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Hey Shock fans!
 Dave Hogg, freelance writer, inanimate bear wrestling champion |
Welcome to the first installment of "10 Questions With . . . " - a new feature at DetroitShock.com celebrating 10 years of WNBA basketball in the Motor City.
Today's interviewee is Dave Hogg. You probably don't know who Dave is, but that's okay. That's basically the purpose of the "10 Questions With . . ." series - to introduce you to people who work behind the scenes in and around the WNBA and give you a different perspective on the game and the industry. And we couldn't have asked for a better interview to tip off this series. Dave obviously put a lot of thought into his answers, so we hope you'll enjoy it.
So please welcome to DetroitShock.com, Mr. Dave Hogg.
Who are you and what is your association with the WNBA?
I'm a freelance writer that has the distinction of being the dean of the Shock media corps. I've covered the team for the Associated Press since the first game. At one point in the early 2000s, I had only missed five home games in franchise history, but scheduling conflicts in the past couple years have me in double digits now.
More importantly, I'm a graduate of THE Oakland University, the school that gave the world David Hasselhoff, Freddy Krueger and the guy who played Booger in Revenge of the Nerds.
What other beats do you cover besides the Shock?
The list of beats I don't cover is a lot shorter. In the last year, I've covered the Pistons, Lions, Tigers, Michigan football, OU basketball, the high school football and basketball finals and golf. I've been doing most of that since 1990, which, when you think about it, means I've seen a lot of bad NFL games.
Which WNBA player did you expect to be a heckuva player who didn't pan out?
Allison Curtin. Before she got hurt, I thought she was going to give the Shock the outside threat that they needed. Outside Detroit, it would have to be Rebecca Lobo. She was supposed to be the next great thing, and it was never there. That said, I still think she'll be the WNBA President one of these days.
Which WNBA player did you expect to have trouble making the league who wound up having a good career?
After her season here, I would have never dreamed that Anna DeForge would become an All-Star. She took a very strange career path, but it has worked out well for her.
Which five Shock players would make up your All-Interview team and why?
That depends. Do the current players read this website? If they do, I'll pick the current starting lineup, since I'll need quotes from them this summer.
 Cash and Riley make Dave Hogg's All-Interview Team |
For the coach, I'll take Gregg Williams with Rick Mahorn as his top assistant.
What are your three favorite and least favorite memories of covering the Shock?
Best:
1. Game 3 of the 2003 Finals.
Forget the fact that the Shock won their first WNBA title by beating Los Angeles. The memorable part was that a franchise that appeared headed for extinction in 2002 needed only a year to make it to the Finals and, more amazingly, sell out the Palace in the process. Bill Laimbeer deserves a lot of credit on many levels - not only was he the coach, but he was the general manager that added Ruth Riley, Kedra Holland-Corn and Cheryl Ford, and he was the salesman that convinced his bosses to keep the franchise in business.
Add an exciting game, highlighted by Ruth Riley destroying Lisa Leslie, and finish it all off with Cheryl Ford leaping into daddy Karl Malone's arms.
(Speaking of Karl and Cheryl, the greatest sign in sports history showed up at Game 5 of the 2004 NBA Finals. As the Pistons were finishing their rout of the Lakers, someone held up a sign that said "Dear Dad, You can always try on my ring. Love, Cheryl.")
2. Game 5 of the 2006 Finals.
I seriously considered picking this as #1 for personal reasons - see #3 - but the second title wasn't nearly as surprising, and having to play at Joe Louis took something away from the moment.
Still, it was another sellout, a title to cap off Katie Smith's Hall of Fame career, and a wild postgame celebration. I imagine that Swin Cash's lucky teddy bear still reeks of champagne and beer.
 Dave's soon to be step-daughter Brittany |
I'm sure no one else even remembers this, and I certainly didn't write a story about it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even attend this as a sportswriter.
Right around the time that the Shock won that first championship, I started dating a woman named Angie. She's been a wonderful addition to my life - we're getting married in May - but the relationship came with a special challenge. Angie had a beautiful daughter named Brittany, and she wasn't at all sure about this new guy in Mom's life.
As a (then) 34-year-old guy, I didn't have a lot in common with a pre-teen girl, but we quickly found one thing to talk about - she loved the Shock. Her prized possession was a Deanna Nolan jersey autographed by Tweety and Elaine Powell.
 Dave and his wife-to-be Angie enjoy a Chuck E Cheese moment |
Swin jumped up like Brittany was a long-lost sister, gave her a big hug and started peppering her with questions about how she liked her new school, her room in our new house, and most importantly, her brand-new kitten. Brittany was enchanted.
She and Angie were in the Joe Louis Arena crowd for Game 5 against Sacramento, and she's very disappointed that she's not going to see the banner-raising ceremony in May. I explained that I was pretty sure that her mom wouldn't want her to skip our wedding to go to the game, and Brittany decided that was a good reason ... but only barely.
Worst:
1) The aftermath of the Korie Hlede trade.
The sad thing is that, as a basketball move, this trade turned out extremely well for the Shock. Korie never recovered from her knee injury and Cindy Brown was a flop, while Wendy Palmer gave Detroit some good seasons and Olympia Scott-Richardson was a useful role player.
The problem was that, off the court, the trade damn near wrecked the franchise. Korie was the face of the franchise, and the fans were livid about the move. Nancy Lieberman-Cline probably could have saved the situation by expressing her sadness at having to trade Hlede, but how she thought it would make the team better.
Instead, in a move that I have never understood, she started ripping Korie to the media, which just angered the fans even more. By the start of the next season, Jennifer Azzi and Sandy Brondello were also gone, and so were most of the spectators.
2) The Gregg Williams disaster.
Gregg Williams is a fantastic human being that has devoted his life to women's basketball. That's why it was a shame to see him flop so badly as Detroit's coach. I've never been sure what went wrong, but it almost put the team out of business.
3) Martina Navratilova's chihuahua on the Shock bench.
It's very common to see celebrities at sporting events - NBA Finals games at the Palace have more musicians in the crowd than the Grammy Awards - but it was a little strange when Nancy Lieberman-Cline announced that Martina Navratilova would be sitting on the Detroit bench.
Still, it didn't get completely bizarre until Martina came out with a dog. Granted, the pooch was a tiny thing, not a Rottweiler or a Great Dane, but it remains the only dog I've ever seen on a WNBA bench. Actually, other than Steve Mariucci's offense, it's the only dog I've seen on any bench.
What are the differences between covering Bill Laimbeer as a Pistons player and as coach of the Shock?
 Bill Laimbeer showing Herculean patence with members of the media |
Actually, while Bill has mellowed a bit over the 17 years that I've been around him, he's still basically the same as he's always been. He tells you what he really thinks - more than almost anyone else I've encountered in sports - and he has no patience with foolish questions. If he thinks you know what you are talking about, you can get good stuff from him.
Ten years ago, did you think the WNBA would still be around in 2006?
I wasn't sure, but if I knew then what I know now . . . There's only one man who can answer that question with any degree of certainty, and that's David Stern.
Luckily for the league, Mr. Stern tends to get whatever he wants and right now, he wants the WNBA.
So they have that going for them . . . Which is nice.
What are the biggest differences in the WNBA since the Shock joined the league?
The talent level is the biggest. There are players that started for good teams in 1997 that couldn't make a roster 10 years later. You don't see 37-year-old guards that can't run in the league any more.
These days, you have players who went through high school and college dreaming about playing in the WNBA. Back in the old days, it was more of a summer lark.
Since you are a member of the media, please ask yourself a WNBA-related question that you would like to answer, and then answer it.
Q. Where would you like to see the WNBA in 10 years?
A. More non-NBA markets. I think, for the league to succeed, they've got to get away from cities where the teams get lost in everything going on between May and September. The Shock won a title this year, and almost no one noticed, because the beginning of the season was overshadowed by the NBA and NHL postseasons, and the end of the year had to compete with the Tigers and college football.