The San Jose Lasers opened the season at the San Jose Arena, all 21,000 seats of it, rather than at the cozy San Jose State Event Center, which can handle a crowd of 4,500 if they don't mind getting to know their neighbors really well. And to make sure that the Arena was properly packed (10,809 showed up), the Lasers and Safeway papered the house with enough free tickets to wallpaper Maples Pavilion.
Maples, by the bye, is the home of the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team, and there was more than a hint of Stanford in the air. Yes, that was Tara VanDerveer in the front row. And yes, the Seattle Reign suit up Christy Hedgpeth (who hurt her knee again, but hopefully only slightly), Kate Paye, Val Whiting and Kate Starbird. And the Lasers counter with Jennifer Azzi, Anita Kaplan and Sonja Henning.
So when Starbird got the biggest ovation before the game started, it was no surprise, and when she converted a particularly sweet three-point play, the applause was loud -- and Gary Cavalli and company didn't care, because the fans were having a heck of a time.
They also had a heck of a time getting in, which is why the game was delayed for half an hour, but having too many people show up is a pleasant dilemma for the LLTC.
And just in case the message from that other league hadn't sunk in, the game began with a cute video (you've got to see Charlotte Smith singing and dancing to truly appreciate her moves), a laser light show, roving spotlights and a stirring National Anthem. Some of us hoped that the intro music for the light show (the wonderful `Carmina Burana') would replace the generic rap that sports franchises favor these days, but no such luck.
Instead, the league has outfitted the officials in gleaming white uniforms that would probably glow in the dark. Those unis got a workout, as the Lasers and Reign played 40 minutes of tooth-and-nail basketball, more intense than last year's model and more intense than the summertime game too.
The caliber of play was a bit ragged, but light years ahead of the opener in 1996. One reason was a host of rookies who fit right in -- Kedra Holland-Corn, Shalonda Enis, Katryna Gaither and the aforementioned Starbird -- and a very pleasant surprise from overseas in the person of Joy Holmes. Holmes, a 5-10 forward, blocked five shots, had 11 rebounds and scored 15 points without benefit of an outside shot to keep the defense honest. She can jump out of the gym and has every move known to womankind under the basket.
This kind of talent is what makes basketball go, whether it's men's or women's, winter or summer, marketed or not marketed. If the ABL is like this all year long, the TV networks are only hurting themselves by not showing it, and the fans in every city will definitely get the message.
But of course San Jose looks to be one of the best teams, and a Long Beach-Portland titanic might not be quite as much fun. But the 10,000 at the Arena -- including sports celebs Jerry Rice, Dusty Baker, Marty McSorley, Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright, Terrell Owens and Roger Craig -- left happy, because they saw their Stanford faves do battle again, and they saw the home team win what should be the first of many this season.
The Little League That Could isn't going away any time soon, folks, no matter how much money that other league spends. In fact, you can hear it saying softly to itself `I know I can, I know I can' as it keeps climbing that mountain.
10/16/97
