Sports Granny: Mik, me and my love of the WNBA

As some of you know, I am a huge WNBA fan. Having always been a basketball lover I was thrilled when I first heard there was going to be a woman's league. I was disappointed, however, that I wouldn't be able to go to any games because I lived so far from the arenas where they’d play. Being from Syracuse, in upstate New York, I decided I would cheer for the NY Liberty.

One year for Christmas my daughter, Debra Jean, gave me a signed Kim Hampton basketball and a friend gave me a framed 14x12 photo signed by the original Liberty team. They were my best gifts that year for sure. Then my daughter and a family friend and I decided to take a trip to New York to Madison Square Garden to see a game. The Liberty played the Charlotte Sting. At the crack of dawn we headed to the city. We saw a great game and the Liberty won. Our section was chosen to stay after the game to get an autograph of Rebecca Lobo, who happened to be my favorite player at the time. Unfortunately, we had to get the car out of the parking garage so there wasn’t time to stay. Of course I was disappointed but I was thrilled to watch my first WNBA game in person. We got back on the road to Syracuse and arrived home about 1 AM, tired but happy after an incredibly long and exciting day.

I am a sports card collector and have a set of cards starting from the beginning of the league up until several years ago when I could no longer afford to buy them. In 2003 I was on the WNBA Website and saw I could email Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever. I was thrilled when she answered me. We became friends as time went on. I mentioned to her that maybe I could get to a game in Connecticut when the Fever played there because my older daughter, Lynne, lives there.

Eventually plans were made for this to happen and Debra Jean and I went down for a game. Tamika left tickets and came out after the game to see us. Oh my, I felt like a teenager meeting her idol. Lynne had no interest in going to the game. Can you imagine? But after listening to me and how excited I was she decided to come with us to the next game. Before long, she was hooked. We saw a triple overtime game and the Fever won. Charles Barkley was at the game and she got his autograph! Several times when the team was staying overnight at the Mohegan Sun Tamika took us out to eat at a restaurant in the casino. I was so proud of her as we walked in and people crowded around her for an autograph. By then I was a full-fledged Fever fan!

Since I have been on Twitter I have been chatting with some awesome WNBA players so now I have others to cheer for too. I have met many great ladies on Twitter who have become my friends. Some have the love of sports that I do and some I am still working on. My husband of 56 years says he doesn’t like basketball but he watches all the games with me. When I am away I call to check up on him. Believe it or not he will tell me scores of other games as well as the one he is watching. So now my whole family is on board with sports and I couldn’t be happier.

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• Basketball, SportsPLUS, Inspiration, Fans, WNBA

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mhueter

Lois - this is a GREAT story. I love the influence you've had upon your family, too. It's great that the WNBA players are talking with you!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 4:25pm PDT