hastingstribune
MINNEAPOLIS We of the United States are one of the worlds top seven or eight countries, theres not much question about that, but theres an admission to make for those of us of a certain age in the male division of the population.
That would be the fact it has taken long-term therapy for us to gain a proper appreciation for the entertainment value of womens sports.
Im not talking about Lindsay Whalen, Janel McCarville and friends filling up Williams Arena twice on the Minnesota Gophers underdog run to the Final Four in 2004.
That was so epic that even Sid Hartman showed up to be impressed.
Im not talking about Whalen and the Minnesota Lynx winning the teams fourth WNBA title in a terrific Game 5 vs.
the Los Angeles Sparks in the same arena in 2017.
As those of us with French last names like to say, the joie de vivre from Whalen, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and Rebekkah Brunson at their postgame news conferences was spectacular.
Were not talking about the star-filled Gophers going 41-0 to win the NCAA hockey title in 2012-13, or Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell becoming a legendary duo a decade earlier superstars at what was basically still the dawn of womens hockey in this country.
Were not referring to championships and greatness.
What is being discovered is an interest in a Minnesota womens team that is similar to what has been my motivation for the Twins (always), the Vikings (generally) and Gophers mens basketball (if its not Alcorn State) for a lifetime: Watching because they have a game on television no other reason.
On Sunday, I was at a nearby sports bar/restaurant to pick up a couple of the Upper Midwests finest BLTs.
I will not give you the name of the joint because it could run out of that bacon.
There were 80 people, mostly males from ages 35 to 65.
There were TVs with soccer and golf, and a couple with the Twins game.
And one TV on a corner of the large bar carried the Lynx game against the Dallas Wings.
It was the fourth quarter, and there were more gents seemingly focused on the Lynx than the rest of the activities, including the Twins.
There was a 40-year-old man sitting at the bar next to me, watching the Lynx intently.
Olivia Miles, the rookie guard, had the ball and a chance to push the Lynx lead to five points.
She started left, but there was traffic and the man said, Look out.
Then Miles was open for a bucket.
She is so good, he said, looking around for a nod in agreement.
It was not until later Sunday that I discovered Miles, with those trademark goggles, carries an outstanding nickname: The Spectacle.
Certainly, it is a phenomenon that the Lynx and their rookie sensation have a 15-4 record with Napheesa Collier, last seasons MVP runner-up, still recovering from ankle surgeries.
Yet, whats happening with the WNBA and the respect the players finally are receiving is a greater phenomenon.
Whalen had to go to Ekaterinburg, Russia, on the Siberian side of the Ural Mountains, for a couple of years to supplement the low pay she received as a WNBA standout and Olympian.
Other players went to China, the Philippines, Australia and all across Europe.
The NBA, which started the WNBA and then had their owners fold teams willy-nilly, stood by as its womens league filled a few summer dates in their arenas with short regular seasons, quick playoffs and small paychecks.
When the Lynx and Orlando joined in 1999, the WNBA became a 12-team league.
The Orlando owners gave it four seasons, then the team moved to the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn.
Former Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, who owns the Minnesota Star Tribune, hung with it through numerous years of losing money with the Lynx.
Landing Moore at No.
1 overall in the 2011 draft and surrounding her with excellence got Cheryl Reeves head coaching career off to a phenomenal start.
Didnt change the league much; still 12 teams, still a short regular season, still a quick playoffs.
Then, the schedule started expanding in 2022, and finally, before this season, came what Aretha Franklin would tell us was R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
In a negotiating triumph for the ages, the salary cap for teams went from $1.5 million to $7 million.
This is fabulous, as was the $13 million purse that the worlds finest womens golfers split up Sunday after the final round of the KMPG Womens PGA Championship at Hazeltine National.
As a well-aged scribe, who fondly remembers the decades when you could say an opinion column was like a wave on a beach, sitting there briefly and then disappearing well, the internet has changed that, and past ..
er, negatives ..
on select moments of womens hoops and other activities can be found by particularly nosey people.
Let me just say, sorry Cheryl, you were correct about the WNBA: It could be so much more with better support, and now it is.
Including The Spectacle.
As the man at the next stool said, She is so good, as is that nickname.