Vancouver hosts first regular-season WNBA game to be played outside of the United States
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Toronto Star
20 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
German soccer star Thomas Muller set for debut with Vancouver Whitecaps
Hundreds of fans lined Terry Fox Plaza outside of B.C. Place, awaiting the German soccer star's arrival ahead of Vancouver's MLS match against the Houston Dynamo.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sue Bird, Seattle Storm's 4-time WNBA champion, has statue unveiled outside Climate Pledge Arena
SEATTLE (AP) — Shortly before a bronze statue of Sue Bird was unveiled outside Climate Pledge Arena, an onlooking fan chimed in during a brief moment of silence. 'You're the GOAT, Sue!' It's easy for Seattle fans to think so. The longtime Storm point guard already had her jersey retired and a street in the city named after her, and on Sunday became the first player in WNBA history to have a statue erected outside of a team's home arena. 'There's just not a lot of women that are honored in this way,' Bird said before her statue's unveiling. 'We have tons of men and I'm actually proud and honored, especially in the city of Seattle, to be with those other male athletes. Those are elite, elite athletes. I'm really proud to be in the same breath as the greats that have come through here, but even more proud to be the first WNBA player.' Bird's 8-foot, 650-pound statue is located close to that of former Supersonics player and coach Lenny Wilkens, who became the first person to have a statue unveiled outside Climate Pledge Arena in June. The statue depicts Bird, 44, scoring a layup, which she said was a nod to how she scored both her first and final baskets in the WNBA. In total, the Storm's scoring leader racked up 6,803 points to complement her WNBA-record 3,234 assists. Bird, a 13-time All-Star who won four WNBA championships, is the only player in league history to win titles across three different decades. After she was selected No. 1 in the 2002 WNBA draft, Bird was both critical to and observed the league's rapid ascent. While grateful for her personal accomplishments and those of the Storm, Bird takes great pride in what stars like herself and those in attendance, such as Diana Taurasi and Lauren Jackson, have done for the WNBA. 'What's always been so wonderful about seeing it grow, where it literally right now it's the biggest, 'I told you so' that anybody of us could ever have in our lives,' Bird said. 'Because we knew. We knew what we had, we believed in it. We just needed other people to see it.' Few cities were as quick to embrace the WNBA upon its inception as Seattle. The Syosset, New York, native did not take that adoration from Storm fans for granted. 'The city has given me a home, a place where I could have a career, a place where I felt welcome,' Bird said. 'A place where I really grew up. I mean in a lot of ways, I really grew up here.' Evidenced by the latest addition outside Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle is also where Bird dominated. In spending her entire career with the Storm, Bird joined the NBA's Dirk Nowitzki and the late Kobe Bryant as the only players to spend 20 or more seasons with one franchise and have a statue erected in their likeness. Many professional male athletes across various professional sports have been afforded such honors across the country. But as Bird noted, it has been rare for those in the women's basketball world to receive the same treatment. Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson has a statue at her alma mater, South Carolina, and Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt does, too, next to Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena. To join the likes of Wilson and Summitt, as well as Wilkens, in receiving a statue is a development Bird hardly takes lightly. 'This is really exciting to be – I don't even know if honored really covers it because it's a bronze statue that will be there forever,' Bird said. 'And, it feels different when you think of it that way.' ___ AP WNBA:
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Jaxson Dart's strong preseason hasn't forced the Giants to get ahead of themselves
One play into the New York Giants' fourth possession of their second preseason game, Brian Daboll called in Jaxson Dart without warning. 'Serious?' Dart asked, before making a throw that turned into a 30-yard gain and jogging back to the sideline, with Russell Wilson returning. It was all about putting the rookie quarterback in a situation he could face sooner or later in the NFL. 'You don't know what's going to happen,' Daboll said. 'Just be ready to go when your number's called.' Dart passed that test and has made a strong first impression as a pro since the Giants traded back into the first round to draft him as their potential QB of the future. Completing 13 consecutive passes and 14 of 16 total on Saturday night against the Jets should give the organization and its fans plenty of optimism about what is to come, but it has not changed the plan for Wilson to start and Dart to wait in the wings. 'Russ is our starter, and we're going to keep developing Jaxson,' Daboll said. 'We have a plan. ... We just have to keep working with him and understand there's going to be a lot of downs. I know there's some ups right now, but there's going to be a lot of downs and we just got to keep growing and communicating, just keep getting better.' Daboll, who is going into his fourth season coaching the Giants after getting the gig in part because of his work in Buffalo to develop Josh Allen on the path to becoming league MVP, insists there's a roadmap being followed. He is not exactly forthright about what it looks like. In exhibition game No. 2, it included not just one snap but an entire drive for Dart with the first-team offence. Why? 'Because that was part of the plan,' Daboll deadpanned. Whatever the plan is, and whenever Dart gets his first NFL start, the 22-year-old Mississippi product seems to be on board. 'They've done it with so many other quarterbacks. I trust them in the process,' Dart said. 'I have great guys around me, great coaches who have won and done it at the highest level, so I just look forward to learning each and every day.' Wilson echoed the other side, saying he's willing to keep teaching Dart what he has stockpiled from playing more than a decade in the league, including winning the Super Bowl at what is now their home stadium in the Meadowlands. 'I'm never shy about giving information and talking about it,' Wilson, now 36, said after his own impressive preseason game that included an 80-yard pass play to undrafted free agent Beaux Collins. 'I think (Dart has) done a tremendous job. He definitely has worked at it every day. He works at it every day, and he asks the right questions. That's what I enjoy about him.' Daboll appears to enjoy working with Dart, clearly along with general manager Joe Schoen and college scouts seeing enough that they liked to give up assets to use the 25th pick on the 6-foot-2 righty signal-caller. His stance continues to be that the Giants are trying to 'help Jaxson be the best quarterback he can be,' without many details on what that entails. Part of it is tempering expectations. Barring injury, Wilson will lead New York's offence onto the field for the season opener Sept. 7 at Washington and keep that role for some time. The Giants are trying to exercise patience with Dart and play the long game. 'We spent a lot of time with him, have a lot of confidence in the young man,' Daboll said. 'He's done a good job for us since he's been here in every area you could do — off the field, on the field, leadership, moxie, intelligence — but it's early. We've played a couple preseason games against probably some vanilla looks but he's making strides every day and that's all you can ask of any other young player.'
