We are happy to present the first episode of From the Cheap Seats, a new weekly vlog by two Seattle sports-loving lesbians, Becca and Michelle. Every Saturday, they'll celebrate the amazing women of the WNBA with reviews of the best games and plays of the week.

L.A.'s Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker (left); Detroit's Katie Smith

This week, Becca and Michelle give their take on the Sun v. Lynx upset, the “other” Candace, and the danger of allowing Katie Smith to shoot freely. They also debate the pros and cons of playing more games at the beginning of the season, and what effect the upcoming Olympics is having on the season.

This is a vlog by fans for fans, so please leave plenty of comments, questions, rants and raves, or anything else that comes to mind. And check back next weekend for another episode!

I know the WNBA season is a few weeks in and I’m late with this post, but it’s not my fault: I was working on an overview of the teams and players, predictions about which teams will be in the playoffs, etc., and then I saw this and completely lost my train of thought:

Damn. Sheryl Swoopes is one fine lesbian. Of course, she’s one fine basketball player, too. At 37, Swoopes is getting her game back after sitting out most of last season due to back surgery. And she’s doing it with a new team, the Seattle Storm, after 10 years with the Houston Comets.

Swoopes is not the only Storm player who’s hot both on and off the court, though. I mean, just look at this starting lineup:

Swin Cash (whose full first name Swintayla means “astounding woman”) also made a big move this year when she was traded to Seattle by the Detroit Shock. She’s already made a big impact on the team. This photo of her made a big impact on me:

Veteran Yolanda Griffith surprised everyone when she decided to join the Storm instead of retiring. Griffith wants another championship ring and she intends to get it in Seattle. And Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson , who played together in Russia during the off-season, just keep getting better. Bird has played with Cash, Swoopes and Griffith previously in the Olympics, so should easily adjust to their play. She’s expected to step up her offensive game under new coach Brian Agler. Jackson may be in the best shape of her life. (And it’s certainly a shape I can appreciate.) In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has another MVP season this year. (I hope she finds a new manicurist soon, though.) … continue reading

I realize that spring is a time of change, but this year, I'm not liking it. A person I love working with is changing jobs. Two of my closest friends are moving away. Couples I'm invested in are breaking up. One and only one thing will get me through this iffy time: March Madness.

I hear that men play basketball this time of year, too, but I don't pay much attention. In fact, I think I'm something of an enigma to my basketball-loving friends because I am not a "basketball fan," I am a "women's basketball fan." I have no clue what the top men's teams are. And I don't care. I also don't care much about statistics or analysis. I just love watching women play the game. Moments like this are why.

Lest you not appreciate the beauty of this play, I should tell you that Nicky Anosike, No. 55, is 6'4" without her arms fully extended. I do believe Ms. Myia McCurdy has a helluva jump.

The bottom line for me is that I find inspiration in watching talented women doing something they are passionate about. It makes me passionate, too. I cry like a baby at the buzzer of the championship game. … continue reading

OK, I'll admit it: I gave up on The Sarah Connor Chronicles after the third episode. For me, Lena Headey's hotness just couldn't make up for the convoluted story lines and John's terrible acting. But I know I'm in the minority, and plenty of people love the show.

Tonight's two-hour season finale has a very tantalizing description: "Sarah enters into a business deal with a mysterious partner." If only Piper Perabo were playing the partner.

Meanwhile, if real-life showdowns are more your style, there's another finale tonight: the women's college basketball Big East regular-season title game. UConn takes on Rutgers at 7/6c on ESPN2.

And there's one more face-off tonight — probably the most dramatic one. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett give female bonding a new meaning in Notes on a Scandal at midnight/11c on HBO2. The film polarized lesbian audiences (at least here on AfterEllen.com — see my take and Malinda's for examples), but no matter how you feel about it, you'll probably be fascinated.

On Monday, it was announced that the WNBA and WNBPA (Women's National Basketball Players Association) have reached a new collective bargaining agreement that will start with the 2008 season and run through 2013.

Taking a look at the raw numbers, things seem to be on the upturn for the WNBA. Last season, new attendance records were set for the playoffs, with 216,863 fans drawn for 21 games, and the finals, with 74,178 fans over five games. Regular-season attendance increased by two percent. Television viewership was also up, and last season saw a new, eight-year agreement to air games on widely distributed ESPN. With the completion of that deal, the league's relationship with the national sports network will reach 20 seasons.

2007 Finals

Regardless of those positives, however, the WNBA is still not a profitable enterprise. As Indiana Fever star and Players Association president Tamika Catchings was quoted as saying in USA Today, "The league is not really making money at this point, so for us to go in and say we want million-dollar contracts would make no sense." … continue reading

In our first video blog of 2008, Lori and I review a handful of new movies, including the Denzel Washington-led drama The Great Debaters; the new Will Smith sci-fi flick I Am Legend; Helen Hunt's directorial debut Then She Found Me, which also stars Bette Middler and Colin Firth; and a little-known girls basketball movie Believe in Me, based on a true story of a team in Kansas in the 1950s (you know what a sucker I am for sports movies!).

We also share what we did during the holiday break, and why you'll never catch us doing improv. … continue reading

The WNBA has announced that hoops veteran Corey Gaines is the new head coach of the champion Phoenix Mercury.

Gaines has quite a resume, having played in the NBA with five different teams, and also in overseas pro ball. He was a player/assistant coach with the ABA’s Long Beach Jam in 2003, and has served as the Mercury’s lead assistant coach for the past two years, including the season just completed, which saw Phoenix win the league championship.

The Mercury posted some impressive numbers under Gaines and head coach Paul Westhead the past two years. Phoenix set WNBA records for scoring average in both 2006 (87.1 points) and ‘07 (89.0). In this year’s postseason, the team averaged 95.8 points per playoff game on the way to winning the Mercury’s first world championship, and also won a franchise-record 23 games this year. … continue reading

If you live in Atlanta and love women’s basketball, it’s now official: You have your own WNBA team on the way.

Ron Terwilliger, CEO of Trammell Crow Residential, one of the nation’s largest developers of apartments and condominiums, is the principal owner of the new franchise in that city. WNBA president Donna Orender was with Terwilliger recently, when the official announcement was made.

“As a great sports town and a region that enthusiastically supports women’s athletics, Atlanta is a terrific destination for the WNBA,” Orender said. “I commend Ron Terwilliger for his efforts in bringing the WNBA to Atlanta and know the league will benefit from his superior leadership skills, business acumen, and commitment to the community.”

The move signals expansion for the WNBA. Like the Chicago Sky, which began play this year, the Atlanta club is a brand new team — unlike the Connecticut Sun, for example, which was originally the now-defunct Miami Sol. … continue reading

I love women’s basketball. My friends would say “love” is an understatement. One of them, in fact, comes to basketball watching parties not to watch the game, but to watch me watching the game. But how could anyone not love moments like this?

The WNBA play-offs, which started Thursday night (no spoilers ahead), are full of such moments. Even the most casual WBB fan remembers Teresa Weatherspoon’s miraculous half-court buzzer beater in game two of the 1999 championships. (I’d love to post a video of the shot, but wnba.com seems to have deleted it. Why would anyone want to see the greatest moment in WNBA history?)

Of course, if any great moments happened in the first half of Indiana vs. Connecticut last night, I missed them because ESPN2 felt like the Little League World Series was more important. Not U.S. teams, mind you — Taipei vs. Japan. Finally, the WNBA game was moved to ESPN Classic. I bet that baseball game is still going on.

SI.com posted an overview of the play-off teams Wednesday — a good way to catch up if you haven’t followed the season but plan to watch the postseason. And if you like numbers, USA Today has a nice breakdown of the match-ups in the East and the West. I’ll leave predictions to the experts, but will happily provide some suggestions of women to watch during the WNBA play-offs. … continue reading

The WNBA postseason starts tonight with Indiana vs. Connecticut at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and San Antonio vs. Sacramento at 10 p.m. ET on NBA-TV (with simultaneous webcast on WNBA Broadband).

Here’s one thing I hope not to see tonight.

Tamika Catchings, who has been on the Fever bench with a foot injury since July 20, doesn’t know yet whether she’ll play tonight. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

For more on tonight’s games, wnba.com has a preview.

The WNBA All-Star game is July 15, less than a month away. Online balloting is now open. But how will you vote? Will you support your home team if you live in a WNBA city, or will you stick with your favorite college players, no matter where they ended up?

I live in L.A., so I love the Sparks, even with a retired Chamique Holdsclaw (bummer) and a pregnant Lisa Leslie on the sidelines.

It’s the first time I’ve been in a city with a WNBA team — it's a lot more fun to be able to go to the games. It's a little harder to be loyal to a team when you can only watch the games on TV or online.

My advice: Base your choices on stats, or pick them like I always sometimes do: Which player is cute? Do I hold it against her that she sort of looks like that woman who rejected me at that bar? What do her biceps look like? Can I pick her even though I hate that team’s uniforms? What if I don’t like the food in that state? How do I weigh that against her percentages? Being a sports reporter is harder than people think.

Here are my picks — although sometimes I think I curse things by picking them, almost like the curse of the Sports Illustrated cover. … continue reading

The Dinah Shore weekend is billed as the largest lesbian party on the planet, and centers on the weekend of the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship. This year, the Dinah overlapped with the women’s basketball Final Four. The Dinah Shore parties ended on April 1, and the women’s final basketball games were held April 1 and 3. Our recruiting numbers were spread thin across multiple states as hard-working lesbians were forced to choose.

(I'm kidding about the "recruiting." Or am I? Check out the tag line for the Final Four this year: “Women Rock. Join the Team!”)

The NCAA recently announced that the women’s Final Four dates may be later next year. Right now, the 2008 championships are slated for April 6 and 8 in Tampa, Florida. While the Nabisco dates won’t be announced until later in the year, the event (and thus the Dinah) usually falls in the last couple weeks of March.

This year, comedienne Suzanne Westenhoefer performed in Palm Springs with out LPGA player Rosie Jones in the audience, and then hopped on a plane to perform at an event before the basketball games in Cleveland, Ohio. I talked to Suzanne after both events, and she said that when she performed in front of a room of 500 people in Cleveland and asked who was in town for the basketball, all 500 cheered. … continue reading

by scribegrrrl

Rene Portland has left the locker room. The wildly successful Penn State basketball coach resigned Thursday in the wake of a lawsuit that claimed Portland had a "no-lesbian" policy during her 27-year reign over the Lady Lions.

Portland didn't give a reason for her resignation but apparently was not forced to resign. Well, if by "was not forced" you mean "was left no other choice because of the decades-long PR nightmare." I'm just guessing there.

Former Lady Lion Jennifer Harris painted a picture of Portland that's anything but regal:

In a December 2005 lawsuit, Harris accused Portland of "humiliating, berating and ostracizing" her, and claimed she was told that she needed to look "more feminine." The suit alleged Portland tried to force Harris, who says she is not gay, to leave the team.

Portland maintained Harris' departure was purely related to basketball issues and disagreed with the school's findings. ...

Last April, Portland was reprimanded following a university investigation and threatened with dismissal for any future violation of the school's discrimination policy. She also was fined $10,000 and ordered to take professional development "devoted to diversity and inclusiveness."

Other players, including Cindy Davies, have alleged that Portland treated them similarly. Davies quit the team in 1981 and has stated that she struggled with depression after Portland confronted her about her relationship with the team manager.

The Harris lawsuit was settled over a month ago. But discrimination against lesbian athletes certainly continues. Will "bully coaches" like Portland become a thing of the past as stories like Davies' and Harris' continue to come to light? ESPN's Mechelle Voepel says it well: "Ultimately, good coaches win their players' hearts without having to control their minds." And without, um, being homophobic monsters who openly establish policies against gay players. Good riddance, Rene.

Related articles on AfterEllen: "Lesbian Athletes Finally Get Their Own Deals"; "WNBA Star Sheryl Swoopes Comes Out."