Wecome to this week’s good news, bad news scenario.

Over the last several months, there has been a major chance that pro basketball is through in Seattle. The teams, owned by Starbucks’ owner Howard Schultz, were sold to a bunch of guys from Oklahoma City.

So what? Most of you rejoin. And I don’t blame you. Pro sports is so damn messed up and often so pointless or boring or just has nothing to do with your life. Pro basketball players are ridiculous – they are paid millions, the game seldom looks like a GAME, and half the names in the paper are there because they acted badly or illegally, not because they’re announcing record donations to their foundation to help tsunami victims. (see, as an example of the latter, pro pitcher Jamie Moyer’s foundation at http://www.moyerfoundation.org/ - even if charitynavigator gives it only 2 of 4 stars).

Still, I’m an oddity. I like the game. I like to watch a surprising number of sports. This is not because I played sports in my life. I’m vaguely aware that some of my motivation might come from knowing how bodies SHOULD work and mine doesn’t. So maybe I appreciate dance and sport. I studied ballet for 8 years as a kid, but avoided gym and sports whenever I could (until that one cool semester in college crew). I watch tennis, have watched baseball (though I no longer do), watch basketball, and during Olympic years I’ve been known to watch track and field. I’m a huge fan of women’s gymnastics and of all figure skating. (RIP Chris Bowman. What a WASTE.) And I like basketball. Mostly. Sort of. (See my blog entry of 2/22/07 about Dennis Johnson and basketball which gives some history of the basketball thing.)

So the newspaper headline made my heart soar like a hawk (points if you know the reference). Four women have pulled it together to buy the Seattle Storm - the WNBA franchise - and keep the team where in belongs, or where, at least, it started. There was, apparently no interest, no fan base, (or not enough to yell loudly enough) to move the women’s team to Oklahoma City. The UW women have played kick-ass basketball for so long that when the idea of a pro league came around on the guitar again, the now-defunct ABL had a kick-ass team here, the Seattle Reign, and the the WNBA (feh, pooey) had the Storm. Which in the short time the league has been around, has won a championship. And yes, I was very very VERY happy.

The “where will it end up” crap that’s been going on for a year has been a pain in the ass. Hearing another round of “build us a new facility” from millionaire team owners and billionaire players met with massive resistance from a city that has heard it enough already. Finding a place in the state, but outside of Seattle did not work. No one knows but the Seattle Sonics (aka “Supersonics” are probably I guess on their way to Oklahoma.) Four season ticket holders, women in their late 40s and early 50s, one of whom has a high level Microsoft job, another who was there and runs non-profits stuff now, pooled their resources and bought the team for a mere $10 million. Which I think is what they pay Lebron James to go out for lunch.

The Storm stay. Lauren Jackson stays. Sue (“Larry Who?”) Bird is in free agency and is negotiating. Like Jackson, she has a home here and has said she wants to stay. The two of them are GORGEOUS to watch. The women’s game is gorgeous – it’s basketball as it’s meant to be. No “gimme the ball, gimme the ball, gimme gimme” (though yes, Jackson’s a great shooter and very tall and the MVP last year even when they didn’t make the playoffs so THERE) but they play TEAM basketball. They pass, they assist, they run, they defend. The salary cap in women’s ball is outrageous compared to the men. In 2007, according to the Wikipedia article, the highest salary in the WNBA was either $93,000 or $100,000. Rookies eared $30,000. A huge number of them play overseas in the off season. Lauren Jackson probably makes more money in endorsement deals than she does playing ball in the US. There are bonuses for playoffs, all star games and reaching certain goals. MVP gets you $15,000.

A six-year veteran in the NBA by comparison, earns a minimum wage of 932,015. In 2007-08, there were at least 43 players with salaries over $10 million. For one year. Who the hell can blame folks for not wanting this in their city? It does not make you a “world class city” (a phrase I’ve heard since moving to Seattle as an argument for everything from a new sport stadium to hosting the Olympics to enlarging the port of Seattle to…anything the speaker wants to build. And who CARES if we are a world-class city. A meaningless phrase if I ever heard one.)

So anyway, these 4 women bought our team for LESS than the salary of a player named Kirk Hinrich, #43 on that list at $11 million.

The Storm stay. My heart soars. I went to a few games last season assuming that I was seeing my last Storm games. This coming year, I’m going to try really hard to get to more games, especially those played against the Connecticut Sun, my “other home team”. I love this game. I love watching these talented amazing women. I loved watching the coach, a womnan who had a Olympic gold medal for helping win in 1984 in LA and 1988 in Seoul and is coaching the team going to Beijing. Ann Donovan was the WNBA coach in third place with the most victories, only behind the great Richie Adubado and Van Chancellor. It was so fabulous that both the Storm and the Reign had women coaches – Linn Dunn then Ann D. and Tammy Holder for the Reign.

All that came to a flop-down end this week too. Anne D resigned a few weeks ago as coach of the Storm. There’s been no explanation, though there was a meaningless “new directions, challenges, mumble mumble” press release.. Maybe just not knowing her fate (this happened at the end of November) was too stressful. If she’s had another coaching offer, there’s no news about it. The PR “it’s time for a change” seems to be bullshit. After 5 years with the team, and one championship, it’s hard to see why she’d leave. This SO SUCKS. Because this week, after announcing the fabulous news, the Storm announced the new coach, Brian Agler, formerly an assistant with the San Antonio WNBA team.

Oh hell.

I do NOT appreciate the number of men coaching in the WNBA. This offends me. As did the fact that my college, which was a formerly women’s school had women presidents up to the time it went co-ed. It has had several presidents since I graduated – the one woman stunk up the place, I’ll admit and oh boy it’s good she’s gone (the faculty hated her – now there’s a sign of ill will) but where are the women? My school has turned out hundreds, thousands of women with leadership potential who could run a college. Why all the men?

And after years and years and YEARS of women playing the game, WHERE are the women coaches? I know that this discussion is heard all over sport, often about the lack of Black coaches in just about every sport. But according to the WNBA’s website (whcih has not removed Donavan from the list) there are

Karleen Thompson coaches the Comets now.

Sacramento’s coach is Jenny Boucek

Pat Coyle coaches the Liberty in New york.

My most favorite bit was when LA’s coach Michael Cooper left MID-SEASON to accept a job coachng in the men’s league only to RETURN. Apparently without a hitch.

TEN men coach WNBA teams (the Charlotte Sting folded a year ago; or it would have been ELEVEN. THREE women currently coach in the women’s league. Of course, no woman is head coach in the NBA, the men’s league. Do I need to say “it goes without saying”? it seems I don’t.

You want to guess what will come first? A woman coaching a male pro sports team or a woman in the White House as president?

Most days I believe that sexism, while it exists, is subtler than it used to be. That things have changed. And while professional sports hardly is a mirror of the real world, this sure seems pretty fucking blatant and pretty damn sad.

WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?