A Night With the Silver Stars

Sun, July 18 2010

I’m apart of some networks that connect me with different products and services to review. Last week, Ryan and I were able to attended a Silver Stars game, for free, thanks to One2One Network and the WNBA.

The Silver Stars are the local WNBA team so we headed to the AT&T Center right here in San Antonio. Now, I’d never been to any professional sport before so this was a really neat opportunity that I wasn’t about to pass up. We had no trouble grabbing tickets from will-call and there was a purse check on the way in but it was pretty lacks, otherwise. I was pretty “star”struck with the venue itself. It was big. And there was lots of screens and marquees and colours, inside.

When we got to our seats, there were already encouraging signs printed for the audience to hold–as well as some super long balloons. Ryan enjoyed playing with the balloons, as did all the kids at the show. This was definitely a family event and it was great. It didn’t have an aggressive or violent feel like some sports do. In fact, Ryan made a comment about how he saw one of the players attempt a shot but miss. She was smiling the whole time! I noticed that the teams, who were obviously competing against each other, seemed to work together in a way, too.

Anyway, the Silver Stars played the Connecticut Sun and, because it was a home game, the Stars had their mascot and cheerleaders. I’m not going to lie, most of the photos I took were of the mascot. The Fox is freaking adorable! And whoever plays him? Was really good. He was on the sidelines, in the seats, playing with kids, leading dances, shooting t-shirts and slam dunking the ball (in between the two halves). And he was adorable!

Now, basketball is one of those games that is just easy to understand. Even if I hadn’t played in fifth grade (I know, it’s a hilarious idea!), it’s so easy to understand the rules. The game started with the Sun playing on the side of the court that was closest to us so we got to see them practicing beforehand. They switched halfway through, though! One thing I noticed, was that the Silver Stars were great at passing. Sometimes a player on the other team seemed to want to do everything. I’m sure that the cooperation of the Stars is part of the reason they won!

I paid special attention to Becky Hammon who was listed in the “program” as a nominee for the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award from ESPN. She played pretty much the whole game, if I remember correctly. It’s also interesting because she’s “only” 5’6″ (I checked online afterward). Some of the players are easily a foot taller than I am! LOL

Aside from the game, which was fast paced and enjoyable, we stopped to grab food from the venue and get some merch. I picked up a pink shirt for my sister. In between the quarters, they had lots of activities with The Fox. At one point, he challenged the ESPN camera man to copy a trampoline/slam dunk he’d just done. The guy accepted and did it easily. A couple members of the audience were picked to play some parachute catching game and it was fun to watch them fall from the ceiling. The sponsors held a bunch of little cell phone texting games, too. I think I won a soda from the local gas station chain but my phone sucks so it wasn’t awesome enough for me to go through the hassle to redeem it.

After the game, we headed backstage because the WNBA provided us with autograph passes. This was definitely not the highlight of the evening as only one player was signing anything and I don’t even think she’d played in that game. Nevertheless, she was nice and I had her sign the shirt for Samantha. It was over pretty quickly. Line up, say “hi” and take the elevator up to the ground floor kinda thing. I would have liked to see a player or two more there.

The whole thing was a little out of my comfort zone but I’m so glad I got the opportunity. Ryan is even considering going to another game in the future which is hilarious because he totally resisted against going in the first place. He thanks me later!

If you’re at all interested, I totally encourage you to go and bring your family! I have a promotional code for discounted WNBA Tickets for my readers when they purchase online: WNBABLOG. I also believe One2One Network and the WNBA are offering opportunities like this to bloggers in other areas so don’t hesitate to sign up yourself!

More pictures after the cut!