Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, September 13, 2000
PLAY IT AGAIN
SPORTS
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Credit for by Jennifer for State Representatives, Correspondent, Treasurer
Tickets are available from
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All Halls and Theater Lied Center
$82.00 Orchestra and First Balcony
$10.00 Balcony
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Hackensack University
Kansas players confident in WNBA
By Zac Hunter
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
Four years ago, professional women's basketball took off in the United States.
The popularity of the sport was at its peak, largely because of the success of the United States gold-medal-winning women's basketball team at the 1986 Olympics in Atlanta.
"That team was marked like no other in the history of women's sports," said Kansas assistant coach Lynette Woodard.
Woodard was a four-time All American at Kansas from 1978-81 and played professional basketball in Europe after her college career.
The demand for women's basketball spawned two rival leagues, the American Basketball League, which played during the winter, and the Women's National Basketball Association, which played during the summer.
The leagues co-existed for two seasons, but in the third season something had to give — and it did.
The ABL filed for federal bankruptcy protection in December of 1998. After the ABL collapse, there was only one league in the United States for female college players to continue basketball careers.
If one league called it quits within the first three years, it would be natural to assume that there would
be concern with the stability of the second league .
However, the attitude of members of the Kansas women's basketball program towards the WNBA is one of extreme confidence.
"When both the leagues came out, I wasn't sure that both of them would be able to be productive and survive," said senior forward Brooke Reves. "But when the WNBA came out, they came out really strong."
Former Kansas forward Lynn Pride is trying to make a name for herself as a member of the WNBA's Portland fire. She is one of four former Kansas players in the WNBA. Kansan file photo
Kansas coach Marian Washington said that she also believed the WNBA had a bright future but that there was room for improvement.
Washington recommended moving the start of the WNBA season to overlap with the NBA playoff; then the women would be in top basketball form when it came time to be in the spotlight.
Woodard echoed Washington's thoughts and took them one step further.
The WNBA has lasted four years, nearly twice the lifespan of the ABL, and Washington said there was no reason the league should not survive if it continued to market its product well.
"As long as the WNBA has the NBA as that big brother to lean on to keep the marketing going, then we'll have a shot at making it last," she said.
Not only has the WNBA survived two years longer than the ABL, it has prospered with the help of the NBA. Since the beginning of the eight-team league in
1996, the WNBA has expanded each season. Today, there are 16 teams in the league.
The growth spurt of the WNBA has seniors and freshmen thinking alike.
"If the opportunity was there, I would definitely jump on it," Reves said. "I want to live out that dream if it happens."
guard, said she would love to play in the WNBA if that avenue were to present itself, but for a different reason.
If Meguc entered the WNBA, it would give her the chance to play fall and winter basketball in Europe, possibly with her sister in Cyprus.
Leila Meguc, freshman
ity of a player in the Kansas program making it to the WNBA is high.
Last season, Kansas had four players in the league. Angela Aycock played for the Minnesota Lynx, Charisse Sampson for the Seattle Storm, Tamecka Dixon for the Los Angeles Sparks and Lynn Pride for the Portland Fire.
If Kansas' track record is any indication, the possibil-
Edited by Sara Nutt
Soccer player is dressed, ready for gold
The Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia — With her own flair for show biz, Brandi Chastain is spending this year's Olympics on both sides of the camera.
Chastain walked onto the field with a camcorder in her right hand and a regular pocket camera in her left yesterday as the U.S. women's Olympic soccer team got its first look at the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, site of tomorrow's first-round game against Norway.
The day before, Chastain brought the same camcorder to an interview and instructed the two journalists to identify themselves on tape before the proceedings could begin.
"You get to ask the questions all
the time," she said, squinting into the viewfinder. "It would be nice for you guys to answer some."
Not that Chastain minds getting asked the questions. A year after she stripped off her jersey to celebrate the winning penalty kick in the World Cup final, she has proven to be a natural in the spotlight, befitting someone whose nickname is "Hollywood."
"There's no problem for me to meet people and smile and enjoy myself," Chastain said. "I think sports has given me that. It's given me the confidence, the bravado."
When the soccer team visited the U.S. women's basketball team's locker room after a weekend exhibition game, the players did their own version of the Brandi Salute
stripping off their jerseys and
twirling them over their heads.
When the soccer players walk the streets of Melbourne and explain which sport they play, locals frequently ask which player is famous for removing her shirt.
"People ask me, 'Aren't you sick of it?' I say, 'Well, if it means that people are thinking about soccer ...'" Chastain said. "The message wasn't taking off the jersey. The important part was what happened during the game. In the past it was usually me preaching about the game, and now it's people asking me about it."
Overnight stardom has been known to ruin lives. But it suits Chastain perfectly, whether she's throwing out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game or poking up at herself in a "What's up with the shirt?" commercial with
Kevin Garnett.
"Other than her bank account changing, she's the same as she was," said defender Kate Sobroero. "That's Brandi. Everything you think she is, she is."
Chastain is always clear on one point: She maintains that her jersey removal was a spontaneous celebration and wasn't planned either to promote herself or as part a deal with Nike, which made the black sports bra she wore underneath.
Men and women routinely lift or take off their jerseys to celebrate goals, and there was no way to predict that the final against China would go to a penalty shootout and that Chastain would have the last kick.
"There was no conjuring this whole plan beforehand," she said.
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