The Chicago Sky is a Neighborhood
From left (Quigley, Parker, DeShields, Vandersloot.) Image via Sky in the Chi.
I’ve followed the Chicago Sky since they were founded in 2005.
I remember congenial NBA Hall of Famer Dave Cowens as the WNBA team’s first coach and I entered the franchise “Name the Team” contest. I suggested Skyliners. One of the Sky’s original minority investors was Matthew Knowles, father of then-Destiny Child lead vocalist Beyonce Knowles.
My respect for women’s basketball dates back to my first newspaper job at the Aurora Beacon-News, outside of Chicago. In 1972 I wrote a feature on Title IX, which created an equal opportunity for everyone in federally funded programs. prohibited sex-based discrimination in schools. It opened the doors for women in all levels of school athletics. I was a junior at Naperville Central High School in 1972 and witnessed the changes. Some thirty years later, Candace Parker would lead Naperville Central to back-to-back Class AA state basketball titles.
In 1978, my old Naperville running partner Steve Lord and I took in a couple of Chicago Hustle games at Alumni Hall on the campus of DePaul University. The Hustle played during the winter months in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Basketball League (WPBL). Their opening night drew 8,000 fans and famed White Sox organist Nancy Faust was the Hustle’s home organist. The Hustle emerged at the height of the disco era and somehow sparks flew. Other WPBL teams had names like the Milwaukee Does, Minnesota Fillies, and the Houston Angels.
The Hustle’s coach was Doug Bruno, now the women’s head coach at DePaul. The Hustle’s most popular player was Janie Fincher who resembled “These Boots Are Made for Walking” Nancy Sinatra. Forward Liz Galloway went on to become head woman’s coach at Northern Illinois University. The Hustle only lasted three years, but unlike the Sky, you could watch their games on WGN-TV.
Janie Fincher, Chicago Hustle.
As the NBA became full blast show time, my respect for women’s basketball grew. I liked the WNBA’s commitment to passing the ball and defense. I liked the affordable tickets. And closeness to the action.
I am a lifelong Cubs fan and that’s something I struggle with more in every season. The Cubs’ ownership is polarizing. They could be more friendly to their fan base and I do not agree with most of their family’s politics.
After 33 years, I dropped my Cubs season tickets in 2019. It was good timing. I used to attend between 50 and 60 Cubs games a season. This season I saw 17 Cubs games and upped my White Sox attendance to 10.
I wanted to move my modest amount of money behind a professional sports team that better aligned with my beliefs. The WNBA honors diversity, possibility, and it is a place where athletes’ activism makes a difference across America. The Sky rewarded me with its second-ever trip to the WNBA finals. Game 2 of the best of 5 series is tomorrow night in Phoenix. The Sky leads the series 1-0.
Connecticut Sun during the national anthem 10/6/21. I find this more powerful than other WNBA teams adjourning to the locker room for the anthem. (D. Hoekstra photo.)
WNBA athletes are not afraid to take a stand, in and out of season. Maybe it’s because most of the players don’t have big corporate endorsement deals like NBA stars. But when the Atlanta Dream rallied against their owner Kelly Loeffler in the 2020 Georgia U.S. Senate special election I was all in.
Loeffler liked to call herself the most conservative member of the U.S. Senate and aligned herself with the inflammatory language of Donald Trump. The Dream’s players refused to say her name and raised money for her opponent the Rev. Raphael Warnock. He was only polling in the high single digits when the Dream players started campaigning for him. Loeffler lost to Warnock. In February, Loeffler, who is from a Central Illinois farm family, sold the Dream to an ownership team that included former Dream star Renee Montgomery. The team’s name is based on Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
So I bought a Chicago Sky season ticket for 2021. Full season (16 games) lower level at Wintrust Arena, a few rows behind the Sky bench—$220. A steal. Many of my male friends teased me, but maybe that says more about them. Or perhaps I’m just a lonely guy.
This summer I took a road trip to watch the Connecticut Sun host the Las Vegas Aces at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Ct. The Sun is the only professional sports franchise owned by Native Americans. The Mohegan Tribal Council owns the Sun as well as the New England Black Wolves, a National Lacrosse League team. (Lacrosse originated as a Native American sport.) The Sun’s coach Curt Miller, is the only openly gay male coach in professional basketball. I love this. It shows young people how there are is opportunities for everyone in sports.
This is the world around us.
Sky-Sun, Oct. 6, 2021, in beautiful Chicago.
I’m impressed with all the kids and families I’ve seen at Sky games this season. I’ve been caught up in their unbridled joy.
There were more than 8,000 fans in attendance for the Sky’s electric semi-final Oct. 6 clincher over Connecticut. Just under half of that crowd was people of color. I go to many pro sports events and this is rare. It is a nod to the Foo Fighters hit, “The Sky is a Neighborhood.”
This season has been a remarkable journey that is culminating in the team’s second-ever WNBA finals appearance. I never thought the Sky’s post-season would last longer than the White Sox. The Sky lost 93-85 to the New York Liberty on opening night. Candace Parker was out with an ankle injury. There were only 1,332 in attendance, but because of pandemic protocol, that was a sellout. Protocols put me in the balcony surrounded by empty seats roped off by yellow tape. I ordered a hot dog that had mold on the bun. (The Sky is not responsible for the limited food options at Wintrust.) This was going to be a unique experience.
Plenty of room for the Sky home opener, May 23, 2021
The Sky endured a seven-game losing streak, a month-long break for the Olympics before clicking down the home stretch. The Sky were blown out 103-70 on their final home game of the season by the Las Vegas Aces, who were playing without their star center Liz Cambage. Despite ending the season with a 16-16 record, the Sky rebounded to beat Dallas in a single-elimination game at home, beat Minnesota in single-elimination on the road, and then upset the number one seed Connecticut by winning three out of four games in a best of five series.
The sky is the limit when it comes to the team’s engaging personalities. Beyond the two-time WNBA MVP Parker, Diamond DeShields is a gritty defender with a strong work ethic. Her father is former major league infielder Delino DeShields, Sr., currently the first base coach for the Cincinnati Reds. Courtney Vandersloot (“Sloot, there it is!”) is a pure basketball player who was tutored by NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton at Gonzaga University. At 5’8, 145 lbs., the point guard threads the needle with her passing and routing. Vandersloot is in her 10th season with the Sky. She is married to teammate Allie Quigley, a native of Joliet, Il. Quigley may be one of the best free throw shooters I have seen. During the regular season, she made 95.9 percent (47 for 49) of her free throws, tops in the WNBA.
The team’s leading scorer this season was not Parker, but Kahleah Copper, a speedy slasher who averaged 14.4 points per game and a 30 percent three-point average. Parker has mentored Copper throughout the season, just as Copper has in her role as an assistant coach for the Purdue University Northwest women’s team. The list goes on. Every starter on the team will be a free agent next season except for Parker.
Last week Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot called “gender bias” about the lack of news coverage on the Sky. The WNBA took a risk by choosing a summer schedule that competes against baseball, soccer, other outdoor activities, and the early weeks of the NFL. (I think the WNBA should hold an annual outdoor game. Coney Island? Rucker Park in Harlem?) The city’s newspaper and radio sports department staffs are strained.
The hard-working Paul Sullivan is the Bert Campaneris of the Tribune sports department. The Sun-Times covers the Sky in part because its coverage is sponsored by the University of Chicago Medicine–the same University of Chicago Medicine that sponsors the Sky. And Lightfoot declined to mention that over the summer Parker was on the cover of Chicago magazine, which accounts for a huge crossover audience. But then, her point is valid when the White Sox “Cane Guy” (the human version of last year’s media delight “Chance the Snapper”) gets more notice than the Sky.
Candace Parker on Chicago magazine.
Last month, SLAM magazine rolled out its first-ever WSLAM, completely devoted to women’s hoops. DeShields appeared on the cover. The Sky could also do a better job of marketing their team. This season saw no game programs or rosters, major promotions or even playoff rally towels. WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert has said marketing is something the entire league needs to improve.
I’ve followed the Sky through all three of their homes: the U..I.C. Pavilion, Allstate Arena in Rosemont, and now Wintrust Arena.
In May 2006 I recall the Sky losing their inaugural game to the now-defunct Sacramento Monarchs. Minority owner Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child sang the National Anthem before 5,112 fans at the UIC Pavilion.
I have seen superb performances from Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings (daughter of former NBA center Harvey Catchings), Maya Moore (she is on sabbatical to better the American justice system), and a healthy Elena Delle Donne.
Former Detroit Pistons “Bad Boy” Bill Laimbeer has been coaching in the WNBA for 17 seasons and is second in WNBA history in career wins (306.) I can’t quite absorb that reality.
Laimbeer is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, now owned by Mark Davis, who also owns the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL. The son of the colorful Raiders owner Al Davis, Mark Davis had been an Aces season ticket holder.
Sky–onward to the WNBA finals, Oct. 6, 2021.
When he was introduced at the Sky’s inaugural press conference former NBA-baller Cowens quipped, “I’m going to be the face of the franchise for a while. And for that, I apologize.” The Sky finished 5-29. Cowens resigned after the season to join the coaching staff of the Detroit Pistons.
From their roots as destiny’s children, the Chicago Sky has grown up to become a powerful force in local culture, on and off the court.
I have never witnessed a major sports franchise evolve in slow steps from the ground up. This journey of inclusion, growth, and inspiration has been something I shall always cherish.
For more on women’s basketball, read Melissa Isaccson’s “State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformation” as well as Karra Porter’s “Mad Seasons (The Story of the First Women’s Professional Basketball League, 1978-1981.) And check out my point guard Jon Sall’s deep dig into Granny basketball:
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