Welcome Back, BG!

I’m a little bleary eyed this morning and off to a very slow start. I stayed up late last night watching the Phoenix Mercury’s first game of the season. Sadly they lost but it was an amazing game anyway.

Since we don’t have a WNBA team here I don’t usually follow women’s basketball except during March or the Olympics. But last year I became a Phoenix Mercury fan when I began following the news about Brittney Griner.

I can’t really imagine what it must have been like for her or her wife and family. Rebecca Lobo, one of last night’s commentators, described some of the challenges BG had to go through to get her mind and body into shape to be ready for this season. It sounded grueling.

BG expressed her profound gratitude for the extraordinary support she has received from her team and community. It seemed obvious to me that she isn’t quite comfortable with all the attention, but fully aware of the importance of her words and deeds.

It was beautiful to watch her on the court and listen to the fans cheer her on despite the fact that it wasn’t even her home crowd. It’s inspiring to see that people are actually capable of being kind and supportive of those who are technically the “enemy”.

It’s one of the most amazing things about sports and one of the reasons I love it so much. I look forward to watching as many of her games as I can and I’m hoping the WBNA sees fit to bring a team here.

Welcome back, BG!