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"She runs people ragged," says WBTV anchor/reporter Jon Robinson, who once suited up as a University of Maryland point guard under Lefty Driesell and who has played Stinson at the Central YMCA. "For guys, she poses an interesting dilemma. You think, "Well, she's a girl so I can't D (defense) her up like a guy,' then she schools you and takes you to the rack. You realize you have to play hard or she's going to make you look bad.
"I've also played with a couple of girls from Davidson who are the same way," he adds. "They're good. You have no choice but to play them hard. They aren't girls; they aren't guys; they are basketball players."
If only Robinson, 41, could be hired by the Sting as a missionary to the masses of men who not only don't appreciate women's basketball, but actively trash it. You hear it on the airways of WFNZ sports talk radio and in the chit-chat at cocktail parties and tennis clubs. The rap on the women's game is this: too many lesbians involved (players and fans), the play is below the rim, the pace is slower than the men's game, and in general, it's not quality basketball.
The disconnect with the average male sports may be the biggest difficulty the Sting faces as they struggle to build a fan base after nearly six seasons of WNBA play. Males represented only 25 percent of the Sting crowd in 2001, based on a WNBA survey. And a fair number of those males are young people, given that the survey also found that 37 percent of the Sting spectators are 17-and-under. So adult men, the demographic group usually most apt to attend sports events in the US, are fewer than a quarter of the crowd at Sting games.
The WNBA as a whole suffers from the same male disconnect. In the 2001 survey, the WNBA found the average crowd in the 16-team league is even more male dominated: 78 percent female, 22 percent male and 28 percent 17-and-under.
The Sting also has battled to attract more women fans and to build its presence in the shadow of the troubled Hornets, who used to run the team.
A "Save the Sting" campaign emerged last spring when the Charlotte Hornets were about to leave for New Orleans. The WNBA said it would run the team this season and consider letting the Sting stay on without an NBA affiliate. But the Sting would have to show increased attendance and/or corporate support to keep calling Charlotte home, WNBA officials cautioned. In 2001, despite winning the Eastern Conference title and going to the championship series, an early season losing streak pushed the team to next-to-last in attendance (tickets distributed) per game among 16 WNBA teams. The Sting averaged 6,595, while the league average was 9,075.
So now, only one week from the end of the Sting's 2002 regular season, what is the verdict? Is the team likely to stay?
The answer is yes, but its long-term fate is far from sealed and its near-term structure is far from clear. Will the Sting eventually be run by a private ownership group? Will they roll under the wing of an NBA expansion team that seems destined for the city? Or might a private ownership group work in conjunction with a future NBA team to run the Sting? All those possibilities are on the table, according to Sting President M.L. Carr, and the team will likely be in Charlotte for at least another year.
"We have been encouraged by (increased) support from the business community," says WNBA Chief Operating Officer Paula Hanson, who is overseeing the Sting this summer on behalf of the WNBA. "We haven't established any numbers, saying you have to average X amount of attendance or corporate support. What we're really looking at is evidence of growth over this summer, then we will assess things."
Says Carr, "I believe because things are going in the right direction, the Sting will wind up staying."
That "right direction" is largely because of Carr, who has signed a bevy of small corporate sponsorships since joining the team June 1, the day the Sting opened their season against the Los Angeles Sparks.
"He came into the market and picked up the phone," Hanson says. "He's done everything we imagined and more. He's pounding the pavement."
While sponsorships aren't going to make the team rich or even break even (a $2 million loss is projected), the new support reflects a "look, see" attitude, Carr says. Most of the new affiliations -- which include Bank of America, FedEx, Goodrich, Harris-Teeter and Wachovia -- are in the $10,000 to $30,000 range, an entry level created this season. Before, sponsorships were $36,000 to $100,000.
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Calendar
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Coach Conroy's All Sports Camp @ Chestnut Square Park
- Tue., June 17, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Wed., June 18, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Thu., June 19, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Mon., July 7, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Tue., July 8, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Wed., July 9, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Thu., July 10, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Mon., July 21, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Tue., July 22, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Wed., July 23, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and Thu., July 24, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
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Coveted Luxury Watches
- Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Continues through Dec. 30
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AllMachines
- Through Dec. 30, 12-9 p.m.
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AllMachines - Raymond Forklift
- Through Dec. 30, 12-5 p.m.
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AllMachines - Forklifts
- Through Dec. 30, 12-6 p.m.
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Blueprints For A Better City
Some New Developments Are Getting It Right
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Fall Arts Events
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Why New Teachers Quit 2
Former CMS Educators Tell Their Stories and Offer Solutions
