intense passion for women's college basketball. It's only natural that I extend that interest to the WNBA. The problem is I know almost nothing about the league or the teams in it. And I don't feel much personal connection to many of the players in the league since their college days were before I started following the sport. It doesn't help that the alumni of my schools really haven't gone onto successful WNBA careers by any measure.
So, as someone who wants to become a fan: Where do I start???
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Stormeo
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Luuuc
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undersized_post
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undersized_post
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gpark33
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| Posted: 04/05/21 7:34 am ::: |
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Watch as many games of as many teams as you can. You'll start to see which teams and players have an energy that draws you in.
I live in NY and have followed the Liberty since moving here in 99 but I also grew up down south where we worshipped Pat Summitt so I tend to gravitate toward TN players in the W.
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scullyfu
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ucbart
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| Posted: 04/05/21 8:27 am ::: Re: Budding WNBA Fan |
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| undersized_post wrote: |
So this feels like a silly post, but I'm genuinely interested in you all have to say.
I've never followed the WNBA, or any professional sports for that matter. But in the last 3 years or so I've developed an intense passion for women's college basketball. It's only natural that I extend that interest to the WNBA. The problem is I know almost nothing about the league or the teams in it. And I don't feel much personal connection to many of the players in the league since their college days were before I started following the sport. It doesn't help that the alumni of my schools really haven't gone onto successful WNBA careers by any measure.
So, as someone who wants to become a fan: Where do I start??? |
So, knowing you from the college board, I suggest you take the next three seasons to see what players you like and who you don't like. Then, when Caitlin Clark emerges, just hope that she goes to a team you can stand. For instance, as a UCONN fan, I don't like Candace Parker....at all. It's always been easy for me to root against LA as we've never really had a player on that team. Now she is going to a team I like, Chicago, with three Huskies on it. That will be very hard for me.
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pilight
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ClayK
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| Posted: 04/05/21 9:12 am ::: |
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Drama: Phoenix
Up and coming: New York
Veteran and talented: Los Angeles
Well-coached: Minnesota, Washington
Villains: Las Vegas
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undersized_post
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ChasingRatDogmaSalade
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PUmatty
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| Posted: 04/05/21 10:29 am ::: |
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| ClayK wrote: |
Drama: Phoenix
Up and coming: New York
Veteran and talented: Los Angeles
Well-coached: Minnesota, Washington
Villains: Las Vegas |
Dumpster Fire: Indiana
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root_thing
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| Posted: 04/05/21 10:38 am ::: |
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| How did you become a women's college basketball fan? Couldn't you just do a lot of the same things? Initially, you didn't know anything about WCBB. You probably just jumped in, then your natural likes and dislikes took over.
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undersized_post
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| Posted: 04/05/21 11:02 am ::: |
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| root_thing wrote: |
| How did you become a women's college basketball fan? Couldn't you just do a lot of the same things? Initially, you didn't know anything about WCBB. You probably just jumped in, then your natural likes and dislikes took over. |
Not quite... I am easily able to go to WCBB games in person, and for free, and I am pre-programmed to root for my alma maters. Neither of those apply to my relationship with the pro game.
Also, as I child I went to a bunch of MCBB games with my older brothers. So when I started watching WCBB I already knew a lot about the different conferences, historic programs, March Madness, etc. Regarding pro sports, I've never lived in or even near a major city that had a relevant pro team of any sport, really.
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WNBA 09
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| Posted: 04/05/21 12:10 pm ::: |
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| ClayK wrote: |
Drama: Phoenix
Up and coming: New York
Veteran and talented: Los Angeles
Well-coached: Minnesota, Washington
Villains: Las Vegas |
Dallas = Teenagers who can ball , but have no direction of any sorts...
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ClayK
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root_thing
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| Posted: 04/05/21 12:25 pm ::: |
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| undersized_post wrote: |
| root_thing wrote: |
| How did you become a women's college basketball fan? Couldn't you just do a lot of the same things? Initially, you didn't know anything about WCBB. You probably just jumped in, then your natural likes and dislikes took over. |
Not quite... I am easily able to go to WCBB games in person, and for free, and I am pre-programmed to root for my alma maters. Neither of those apply to my relationship with the pro game.
Also, as I child I went to a bunch of MCBB games with my older brothers. So when I started watching WCBB I already knew a lot about the different conferences, historic programs, March Madness, etc. Regarding pro sports, I've never lived in or even near a major city that had a relevant pro team of any sport, really. |
I still see a step-by-step process with a natural progression where you made decisions to follow the two sports and kept learning more. You had your brothers motivating you, but you still had to do the work. It sounds to me like you've already made the decision to follow the WNBA. Now, you just have to do the learning part. No different from being a newbie at anything. It's a little awkward at first, but just ease yourself in. I believe fandom is a matter of following your feelings and instincts. In the end, it's entertainment -- a way to spend your free time. No one else can tell you what you will enjoy. Besides, you can't believe us anyway because we're all biased.
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Queenie
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| Posted: 04/05/21 4:44 pm ::: |
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One of us! One of us! One of us!
Okay, so: your first step is to make sure you can stream games. Good connection, proper technology, etc.
Because your second step will be to get WNBA League Pass when it comes out. (if it comes out, please let it come out) That lets you watch any game that is not nationally televised, locally televised, or overlapping any part of a national broadcast (and the games that are unavailable due to overlap are usually available the next day; I can't remember about the nationally televised games). In this way you can determine which teams you enjoy watching and who makes you go "f*ck you and the horse you rode in on!"
Let it grow organically from there. And hey, there's no law that says you have to pick a team, or any team.
If you have questions, there are fans of every current team on this here board, and a fair few of teams that are no longer extant. They can fill you in on history both recent and distant, let you know "yeah, she's always like that", or link you to why we call players/coaches/owners by nicknames of varying friendliness.
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Queenie
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PUmatty
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| Posted: 04/06/21 8:58 am ::: |
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| The good news is that there is still plenty of time before she eventually retires for you to root against Diana Taurasi.
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Tally24
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| Posted: 04/06/21 10:25 am ::: |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| The good news is that there is still plenty of time before she eventually retires for you to root against Diana Taurasi. |
To root for Diana Taurasi 
I started in 2011. That was my first time to really pay attention to the NCAA tournament. I had went to the 2010 tournament in San Antonio because I lived in Texas and my parents had been UConn fans since they knocked off Tennessee in 95. I was in middle school then, so I didn't know a lot, but I loved Kelly Faris because she reminded me of me at the time: not the best offensive player, but she worked so hard and controlled what she could each possession.
From there, I became I huge UConn fan, and, essentially, I followed Maya Moore to the WNBA. The first game I watched was Phoenix and Seattle on ABC. The broadcast did a nice job of painting the picture of their rivalry. A combination of first exposure, heavy UConn presence (Taurasi, Bird, Cash, Swannier), and team success resulted in these two teams being my two favorites. Watching Minnesota go from worst to first was fun, but Minnesota became my team to "hate."
YouTube is so amazing, especially with older games being posted there with more frequency. I was able to go back and watch the players I liked while they were in college, as well as past games. So, I was able to watch both of the Mercury's championship series from 07 and 09.
Some handy tricks: find players that you like and build around that, go back and watch older games, west coast is best coast, and BEAT LA, BEAT LA! |
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WfanFrJmp
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| Posted: 04/06/21 2:20 pm ::: |
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Welcome!!! It is awesome that you are continuing your love of WBB to the pros. Funny enough, my path was just the opposite. I've been a fan and supporter of the W since the beginning of the league and much later, started to watch more college ball to see where all of this great talent was honed. Since then, I've become an avid fan of a number of college teams sometimes based upon where I am geographically (my alma mater isn't exactly bevy of college bball talent either   ) or where some of my favorite players attended. Similarly, once I started watching the ladies through their college careers, it has been cool to be able to follow them to the teams they land on in the pros. It definitely has caused me to expand the teams I root for and against...lol! As you can see, people are really passionate and generally speaking, the supporters of W are a very supportive, knowledgeable and fun loving community.
On the functional side, one of the best comments is to make sure that you have great internet access and a sports package is really useful. The main thing is to remain flexible, because traditionally, many of the our games are not broadcast on "regular cable"... I think last year we had more on cable but we won't really know until the schedule is provided. If you can believe it, when the league started, some of the games were audio only! The league truly has grown a lot and it is wonderful to be able to support these ladies and watch them do what they love.
Btw, there is extra credit for following the players during their overseas journeys Seriously, many of the players play year round heading out at season's end to play in Russia, China, Turkey, Israel, etc. and arriving just before or after training camp starts. Some of those games are in session now and I think one of the latest tournaments is the Euroleague Women. The semifinals start next week: http://www.fiba.basketball/euroleaguewomen/20-21
Enjoy and again, welcome!!
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Queenie
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| Posted: 04/06/21 7:02 pm ::: |
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| WfanFrJmp wrote: |
| Welcome!!! It is awesome that you are continuing your love of WBB to the pros. Funny enough, my path was just the opposite. I've been a fan and supporter of the W since the beginning of the league and much later, started to watch more college ball to see where all of this great talent was honed. Since then, I've become an avid fan of a number of college teams sometimes based upon where I am geographically (my alma mater isn't exactly bevy of college bball talent either ) or where some of my favorite players attended. Similarly, once I started watching the ladies through their college careers, it has been cool to be able to follow them to the teams they land on in the pros. It definitely has caused me to expand the teams I root for and against...lol! As you can see, people are really passionate and generally speaking, the supporters of W are a very supportive, knowledgeable and fun loving community. |
I followed your backwards path too. I started as a W fan, but during the long offseason I needed another drug to deal with my withdrawal symptoms. Started with Rutgers because my dad's an alum, Sue Wicks is one of my favorites, and I love me some defense, but one of my Liberty neighbors got me and mom into St. John's, and it kind of escalated from there.
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WfanFrJmp
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| Posted: 04/06/21 10:53 pm ::: |
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| Queenie wrote: |
| WfanFrJmp wrote: |
| Welcome!!! It is awesome that you are continuing your love of WBB to the pros. Funny enough, my path was just the opposite. I've been a fan and supporter of the W since the beginning of the league and much later, started to watch more college ball to see where all of this great talent was honed. Since then, I've become an avid fan of a number of college teams sometimes based upon where I am geographically (my alma mater isn't exactly bevy of college bball talent either ) or where some of my favorite players attended. Similarly, once I started watching the ladies through their college careers, it has been cool to be able to follow them to the teams they land on in the pros. It definitely has caused me to expand the teams I root for and against...lol! As you can see, people are really passionate and generally speaking, the supporters of W are a very supportive, knowledgeable and fun loving community. |
I followed your backwards path too. I started as a W fan, but during the long offseason I needed another drug to deal with my withdrawal symptoms. Started with Rutgers because my dad's an alum, Sue Wicks is one of my favorites, and I love me some defense, but one of my Liberty neighbors got me and mom into St. John's, and it kind of escalated from there. |
That is awesome! I loved Sue Wick's too! I'm hoping more of us continue to "cross over" because both communities truly need it 
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