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accommodatingly
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 2191 Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Posted: 02/27/05 8:44 pm ::: thanks! (can you help me again?) also, ASG stuff |
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Thanks to all the Board Junkies who helped w/ my piece of feature journalism about the W and its fans (i.e. us)! You were great. It now looks very likely to see print in time for the season.
My editors want a couple more bits and pieces, which you can very much help me provide. If you want to help (whether or not you helped before), either respond to this thread, or just email me: steve-- at-- accommodatingly-- dot-- com. Here are their questions:
(1) What has happened to you, or for you, via the W that would never, ever happen as a result of following the NBA (or another high-profile team sport)? DTS, Dani's adventures with Lindsay and other players would definitely fall into this category. I'd like to get at least one answer involving school-age daughters, and at least one answer that has nothing to do with young kids.
(2) The editors really want a snappy answer to the question "What makes W fans unlike all other fans?"
I'm not fond of the question, but maybe we can do something with it.
If somebody unfamiliar with sports-- with ALL sports-- asked you "What's the difference between W fans and fans of big-time men's team sports?" or "What makes W fans unlike other fans?" what would you say?
The obvious demographic answers (i.e. there are fewer of us, and a higher % are women) don't count: the editors want qualitative, descriptive answers. If someone in your life who doesn't follow sports has actually asked you that question, what did you say?
I'm tired of head-to-head comparisons between the W and men's sports, but the editors here seem to think it's important. On the bright side, they're quite friendly to the piece. I hope a couple folks here can help out one more time!
(And yes, I hope to meet some folks here at the ASG-- we have family in eastern Connecticut, and we'll almost certainly be there. Are tickets even on sale yet?)
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rebkell Site Admin
Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 4898 Location: East Tennessee
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Posted: 02/27/05 8:51 pm ::: |
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Steve, they can contact you through the board, by clicking on your profile, they can email you, that way, you don't have to put your email in the post, if you don't want to, of course that is providing you signed up on the board with your main email address.
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accommodatingly
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 2191 Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Posted: 02/27/05 9:00 pm ::: thanks |
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rebkell wrote: |
Steve, they can contact you through the board, by clicking on your profile, they can email you, that way, you don't have to put your email in the post, if you don't want to, of course that is providing you signed up on the board with your main email address. |
Thanks. Yes, profile-clicking works too. Contact me however you like, as long as you contact me!
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/27/05 9:05 pm ::: Re: thanks! (can you help me again?) also, ASG stuff |
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I started watching the W as soon as the league was announced during the '96 Olympics. I thought of it as "summer basketball to hold me over in the NBA off-season"
After a few years I couldn't watch the NBA any more and I cancelled my Clippers season tickets.
What has changed for me as a result of the W is:
I watch College Basketball
I watch NFL - because I've grown accustomed to TEAM sports.
I started SHEDUNK© clothing geared toward women athletes.
I have traveled to different states to see the best match-ups in Women's Basketball and as a result have made friends around the country and found a city that I'm leaving Los Angeles to live in.
The fan base reminds me of the "Dead Heads"
When the Grateful Dead was still around we would travel around the country to see the shows and visit with our friends that we would only see at the concerts. We would trade tapes of shows and some of us sold shirts and other collectibles.
The W fans are the same - It's just basketball instead of music.
The genuine appreciation from the players is something all my fellow W fans have mentioned.
No NBA player ever emailed me to see if I'd be at the game!
The W (compared to the NBA) is "Better People Playing Better Basketball"
The same goes for the fans.
The NBA is Hip Hop - The W is Jazz.
It's basketball for grown-ups.
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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Posted: 02/27/05 9:21 pm ::: |
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Wow, Slovy, getting deep for a Sunday night! Well said.
Steve, let me digest for the night and I'll email you tomorrow.
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/27/05 9:23 pm ::: |
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Thanks, DTS. I think I'll email that as a letter to that paper in Naperville...
What I'd like to hear is Dani's thoughts on this - ten years from now!
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/27/05 9:30 pm ::: |
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Dang, what did she do - crash your car?
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/27/05 9:36 pm ::: |
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Yeah, I suppose 9:00 is bedtime for a nine year old.
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accommodatingly
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 2191 Location: Saint Paul, MN
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herrade
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 2308 Location: Twin Peaks
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Posted: 02/27/05 10:26 pm ::: |
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dtsnms wrote: |
Yep, the kid's pissed at me tonight. Made her go to bed in middle of Duke-NC and Hoosiers at the same time. |
damn. that's cruel. i can't believe you wouldn't let her watch UNC destroy duke on their own turf. i really like latta. she's scrawny but she's tough.[/u]
_________________ A single act of carelessness leads to the eternal loss of beauty.
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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Posted: 02/27/05 10:28 pm ::: |
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herrade wrote: |
dtsnms wrote: |
Yep, the kid's pissed at me tonight. Made her go to bed in middle of Duke-NC and Hoosiers at the same time. |
damn. that's cruel. i can't believe you wouldn't let her watch UNC destroy duke on their own turf. i really like latta. she's scrawny but she's tough.[/u] |
Hmmn, reminds me of a certain board poster. (Well, thin, not scrawny!) I was singing her praises on the college board.
Hold it in Whalen! I'm coming!
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herrade
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 2308 Location: Twin Peaks
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/27/05 11:18 pm ::: |
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You ready, mb?
Together,
"I... Like...BigbuttsandIcannotlie..."
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mb
Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 144
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Posted: 02/28/05 4:21 pm ::: |
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*searching for dollar bills as he types*
Hope to see herrade, Slovy, dt and Dani, Steve, and many others shakin' it with the Brigade this summer.
Herrade, we must take you for a visit to the "other place"...ask aml10.
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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womens_hoops
Joined: 20 Nov 2004 Posts: 2831
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Posted: 02/28/05 4:36 pm ::: Re: thanks! (can you help me again?) also, ASG stuff |
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accommodatingly wrote: |
(2) The editors really want a snappy answer to the question "What makes W fans unlike all other fans?"
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is it possible that W fans care about winning less than fans in other sports?
Obviously winning still matters a great deal. But look, e.g., how the Mystics have such a great fan base after being crappy year after year. I've been to a couple games there, and people cheer loud for the Mystics, but I don't get the sense that anyone goes away too made if they lose (unlike an NBA game).
See also -- LJ winning the MVP trophy on a non-playoff team in '03. I'm not sure whether that's ever happened in the NBA, but it's certainly a rarity, and it would take truly exceptional circumstances for a non-playoff NBAer to be considered an MVP candidate. (KG this year has, once again, the best all-around individual numbers, but he's not even a top-5 contender since the Wolves are hovering around .500.)
Are W fans are in it more for social and political reasons than NBA and other fans are?
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/28/05 4:40 pm ::: |
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[quote="mb"]*searching for dollar bills as he types*
Hope to see herrade, Slovy, dt and Dani, Steve, and many others shakin' it with the Brigade this summer.
[quote]
I hope to get out there a couple times this summer. I won't be a six hour drive away anymore...
Detroit is going to be the next closest team for me now.
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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Posted: 02/28/05 4:48 pm ::: |
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Slovydal wrote: |
Detroit is going to be the next closest team for me now. |
Another team for Slovy to be season tix for!!!
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/28/05 5:00 pm ::: |
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I'm thinking about a six-game package...
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 18815
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Posted: 02/28/05 5:08 pm ::: |
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Slovydal wrote: |
I'm thinking about a six-game package... |
Get a 6-pack instead and Directv!
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Slovydal
Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 12205 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: 02/28/05 5:14 pm ::: |
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LOL!
I don't drink - and you know how I feel about TV!
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herrade
Joined: 23 Sep 2004 Posts: 2308 Location: Twin Peaks
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Posted: 02/28/05 6:41 pm ::: |
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mb wrote: |
*searching for dollar bills as he types* |
honey, if i were selling, the price would be more than a dollar.
mb wrote: |
Herrade, we must take you for a visit to the "other place"...ask aml10. |
dare i even ask?
_________________ A single act of carelessness leads to the eternal loss of beauty.
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