Many times in life, as in sports, what defines a person is not how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up after being put on your rear.
If you did not get the job promotion you were hoping for, or were denied that dream house in Suffolk County you and your family really had your eye on, do you hang your head in shame and say, “I’ll never have the ideal life?” Or is your response simply, “Is that the best you’ve got, life? Because I’m still standing and my success is promised to me.”
New York Liberty fans find themselves in this very predicament. For the first time since the franchise’s inception as one of the original eight WNBA franchises, the team will call the Westchester County Center home instead of Madison Square Garden. Save for a couple of games where the Liberty will return to MSG this season, White Plains, which is where the Knicks’ G-League team plays its home games, will be the primary home court for the 2018 rendition of the Liberty.
The move is, of course, a caveat of James Dolan’s intention on selling the team, but the plans at least for now, hit a snag when issues came about. For what we know, it is still Dolan and MSG’s intention on selling the team, more than likely to a Tri-State area based suitor, but the concern when the sale was first announced would be that the Liberty may be on the move out of the New York area entirely.
This would, of course, leave the WNBA with a huge Empire State Building-shaped hole in its heart, which is why prying the Liberty out of the New York market is sure to raise the eyebrows of both Lisa Borders and Adam Silver.
Recently, a lot of the talk since we reported on the upcoming move to Westchester was the size of the venue – a mere 5,000 seats – as well as how will fans be able to get to the games. The Westchester County Center is not exactly as accessible by the Tri-State’s extensive MTA system as is MSG which sits right by Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan or even the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (another once-bandied about home for the Liberty) which is practically part sports arena, part transit hub.
Approximately ten subway lines run through Barclays.
But Westchester is accessible via the Harlem Metro-North line from its terminus at Grand Central Station. The area also has its own bus service which connects to stops in both the Bronx and Manhattan.
So, yes – it may not be as desirable as the Garden or even Barclays, but there is a way. And if it is one trait that unites all New Yorkers, it is the ability to get the job done no matter what the obstacles are.
The tagline for the Liberty has been “Show Up.” Because it is what Tri-Staters do on a regular basis. And it is what the Liberty players have done throughout the entirety of its existence. While still in search of their first WNBA championship, the Liberty have been one of the most consistently successful teams in the W’s history as they have made the playoffs 16 times out of their 21 seasons.
Recently, a story came out which mentioned how the move to Westchester is causing season ticket cancellations. It also believed it would make a proposed sale to a New York-based suitor more difficult and we know by now about Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer’s comments about how the Libs’ move threatens MSG’s $50 million tax abatement which seemingly has always raised eyebrows in both New York City and Albany.
Cancelling season tickets is not the right thing to do. More than ever, the Liberty’s extensive New York-area fanbase needs to “Show Up.” The Liberty’s players deserve it. First-year head coach Katie Smith deserves it. The WNBA as a whole deserves it.
It is unusual in the sporting lexicon that a league’s fanbase would rally around a New York-based franchise. Why? Because the vast majority of a league’s teams are not in big cities like Los Angeles or New York.
The fans of teams in smaller cities such as Seattle, Indianapolis, Dallas, or other places regularly circle when they face a Los Angeles or New York team on their calendars because there is an added sense of pride a fanbase gets when they beat one of those “big city” teams that supposedly have the most “bougie” fanbases.
The WNBA is different. While a league that is undoubtedly growing, it is still looking for its just due. When news of MSG’s proposed sale first broke, the response was not snickering at those “rude, bougie, stuck-up” you-know-what’s “up North” at the idea of no longer having a team. The response was the concern throughout fans of if the Liberty were on the move, especially given what happened with the San Antonio Stars relocating to Las Vegas and becoming the Aces.
The W’s fanbase is knowledgeable enough to know that not having a team in New York is not a good look for the league or for president Lisa Borders who will start her third season as the league’s top boss this year.
With the 2018 season a mere two months away, unless a buyer for the Liberty is announced between now and then, the issue is likely settled for now. Dolan has made his statement that a sale of the Liberty is in the cards. It is time for the fans to make their statement as well.
Yes, it may be more inconvenient than the train ride to the Garden. Yes, the two games that the Liberty are slated to play at the Garden may come at times in the day where most New Yorkers are at work. Those are totally understandable issues especially in an area that presents the traffic challenges New York presents.
But it is as this column mentioned in its open. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Given the ramifications of what could have happened with the team, playing in Westchester should be seen as a win. At least it is White Plains, New York that will be the Liberty’s 2018 home and not White Plains, Georgia – which is not exactly accessible via Metro-North.
Showing up would be exactly the statement made to Dolan that the Liberty are New York’s team and would only make the Liberty an even more desirable franchise for a local suitor to go after – with the plan, perhaps of moving them back to the boroughs.
Also, the Liberty are likely to once again be in contention for a playoff berth this season in a WNBA that still has teams such as New York, Dallas, Washington, Phoenix, and Atlanta with their eyes on toppling Minnesota and/or Los Angeles.
Sometimes a minor setback can only be setting up an even bigger and greater comeback. That is what we are told by our peers, mentors, family, and close friends all the time. Now is not the time to give up, Liberty fans. Now is the time to “Show Up.”
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
