June 24, 2009

It’s always interesting to see how the first long road trip is going to go. Of course the team had the preseason game in Connecticut but now we’re talking eight days on the road in three different cities and then coming home for a couple practices and heading back out. Don’t get me wrong, traveling is fun, no it’s AWESOME… the only thing about it that isn’t the best is having a game and not leaving the gym until late and getting up in the 5’s to be on the bus by 6am to catch an early morning flight. It would be the best if we could play the game, sleep in and then miraculously just be in the next city without needing to actually go to the airport and get on a plane… I think that’s called teleporting… I’m going to ask our sponsorship folks to see if there are any companies that are doing that yet and see if we can work out a deal.

So I’d have to definitely say that the funniest thing that happened on the road is when we got to Phoenix and there weren’t many people on our plane so our bags came off very, very quickly. So we headed out to where the bus would usually pick us up and instead of the big charter bus, we see a budget rental truck and a kind of shuttle van/bus. So as the PR Director, I always try to keep a straight face, not be obvious when I think something is funny and we find out that the rental truck is for our luggage and the shuttle van/bus thing is for us. I was one of the first people on the bus so it was quite comical seeing the player’s faces as they got on the bus, (van). So you have Lisa and Vanessa who are both 6’5” ducking to get on and Lisa always sits in the back but there weren’t two seats in the back but a whole row. I turned around to see how she was going to work that out and she was spread across the whole thing! LOL! It turned out to be okay, it got us from point A to point B and our driver was really nice. The problem was that the hotel we were staying at wasn’t able to accommodate a huge charter bus… no big deal but pretty funny.

So back to Lisa, as you all know she hurt her knee in Phoenix and we really thought at first that it was minor and upon further review saw that it was in fact more serious. It’s unfortunate that she’s hurt when it seems like we are really coming together and about to start playing well and dominating the way we should. It’s also unfortunate because she announced that this would be her final season and to miss some of it is definitely not what she had planned. I’m positive that she, our doctors and trainer will do what it takes to get her healthy and back on the court as soon as that’s physically possible and that she will continue to be a leader and motivator for our team. If you want one more reason that it’s unfortunate, I’ll give you one. Each time we visit a team for the last time this regular season, they were doing a Lisa Leslie tribute night at their arenas. Auctioning off the shoes she wore in the game, holding an autograph session and doing ticket specials.

When we were in Indiana, they auctioned off her shoes with the proceeds going to benefit the Kay Yow Foundation and then held a postgame autograph session. They had 175 people signed up and the way things work after games are like this: there is a 10 minute “cooling off” period immediately following the game when the coach talks to the team. That is followed by a minimum of 30 minutes of media and then the players get ready and leave. In this case, we had the coach’s talk, a FULL 30 minutes of media and then Lisa got dressed and ready. When we finally walked down to where the autograph session was taking place, it was amazing because every single person stayed to have their chance at a photo and autograph. I think that says a lot.

Okay, this was a long one… make sure you check out the game this Friday against the Storm and I hope to see you at the game on Sunday. BTW, I LOVE when people reference the blog and say hi to me… so thanks for that!

That’s all I’ve got.

June 10, 2009

Where do I start? We had a great game on opening day as you saw. It was such a busy day from running a press conference pre-game to interviews with abc, espn and nba tv for Candace. Interviews with abc for Coop and Lisa AND on top of all that, handling the PR responsibilities for the Shock.

After the game, I had to hurry and finish all of our post-game PR work and then rush home to pack before taking a primetime shuttle to the airport. We get to the airport to take an overnight flight to Detroit. While we were waiting, Betty, Marie, Bobbitt and Kristi worked on their own secret handshakes. It was a little ridiculous; kind of like the Fresh Prince of Belair and Jazzy Jeff.

When we finally got in, it took FOREVER for our bags to come off and we finally got to the hotel around 6:20am. We didn’t have to leave for practice until 1:45pm but that overnight flight and the time difference can really knock you out. So I know if I was exhausted, the players must have been wrecked.

If that was the case, it definitely showed in our game on Monday. The Shock ran all over us and I was just sitting in my seat thinking to myself, ok we’ll get it together… it was 17-3 and I was like ok, we’ll get a stop and then it was 21-5 at the end of the first quarter and we just never got it together. It was like a bad a nightmare – we had senseless, unforced turnovers and missed A LOT of shots. Needless to say, it was disappointing to lose in that fashion.

We left the next morning for Minnesota and yesterday’s practice was all business. We had a long film session and really broke down the game tape. Coop pointed out how we weren’t nearly as aggressive, we took too many quick shots, didn’t set good screens and got outhustled. The team took his words to heart and had a great practice… it was LONG… but we I think we’re ready.

I’m sitting at shoot-around right now and it’s raining here in Minnesota and as a result of that, there are small puddles appearing all over the court in the Target Center. At first Coop was going to have us go down to the practice court again but the players told him it was really important that we take some shots on the baskets we’ll be playing on tonight. I wonder if someone that works in the building opened up little windows in the roof to try and sabotage our routine… just kidding… kind of.

So, we’re running through offense right now. I can definitely feel the urgency and the need to prove that Monday’s game was just a fluke. We shall see.

That’s all I’ve got.

May 29, 2009

Okay… what an interesting two weeks. I wonder what it actually feels like to be named an Ambassador of something. It occurred to me that not only has Lisa won just about every basketball award possible, but now she’s being named an Athlete Ambassador for Right To Play. It’s crazy!!! With this organization she’s going to be able to go to Africa this fall to visit a poverty-stricken area and teach and play games with local kids there. When we had the meeting with the people from Right To Play, they told Lisa that she would have to speak in front of a crowd of about 550 at Morningside HS and she was like, “I get really nervous.” Can you believe that??? LLL gets nervous? And she plays in front of our awesome fans and then we go on the road to sell-outs but she gets nervous. Tina wasn’t buying it and gave her a look and just told her to suck it up and that she’d be great… and of course she was.

Speaking of Tina, let me tell you about a couple of our new players. They are SO, SO nice… and surprisingly accommodating. I don’t know if you realize just how much I ask them to do. Whether it be for the website or the newsletter or media requests, I ask for something almost everyday…so Tina, she’s nice, smart, witty even funny. She works really hard and it’s apparent why she made the all-decade team. She’ll probably get mad at me for telling this story but if you don’t tell her, she’ll never know. At media day, I had Tina, Lisa and D set up to take a photo with our NBA crew. As he was snapping pictures he said, “Tina, can you fix your bangs, they’ve separated a bit.” She looked at him, paused for a second and as she brushed them into place said, “ugh, my hair can be so ill-advised at times.” It was one of the funniest things I’ve EVER heard. Perhaps I’m not explaining it right but the fact that she was joking but said it with such a straight face was hilarious.

I’ll tell you a little about Vanessa and then I have to end it because I’m already two days late and I can feel our web guy looking at me through my wall with irritation… don’t worry, I’ll give you the scoop on Betty, Lindsay, Ashley, Kristi, Marta and Noelle later. So Vanessa is pretty awesome. The thing I like the most about her is how bluntly honest she is. But in a nice way you know? Like she isn’t rude or harsh but just very honest. And she’s got a serious southern accent… sometimes I make PR stuff up just so I can hear it.

All in all, we’ve got a great group and for those of you who could make it to the pep rally, that was just a little taste, (talent-wise), of what’s to come. They are great people and I think they make up an AWESOME team…

That’s all I’ve got…

May 13, 2009

Everytime I sit down to write this I think to myself how can I not remember all of the things I wanted to tell you??!!?? So much has happened lately, we’ve signed players, traded players, done big interviews, had Mother’s Day and all the while, the season is approaching faster than ever. As you know, this is my first FULL season with the Sparks. I started last May 21st and missed out on the joys of creating the media guide, planning and executing media day and all of the other preparation type things that need to happen so that the PR deparment is represented.

So my life has been full of media guide designing and researching, planning media day, pitching stories to the media for preview coverage of our upcoming season, trying to familiarize myself with the new faces and of course writing release after release as Penny keeps signing these great players. I’m telling you the truth, last week, I felt like we wrote a release a day. Oh and let’s please not forget about Twitter. We’ve been on since around 5pm, May 1st and we’re over 200 friends… that’s not bad and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – we ARE the Sparks.

On to the topics I’m supposed to be talking about, I spent some time with Lisa, Lauren, her mom Christine and her sister Tiffany as we prepared for the ESPN interview. It was fun; Lisa looks great, like she’s ready to go out on top of the world. She’s been working out harder than ever. Lauren is SO big and SO smart. She knows everything, (well everything you can know at that age). We got on the elevator and when it buzzed at floor two, she looked up at the number and said, “Mommy, that’s a two.” I was like wow… then she proceeded to play with her golf clubs and show me a vast array of tumbles. Lisa, of course was great. She met my new PR Coordinator Shawn, (pictured with me and Gayle Anderson below), and I have to say that she went pretty easy on him for being the new guy… I don’t remember it quite that way!

The next few weeks should be pretty exciting. I’m probably not supposed to say this but maybe the Times will thank me. They are going to run a preview story on our upcoming season in this Sunday’s paper – I’m setting them up with interviews with Coop, PT, Lisa, DeLisha and Tina. They will talk about their goals and expectations for the season and how they see it all fitting together. It should be a great story. After that, you know we start training camp, then comes the preseason game and THEN OPENING DAY!!!! I’m sure we’ll find a way to introduce you to the team before that… some way some how…

Okay, before I get out of here I have to talk about the Open Try-outs and how awesome they were. We had a great turn-out and as you can see, I’ll do anything I can for the Sparks… that weekend I played the part of “Referee.”

That’s all I’ve got…

April 29, 2009

A lot of things can happen in two weeks… last time I talked about the draft and the draft party. So many things have happened since then. We’ve done March of Dimes, I’ve struggled with Twitter and I spent a good amount of my time chasing down and finally catching up with Gayle Anderson from KTLA.

Let me start at the beginning… we developed an incredible partnership with March of Dimes and as a result of that, we were able to participate in their March for Babies. Obviously this is an important topic for us as an organization and a team not only because we have several mothers on the team but because their mission is something we can stand behind. So we do the event, Coop is scheduled to be one of the hosts and Candace is going to be there to speak and mingle, (NO SHE DIDN’T DO THE WALK!) So if you remember when we did the Run for Her event, I was able to kind of hang out and carry my video camera for footage along the walk. That was not the case this time. I sent out a media advisory like usual and media showed up. Soooooo instead of being able to hang out with all of you and the staff, I had to WORK! It was good though, our beat writer from the Times came and Candace did a great interview with NBA Entertainment that I’m pretty sure will air on opening day.

Spending time with CP is always fun for me because she’s a funny girl, truly a character… the way she references the talks she’s having with her baby is comical. I’m like man, what are you going to do if you have labor for like 15 hours? And her response is, “I’ve been talking to her and we’ve discussed keeping it short.” I’d ask her how she was going to do with getting up in the middle of the night and while rubbing her belly she’d say, “I’ve talked to her about that and we’ve both agreed that she’ll sleep through the night.” See what I mean? Funny, funny girl…

Soooo, I’m pretty up on social networking – I have a facebook page and I believe that it changes lives. I’m on instant messenger and yahoo messenger and windows live messenger. I DO NOT understand Twitter! I mean I understand how you use it because one of the marketing peeps at the league gave me a crash course but if I can be honest with you, I’m not feeling it yet. But alas, I have to be up on the times and so do the Sparks so starting tomorrow, we’ll be live on Twitter. For all of you “Twitterholics,” watch out because you’ll need to follow us and if we become “Twiends” we’ll follow you too.

Alright, last topic… if you watch KTLA then I’m sure you know who Gayle Anderson is. She is a reporter on KTLA and is known for her creative, interactive style. I called her desk at KTLA and wouldn’t you know it she picked up the phone! I was really expecting to leave a message and here she goes answering the phone. So in front of my new assistant Shawn I had to jump into pitch mode – it must have worked because next thing I knew she was interested in filming something with our Ole Skool Crew. After going back and forth on the date and trying to find a location, we hooked up and she did a live segment with the dance team. She even tried some moves… it was a good day and all in all a busy two weeks.

This was a long one I know but I had a lot to say. If anybody has any tips or clues on Twitter, I’m all ears. That’s all I got.

April 16, 2009

Soooo, I was inside the war room on draft day. I have to tell you it was pretty exciting. We had to wait all the way until the final pick of the 1st round as you all know and it was amazing seeing it all unfold. It went like this… we have to dial in to a special conference call line that all of the GMs, owners, Presidents and CEOs of each team are on with a couple reps from the league. They go through all of the specifics of the draft like: here is the draft order, when you are ready to make your selection in the first round, you will call me, (the guy from the league), separately and give me your selection. He then relays that to the people at the draft who give it to Donna who goes up to the podium. So we hear who the pick is at about exactly the same time as people watching it on TV during the first round. Each team got about 3 minutes to make their selections in between picks. The way our war room was set up, we had three huge white boards with all of the player’s names, the draft order and who was picked and then a list of all the players actually invited to be at the draft day event. Needless to say, we used a lot of sharpies and a lot of markers…

The first round was kind of cool because PT is truly masterful at what she does so it was like she knew who the teams were going to take. As soon as Atlanta chose Angel McCoughtry, she was like, “I told you!” And then she proceeded to get the next two right as well. Coop on the other hand was probably as quiet as I’ve ever seen him. He was very patient and thoughtful, really trying to decide out of the players left, who would be the best fit for us. When our turn came around, they all, (Penny, Coop, Kathy, Carla and KB), looked at each other and said “is this who we’re going with” and everyone said yes. And Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton became a Los Angeles Spark. The next rounds went by pretty fast; there was no more calling in to the other separate number and there was less time in between picks. You could just say who you were going to take on the open line which was pretty cool. I heard Bill Laimbeer’s big voice boom through the speaker and Ann Meyers come through with the pick for Phoenix. All in all, it was pretty interesting to be on the other side of it all.

When the draft was over, they asked if I could get the three draft picks on the phone. I did so and the first person we talked to was Lindsay. It was kind of funny because I’m a random person calling her and Candace was right next to me saying, “let me talk to her, let me talk to her!” So I let her and then I called her on the loud speaker for everyone else to talk to her. She seemed like a really nice, pleasant kid. Eager to come out here and eager to get to work. Next we talked to Ashley Paris who was SUPER excited. She was going and going and going, talking about how she was ready and willing to do any and everything to help the team. It was nice to hear that enthusiasm. Then we talked to Britney Jordan and I REALLY liked her. I felt like I could hear the talent oozing from her voice. Both Coop and Penny called her the steal of the draft and by just hearing some of the things she was saying, I could tell that she was a leader and was determined to do her thing in training camp. All in all, it was pretty fascinating and I think that come the first day of training camp, it’s going to be great!

Just to finish up because I know this is long, Lisa has been quite busy. From doing appearances to radio shows to filming reality shows, who would think she has time to work out? She does. I’ve seen her numerous mornings working out at the crack of dawn and she looks great. I mean GREAT! There is no stopping her and she will be ready. She really cares about the community, about kids and about representing the Sparks. I asked her to film something that would be sent out to 31 million kids across the country promoting making the right decisions and reaching your goals and she did it without hesitation… I am going to miss her…

Sorry this is so long, there’s a lot going on… that’s all I’ve got.

April 1, 2009

Here it is, I’m finally back on time with the blog. Sorry about before. I haven’t gotten as many e-mails since the VLOG… I’m slightly worried about that. It must have been the busy shirt I was wearing. So, what’s going on in Sparksland right now? We are just trying to get ready for the draft which is right around the corner- this will be my first draft as PR Director so I’m trying to get as much information from as many people as I can. Shout out to Penny Toler for hooking me up with some info about what goes on during the day, what the PR Directors usually do and on giving me a top secret document that was only sent to Team COOs and GMs.

The document she gave me about the draft not only had the guidelines but all of the ins and outs surrounding it. It was pretty interesting stuff- very in depth but fascinating. I haven’t been this close to a draft since I was watching it in 2002 and happened to sign on the computer and saw my name flash up on the screen saying that I was going to Sacramento…THAT is for another blog!

So we’re gearing up for the draft and like I said a couple weeks ago, we have the 13th pick. We have to wait and see who everyone else picks and then we are going to pick the best player available. I’ve asked the basketball staff to give me a list of the top 13-15 players eligible for the draft. I need to get all of the information I can on these kids because if we select them, I’m going to need to be able spin out a press release like it’s nobody’s business! I’ll be in the war room on draft day, which is exciting. I’ll be doing PR stuff like checking the draft guide, finding out stats on players in the latter rounds but I’ll also be representing lasparks.com so that I can make sure that you know what goes down in there. From some of the stories I’ve heard, it can be pretty intense. But that makes sense right? Adding a person to a team that has the potential to win a championship – it should be that serious…

That’s all I’ve got…

March 18, 2009

March 5, 2009

I’m a day later than usual so I apologize for that. There is a lot going on around here, around the league and really around the world. I guess I didn’t totally grasp what a big deal our open try-outs were going to be but the applications are flying in. I even had a voicemail on my phone from somebody interested in coming who said that this was the opportunity of lifetime and that it meant so much to them. I’ve heard a lot of talk about this being a media stunt, or way to get publicity but it truly isn’t. This wasn’t my idea, I didn’t say hey lets go find a facility and ask Coop and Penny to show up.

It kind of reminds me of American Idol give or take a few thousand people and subtract the recording contract but the premise. Oh and the televised auditions… so maybe not really like American Idol at all and more an open try-out… just kidding. But what I was getting at is that the stakes are still high. People are training and preparing for this; for some it could be their last chance to make it into the league or the one last thing they wanted to cross off their list of regrets. It should be fun and thinking of it from a fan’s perspective; I’d love to be able to possibly see the next great star of my favorite team in action in her first interaction with the program.

With the draft just around the corner, we’re gearing up to make it quite a show. With the technology that’s out there these days, even if you aren’t able to make it to our Draft Party, you’ll probably be able to see some footage of it somehow or at least see the reactions and reasons behind our selections. I can’t give the date, time, location or specific details on the draft party yet because I’ve been sworn to secrecy. I will tell you that it’s tentatively set for some day in April, in Los Angeles and I’ll be there… hope that helps.

See you next month, that’s all I’ve got…

February 18, 2009

I’ve gotten a lot of questions over the last few weeks from fans on a variety of topics. So I thought I’d grab one of them and answer them here. Before I do that, I wanted to give you a little background on our open try-outs that are scheduled for May 2nd & May 3rd. These are open to the public this year instead of by invitation only. It’s a really great opportunity not only to see what it takes to become a pro athlete but also because it gives the players out there a chance to prove that they have what it takes. In listening to Penny & Coop talk about it, this is a REAL opportunity. It isn’t just a community event or something to do to be out there in the media. We are looking for a diamond in the rough and the people that show up better be serious. I don’t know if we’ll find anyone there to invite to training camp, only time will tell that, but I do know that’s where we found Mwadi Mabika. It literally could be you…

Highlighted Question comes from Aida Diaz, Inaugural Season Ticket Holder

A-Game,

First off, it was great meeting you at the Run for Her event. Your energy and ideas will bring a lot to the Sparks. I am glad we finally have a blog giving us insider info and a way to tide us over until our team is back in action.

I know many players are overseas competing in the Euro League. Does Coach Cooper talk to them and make suggestions as to where they should play and what they should work on in order to improve their game? Also, I know the players go overseas to augment their salaries, but we have seen many come back unable to give 100% due to the injuries they suffered, or their tired bodies. How is this being addressed by the WNBA and individual organizations?

Thanks,
Aida Diaz
Inaugural STH

Hi Aida –

First let me say that we are glad to have you as an inaugural STH… in regards to the players being overseas, we don’t necessarily have a lot to do with where they go unless it is a matter of needing help or something like that. Each of the players do exit meetings with both Coop and Penny to discuss where they are at in regards to what was expected of them during the season and what’s expected of them for next season. So I think that when players do go overseas, they have a pretty good idea of how the coaching staff assessed their level of play throughout the season and understand what it is they need to work on during the offseason to help the team be successful in the next season. With injuries, it’s not that easy of thing to address – you want your players to be careful and come back healthy and safe but you never know. The only thing we can really ask is that they make the right decision for their own bodies because they know them best. When I read Lisa Leslie’s book, she talked about how she played overseas in Italy but her knee was really hurting her and she made the decision to come home early. If players are going to be working out at different facilities or things like that, the places will often times send us a sort of waiver that Penny will sign to say that it’s okay for them to do that… there are checks and balances but the reality is that things can happen here too… fingers crossed…

February 6, 2009

What an exciting week! It’s been one of the most fun and stressful since I’ve been here. From trying to plan Lisa’s press conference to playing the cat and mouse game with the media, it’s been quite the learning experience. So on Tuesday, I send out a very, very vague media announcement that basically said that we were going to hold a press conference. Then I have to make follow-up calls to EVERYONE and their mother to get people to attend without actually telling them what it’s about. Everyone is speculating and thinking we’ve just made the acquisition of a decade or that Lisa is done playing. It was truly fun telling people that it was going to be worth it for them to come out while giving as little detail as possible.

So finally, I have confirmation from three of the five news stations, all the major newspapers, AP and two of the online women’s basketball syndicates. I even have ESPNEWS on the hook to do a live shot with Lisa. Wednesday was going to be a busy day. So the next morning, I head over to the Toyota Center, make sure that everything is all set up. The press conference is scheduled for 10am and I start getting calls about people being stuck in traffic… I’m like OMG… it worked out though because Lisa arrived at about 9:55am and Lauren needed her diaper changed and being the super mom that she is, she says to me, “How much time do I have? I need to change Lauren.” That pretty much says it all, she is all about business and getting the job done but has her priorities in perfect order.

The press conference goes great, her old HS team is there, USC coach Mark Trakh is there and all the media I mentioned before. I’m sure you’ve seen the presser by now so you know that Carla and Coop both spoke. When it was over, I had to get Lisa on the phone with ESPN.com, then ESPN SportsNation for a chat and then we had to hightail it all the way out to Glendale to the live shot with ESPNEWS. All in all it was a great day, really a historic day for the Sparks and for the league. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts… send me an e-mail: a-game@la-sparks.com

That’s all I’ve got…

January 22, 2009

It’s been two weeks since my last blog and Candace announced her pregnancy. I can see how the two probably don’t measure up to each other but thought I’d throw that in. The initial shock has worn off and we’ve continued to move towards the future. I don’t know if you had a chance to check out the “Gems from the GM” piece but Penny is very good at her job. When I say good, I should really say great. With the amount of talent that is out there, I don’t believe that we will be sitting out in the cold, (or hot LA weather), wondering why we didn’t get a player. I can’t give you any updates because this free agency game is tricky; you talk to the agent and then the player then with the agent again and it goes back and forth until a decision is made. Once a decision is made – I’ll let you know.

I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t speak on the incredible week this has been. From MLK day to the inauguration of Barack Obama. It has truly been amazing – I don’t want to go into politics too much but I will say that it was time for a change and I really do think that is a change that we can all believe in.

Back to the Sparks: this year’s theme nights are going to ROCK! I’m not kidding, seriously one of them for sure is going to rock because our new President, KB for short, has given me permission to bring you a Rockband night. Of course there will a bigger underlying theme to the game but one of the activities will be a Rockband contest. If you are familiar with Rockband then you know how potentially stupendous this could be. If you aren’t familiar with Rockband, visit this link to see me in action… … this could be you live at the STAPLES Center this summer.

That’s all I’ve got.

January 8, 2009

Happy New Year! It’s been a minute since I’ve jumped on so I apologize for that and hopefully will make up for it here. There has been a lot going on in Sparksland. Obviously the news of Candace being pregnant was probably a shocker to most. It was to me but having a child is a beautiful thing and Candace is young, healthy and determined so I know that she will be back in action before you know it.

It’s also free agency time in the WNBA and we are hitting on all cylinders. Just the pure talent that is out there is amazing to see. If we could get even two of the high caliber players out there, we would be unstoppable. I mean we’re talking about Tina Thompson, Michelle Snow, Ticha Penichero and Lauren Jackson being out there. I’m sure that every team in the WNBA that has room under the salary cap is trying to find a way to grab one of these players. Wouldn’t you?

That’s all I’ve got…

December 12, 2008

I’m not going to lie; it was a HUGE shock to hear about the Comets. It isn’t so much that I’m a Comets fan but you think about a franchise that won the first four WNBA Championships, brought us Cynthia Cooper and really was a cornerstone in the league. I just felt like it was unbelievable. There isn’t a lot to tell though; their previous owner realized it wasn’t working out and the league took it over back in June/July. Over the course of the rest of the season, they had a lot of interested potential investors but what it came down to was that there just wasn’t enough time to make the deal work. The league, (meaning the WNBA League Office), is not set up to run a team. They have neither the resources nor the time that a franchise needs to grow and thrive. So, long story short, no more Houston Comets. Taking all of that into consideration, it means absolutely nothing when you think about the strength of the WNBA. This is an isolated incident that deals with ownership. Not to be repetitive from what you’ve already read/heard, but the league is the strongest it has ever been – with ratings, attendance and sponsorship all on the rise. I’m going to tell you what, we went to Houston twice this season and it really is a cool place. They play in Reliant Arena which is small but homey and their game entertainment and fan support is awesome. Honestly though, my favorite thing is definitely BY FAR, the mall there…

In the wake of the Houston era coming to a close, there was a dispersal draft to place players on other teams held on Monday. There were five players that couldn’t be touched as they are Unrestricted Free Agents and can begin negotiating with whatever teams they want. These players were Tina Thompson, Michelle Snow, Latasha Byears, Mwadi Mabika and Hamchetou Maiga-Ba. The dispersal draft went like this:

1. Atlanta Dream (4-30) Sancho Lyttle C 6’4 4 Houston
2. Washington Mytics (10-24) Matee Ajavon G 5’8 1 Rutgers
3. Chicago Sky (12-22) Mistie Williams F 6’3 3 Duke
4. Minnesota Lynx (16-18) Roneeka Hodges G 5’11 4 Florida State
5. Phoenix Mercury (16-18) Sequoia Holmes G 6’1 1 UNLV
6. Indiana Fever (17-17) Erica White G 5’3 1 LSU

Also, yesterday the league conducted the Draft Lottery. It was pretty interesting because for the first time in WNBA history, it came out exactly as the odds said it would. We don’t have a pick in the first round because we traded it to Washington to bring back “Sunshine” DeLisha Milton-Jones. We will pick in the second and third rounds with the number 22 and 35 picks. I can’t wait until April to see who we pick – if you remember we picked Sidney Spencer with the #25 pick in 2007. That’s all I’ve got.

November 26, 2008

Well it’s Thanksgiving time and not only does that mean football and food but it also means college basketball Thanksgiving tournaments. Penny & Coop are hitting the road this weekend to several of the local colleges hosting tournaments to try and get a look at the up and coming talent. Not only are they looking at the seniors but they have to prepare for the future of the Sparks meaning keeping an eye out for potential in freshman, sophomores and juniors. It was pretty interesting knowing that while we are all looking to next year, they are looking at building teams for 2010, 2011 and beyond.

That being said, there are a lot of things going on around the office. Candace stopped by last week to meet with Penny and Coop, sign some jerseys and she also did a webisode that will come out on our website and in our monthly newsletter. There is some pretty exciting information in her webisode so make sure you check it out. On top of that, we’re about a month in with new team President Kristin Bernert. It looks like she’ll be a good fit for us. We can’t hold it against her that she used to be with the Shock, (even though we may want to and even though her dogs are named after two former Shock players). Perhaps we can look into legally changing the dog’s names to that of Sparks players. She is actually very smart and has some great ideas for the future of our organization. I’ll tell you this about her; she is very intense and serious about us being a success. I have asked her on more than one occasion if she sleeps…

This is a short one, all I can think about right now is that tomorrow, I’ll be staring down a table full of food trying not to think about the “trainer’s tips” I saw on the Biggest Loser last night for how to eat a healthy Thanksgiving meal. I’ll leave you with something inspiring, I talked to Murriel Page last Friday and she told me that she is being inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame. She asked me to send her some pics of herself for their presentation. I thought that was awesome and she deserves it. Murriel is one of the nicest, hardest working players I’ve ever met.

I’m thankful to be here and to have the opportunity to talk to you. I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday! Happy Thanksgiving!

That’s all I’ve got…

November 19, 2008

Not only is it almost free agent time but Coop and Penny are just about ready to hit the road and start scouting the college talent. As a matter of fact, I think Coop might be heading out to some games as early as this weekend. This is an exciting time for us in the office because even though it’s the offseason, we have already started working on theme nights for next season and more interactive things for the website. This past weekend we had an event with Cedars-Sinai; the thing I liked the most was actually getting to meet everyone. I introduced myself to a few of our longtime followers and some of them said they actually read the blog – which felt good but also added a little pressure to continue to be my witty, charming and interesting self. It’s not easy being me… just kidding.

So with Thanksgiving next week, January will be here before you know it and then February and then all of a sudden it will be Media Day in May and then our season will open in June. One cool thing that came from the meetings I had in New York a couple weeks ago was that our broadcasting schedule this year should be pretty full. We are “the” team that everyone wants to see. What that basically means is more TV games for us and more specials and exclusives on our players. It isn’t confirmed but don’t be surprised if you see the Sparks on national TV on opening day.

A few things to look for in the coming months:

• Lisa featured in USC Trojan Family Magazine in Spring 2009
• Candace launching several projects with Adidas
• The free agent game starting in December

I’ll finish with this, I don’t like to do things just to do them, I want it to matter. So, I want to know what you want to know or want me to talk about. Send me an e-mail at a-game@la-sparks.com with a topic that’s on your mind. It can be anything, what actually goes on at the office, what is the new President like, what you would like to see on the website, ANYTHING! The first five people that send me an e-mail, I’ll give you some behind the scenes access to the Sparks. I don’t know what yet, maybe an invite to practice, maybe lunch with someone in the office, maybe Coop’s cell phone number… JUST KIDDING ON THE LAST ONE. But seriously, let me know what’s on your mind and remember, if you have a question I’ll answer it. Starting next week, I’ll be introducing you to some of the people in the office…

November 12, 2008

Picture it, 10pm LAX, all I have with me is my backpack and my carry-on bag. As I confidently pass through the security checkpoint I notice a uniformed man smirking at me. I think to myself, what’s in my bag that would raise a red flag? He tells me he needs to check it and I smile politely, (kind of annoyed but appreciative of their efforts at keeping us safe), trying to remember what’s in there and then it hits me, MY HAIR GEL. All of a sudden I’m in a state of panic, who knows if New York City has Luster’s Texturizing Styling Gel???? Long story short, he takes my gel and I’m left to wonder how I’ll make a good impression on the good people in the WNBA offices if my hair is a tangled mess.

But alas, NYC has a nifty place called Duane Reade and they do carry what I needed. The day is saved. So the WNBA offices are quite fancy, no really. They are in this pretentious kind of building that even though the address is on Fifth Avenue, you have to go down side streets to get in the doors, (that took me 15 minutes to figure out). Then they have these machines that scan your license and practically make you a paper id badge right on the spot, then you can slide it through a little bar code reader that will allow you access through the turnstile. FANCY! So I was instructed to go to the 15th floor to meet up with one of the other PR people only to find out that the WNBA and NBA actually have about 8 floors in this building. On David Stern’s floor, there is a basketball court built into the floor. FANCY!

So for the first part of the day, I have a few meetings with the various departments at the WNBA; PR, Community Relations, Marketing, Website, and Broadcasting. They were actually quite informative and I realized just how valuable the Sparks are. Everybody is and wants to be involved with us. In the afternoon, I went to a meeting at Sports Illustrated with some people from the league and Candace. They were all over her, asking her questions about the season, what she’s been doing since the season and her plans for next season. That went well and will hopefully turn into a few stories.

The next day we met with seventeen magazine and People Magazine. Candace handled it like a pro and I expect a few calls in the near future. On Thursday morning, we got up at the crack of dawn to drive from NY to Bristol, CT to the ESPN studios which was awesome! We took of tour of the campus and Candace did appearances on ESPN First Take, ESPN News and ESPN International. She also shot a “This is Sportscenter” commercial. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the commercial since it won’t come out until 2009. I’ve added some pics to my blog that I took with my cell phone during my covert operation to bring you a behind the scenes look. I will tell you this, there is an elevator and a staircase involved… does that give you any clues? Probably not.

That’s all I’ve got.

October 22, 2008

Here we go… this is my first year with the Sparks as PR Director and what a ride it has been so far. I won’t even go into what it was like meeting the team for the first time. I will tell you that they made me dance in the center circle and it was nothing short of ridiculous. I’m standing in there with our players and I’m thinking, THE Lisa Leslie, I’ve technically met her before at a basketball camp although she didn’t remember and I had to be “that girl” who brought in the picture to prove it. But having the opportunity to travel and work with all of these players has been phenomenal. From the players, to Coop and Penny, they really are great people. It hasn’t been easy, think back to the brawl in Detroit, but I guess that’s life in PR.

The purpose of this blog is to provide a constant, behind the scenes voice to Sparks basketball. On my blog page, you’ll find my blog entries and also a place for fans to ask questions and I will try very hard to respond to as many as I can. I’ll blog weekly during the offseason and during the season daily and maybe even hourly depending on the circumstance. I can promise you this, I’ll write about the games, the road trips, what happened in practice and most importantly, I’ll give you my honest opinion. That’s how I am, straight to the point and mildly blunt. I’ll even throw in some special guests here and there.

I’ll leave you with this, a lot of people are wondering what happened? How did our season end in September???? Honest answer: I don’t know. There isn’t an easy answer or a person to blame. It feels like our trip to the Finals was stolen. I’ll never forget that last 1.3 seconds on Saturday, September 20. Just before that, when D put back that lay-up and we went up I thought, “Yes! We’re out of here!” The crowd was stunned and quiet, seemingly ready to boo our trophy presentation. And to tell you the truth, when Sophia Young made that shot, it took every single person in the arena a moment for it to register because we all knew there was no way that San Antonio was going to survive and that WE were going to the Finals. But that didn’t happen and it was like being punched in the gut in the dark. The only thing worse than that was the following day when the PR Director, (that’s me), told the players that they had to stay at their lockers and endure 30 minutes of media while “We Are the Champions” played in the background, over the cheers. I think that sums up why my answer is I don’t know. It happened in a flash and before we knew it, we were at the airport with nowhere to be but home. In the final meeting of the season, I had every player fill out a post-season questionnaire and the goal for next year was the same on every sheet: bringing the championship back to LA.

I don’t know where this blog will lead but until next time, that’s all I’ve got.