MVN - Most Valuable Network

Video: Los Angeles-Detroit WNBA Fight

Who says that things can’t get a little tense in the WNBA? On Tuesday night, players from the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock were involved in what’s believed to be the biggest skirmish in the league’s history — and unsurprisingly, it occurred at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Check it out:

Well, this is certainly an interesting way to bring some attention to the league — but any publicity is good publicity, right? In this case, I think the skirmish actually helps the WNBA; the league has been fighting perceptions that, although it provides a level of fundamentally-sound play that the NBA cannot match, it lacks the excitement and intensity of the men’s game. If it takes a skirmish to help defuse those perceptions, then so be it.

And besides, this fight simply gets people talking about the league. The WNBA’s presence in water cooler conversation and discussion on sports talk radio has been virtually nonexistent since its launch in 1997. If I were a league exec, I’d be happy about the exposure — although it’s certainly not the kind of exposure the WNBA would prefer to receive.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.