WNBA will be OK in Oklahoma

The WNBA is moving to OK (as in Oklahoma), which begs the question: Is this league going to be OK?

Officials with the Detroit Shock, which won WNBA championships in 2003, '06 and '08 but lost more than $20 million over the last 10 years, announced this week that the franchise would be immediately moved to Tulsa and taken over by a new ownership group.

It's the eighth time in the WNBA's 13-year history that a franchise has either moved or folded.

A great sign for the league? No.

A catastrophic blow? Certainly not.

First of all, part of this is circumstantial. These are uncertain economic times, particularly in Michigan where unemployment numbers are some of the highest in the country. Strong companies from coast to coast are hurting. Even moneymaking machines in the sports world are being squeezed.

A youthful league like the WNBA is going to see some hurt, too.

But here's the good news: investors in Tulsa believe in the WNBA so much that they brought a team to their town anyway.

Also, WNBA television viewership for the playoffs was up significantly this season, by as much as 73 percent over last year.

And, the best-of-five WNBA Finals between Indiana and Phoenix, which went to a fifth game before Phoenix finally prevailed to win the title, was so well-played and so well-attended that the owners in Indiana, where the Fever had been rumored to be in significant trouble, just recently came out in support of the future of their franchise.

Even locally, the Sky is making a move - literally - that is about growth and optimism as much as survival.

Sky officials are convinced that by playing their home games at Allstate Arena beginning next summer they will make themselves more accessible and more appealing to more fans in their key demographic - families.

Beyond that, the key is time.

More than anything, the Sky, and the WNBA in general, simply needs more of it.

Don't forget, the NBA has about 40 years on the WNBA. Plus, it had a built-in fan base from the get-go.

Men have always supported other men in sports, either because they grew up playing sports themselves or because they grew up watching.

Women don't support women in sports to that degree yet because many women in their late thirties or older, the pre-Title IX babies, didn't know sports as a way of life. Many didn't play sports themselves and if they watched sports, they watched men.

The girls of today, those who will be the decision-making leaders of the households and families of tomorrow, have grown up playing sports and watching women play sports collegiately and professionally. Supporting women's sports will be a natural for them.

It might very well take the next generation of women to really push women's sports to the next level. It also might take the next generation of men, who have been indoctrinated to believe that women can and should play sports. Supporting women's sports will be natural to them, too.

Finally, the WNBA's survival and growth also might take more thinking outside of the box.

People love to criticize the women's game for being played below the rim. It's not exciting, there's no athleticism, they say.

Well, maybe the WNBA should lower the rim a bit, maybe start with the All-Star Game. Experiment there.

After all, is it really fair that female professional basketball players are expected to entertain like their male counterparts when genetics prevent a vast majority of them from doing some of the things (dunking!) that fans like most?

It's just a thought, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has already been discussed in the WNBA offices.

If there's one thing the WNBA does right, it adapts, to the market, to conditions and to the needs of its fans, its owners and its players.

That's why in the long run, the WNBA should be A-OK.

Orange crush: The Illinois women's volleyball team is in the midst of one of its best seasons in recent memory. The No. 8 Illini, ranked in the top 10 in consecutive weeks for the first time since 1992, are tied for second place in the Big Ten with Minnesota, ranked ninth in the country.

Last week, Illinois (14-3, 6-2 Big Ten) got a huge win over Minnesota to keep pace in its quest to post back-to-back winning Big Ten seasons for the first time since 2003 and 2004. The match was played in front of a school-record 7,632 at Assembly Hall.

All-American Laura DeBruler, a junior from of Downers Grove North, is a big reason for Illinois' success.

The outside hitter ranks second in the Big Ten in kills with 270 this season for an average of 4.5 a game. She also is second on the team in digs with 166.

Setting up DeBruler is former Prairie Ridge standout Hillary Haen. The junior setter ranks second in the Big Ten in assists with 11.62 per game.

Senior libero Ashley Edinger was named the Big Ten's defensive player of the week on Monday. She averaged 6.3 digs a set in victories over Northwestern and Minnesota last weekend. She leads the Big Ten with 4.55 digs per set during conference play and, with 1,868 career digs, she also ranks among the league's all-time leaders.

Big-time Big Ten: Illinois and Minnesota aren't the only nationally ranked Big Ten volleyball teams. Penn State is No. 1, Michigan is No. 11 and Michigan State is getting votes.

The top-ranked Lady Lions are again undefeated. They are 20-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big Ten after going 38-0 last season en route to their second consecutive NCAA championship.

History test: If the DePaul women's soccer team can have a productive weekend with Georgetown and Villanova in town, history could be made.

A win by the Blue Demons in either game gives them their first Big East women's soccer tournament berth after missing out the last four years.

DePaul is 9-7-2, not bad considering the team went 12-41-3 combined the last three years.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com