The Atlanta Dream unveiled its new jerseys on April 3 by draping two 36-foot banners featuring Ivory Latta and Katie Feenstra along the Downtown Connector during morning rush hour. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
Atlanta Dream scouting for new fans Plus gay swim-a-thon set to raise funds for AIDS research
The Atlanta Dream is looking for fans like Jamie McDaniel and her partner.
The pair made the 90-minute trek from their home in Jasper on Tuesday to meet friends at a Midtown bar and watch Tennessee claim its eighth women’s basketball championship with a 64-48 win over Stanford.
McDaniel was dressed, like many other lesbians at Midtown Tavern that night, in Volunteer orange. She even had a spare Tennessee sweatshirt in case she got chilly. Two friends and a stuffed bear bathed in Tennessee sports gear were with them, too.
“We came for the Tennessee basketball game,” McDaniel said. “We’re just fans of women’s basketball. Pat Summit is just awesome.”
The group joined about 60 others to watch the game as part of a fundraiser for Atlanta Pride. Also on hand was an account executive with the Atlanta Dream, the WNBA’s newest franchise that opens its season next month. The professional team has made appearances at several gay and lesbian events, hoping to turn sports fans like McDaniel into supporters — even season ticket holders — of the Dream.
The Dream found the crowd pretty receptive.
“We don’t like the name of the team, but we are interested in the Dream,” McDaniel said. “They will probably be better than the Hawks. They should have a scrimmage with them.”
Putting a winning team on the court from the start is the hope of Marynell Meadors, the Dream’s general manager and head coach. She stressed that goal again last week when the team unveiled its new uniforms.
“These are just dynamic young professional women that do a great job on the court,” Meadors said April 3. “We take the best of the best [in the WNBA] and put them on our teams. There are 14 teams, and we plan on being in the play-offs.”
On April 15, the Dream continues building buzz by holding open tryouts to see if there’s some homegrown talent the team can add to its roster.
Elizabeth Hashimoto also joined friends on Tuesday to watch the NCAA championship. A longtime sports fan and Atlanta resident, Hashimoto attended games of the Atlanta Glory, the last women’s team in the city that folded in 1998 after two years. She also holds season tickets for the Atlanta Explosion, a full-tackle women’s football team. The Dream might interest her.
“With the Glory, when there was no WNBA, it was a good product,” Hashimoto said.
Cayenne Barnes said that although she’s more of an Atlanta Braves fan, she will give the Dream a chance.
“I’m interested in supporting women’s sports,” Barnes said.
For Cori Skinner, it was clear pretty quickly who she supported during the game on Tuesday. The former University of Tennessee student also grew up in the state. She’s a self-described “serious fan” and plans to take up a friend’s offer to attend Dream games with her season tickets.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Skinner said. “If [Lady Vol] Candice Parker plays here, that’s even better.”
Swish splash
A handful of members of the Atlanta Rainbow Trout gay swim team recently ditched their Speedos for bicycles. They formed Fish Out of Water to take part in the 6th annual Action Cycling 200, a 200-mile cycling event that raises funds for the Emory Vaccine Center.
As part of their efforts, they join other Trout members in the pool on April 13 for a Trout-A-Thon, an hour-long fundraiser for their cycling team. Through donations and per-lap pledges, the team hopes to raise about $1,200, according to Jeremy Ploessel, a Trout member and lead organizer of Fish Out of Water.
“The cause in general is pretty near and dear to my heart,” Ploessel said.
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
