(Guru's Note: Acacia has checked in at the original blog with a report on a recent speech given by John Amaechi, a former Penn State all-American men's basketball player who became the first former NBA player in February to come out as being gay. To those of you who stopped there first and then hit the link, welcome.)
By Mel Greenberg
Nearly a year after the the Charlotte Sting imploded from the WNBA lineup, the women's pro league is ready to attempt to rise again in the South.
A conference call has been announced for Wednesday afternoon, and while the topic has not been publicly announced, a league source familiar with the arrangements confirmed the discussion will be the entry of Atlanta into the mix for next summer.
One can envision a slick multi-media presentation with Bruce Springsteen belting his popular Glory Days number from the Born in the USA album.
However, that is not a way the WNBA would want to go, considering the painful reminders it could bring of the short-lived Atlanta Glory franchise a decade ago in the nearly as shortly-lived American Basketball Association.
But a deep-pocketed owner -- not the NBA's Atlanta Hawks -- is said to be ready to spend the money without regard to what could be a painful growth process in terms of attendance.
However, there has been an ongoing effort by a local group to land a team, and, well, with a CBA still to be negotiated prior to season 12, every dollar counts.
The owner has been described in the manner of Michael Alter, the real estate mogul in Chicago, who brought the Sky into existence two seasons ago.
In recent seasons, the asking price by the league has been $10 million for a franchise.
Curiously, while an operational group has yet to be fully identified, one can envision an attempt to snare local legend Teresa Edwards, the former Georgia star, as a potential head coach.
Edwards, who is the only American male or female basketball player to compete in five Olympics, got her feet wet in the profession last summer as an assistant with the Minnesota Lynx.
Not everyone around the league, however, is singing praises over the return to a 14-team operation -- two below the previous high of 16 that was reached after the ABL folded.
A team executive friend of ours recently questioned the wisdom of having a new team involved in a summer that will again be shared with Olympics participation as occurred in 2004.
The executive noted that the WNBA got more competitive last summer after the Charlotte demise dispersed talent to the remaining 13 teams.
"Now, you have players who were identified and embraced by the fan base who may be lost in the expansion draft for the new team," the executive said.
Travel will also be a challenge in that the Atlanta airport is not known to be on a popularity list around the country.
With 14 teams, however, the suggestion was made that travel costs could be lowered by taking the two-division, seven-team format and create four divisions in a four-four-three-three arrangement.
"That could go a long way toward building rivalries," the executive said. "And if it means that, say, several players on teams outside a division make only one visit during the regular season, well, hey, that game suddenly becomes a very hot ticket."
That is not likely to happen, soon.
And still to be learned is the date of the lottery for the lucrative talent coming out of the next collegiate senior class.
So for now, from the WNBA viewpoint, as they say in the casino parlors alongside the Mohegan Sun Arena where the Connecticut team thrives, all bets are one until otherwise proven.
AAU Tourney Heads to Philly in 2009
The Amateur Athl\etic Union at its annual covention in Chambourg, Illinois recently voted to award the 12-and-under girls basketball national championships to Philadelphia in 2009.
It will be the first AAU national girls basketball event held in a major city.
AAU groups from here who made the bid says an esitmated 125 teams are expected to come to the city for the event and they cited Larry Needle of the Philadelphia Sports Congress estimating that the city and suburbs can expect a minimum of $2.1 million in revenue from the tournament.
Nigeria Forever
That's the way former longtime Houston Comets assistant Kevin Cook feels about coaching the Nigerian national team.
Cook was also an assistant to Hall of Famer Marian Washington, when she was at Kansas, before joining up with Van Chancellor and the Comets in the WNBA's inaugural season.
We saw Cook last month when he attended the induction ceremonies in Springfield, Mass., that included Chancellor into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Chancellor, who left the Comets after last season, is getting ready to lead Louisiana State into another title quest as he returns to the collegiate ranks.
An interview with Cook is at the FIBA web site.
-- Mel
Philly.com discussions are intended to be civil, friendly conversations. Please treat other participants with respect and in a way that you would want to be treated. You are responsible for what you say. And please, stay on topic.
These boards are monitored by Philly.com staff. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. Personal attacks, especially on other board participants, are not permitted. We reserve the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions.