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THE DETROIT SHOCK - WORLD CHAMPS AT THE PALACE

By Richard Curry

The Detroit Shock - WNBA World Champs - does that not have a nice
ring to it for a sports-starved town like Detroit with the likes of the
Tigers & Lions to cheer? This was a cultural happening - these girls and
their indomitable coach, Bill Laimbeer, went from the bottom of the league
last season to the top of the mountain on Sept. 16th.

As a fan, I hadn't been that excited since Darren McCarty skated the length
of the ice at the Joe in '97 to score a spectacular goal against Ron
Hextall to help give the Wings their first cup in 42 years.

In fact, I rank my evening with the Shock right up there with Lance Parrish
& Kirk Gibson ascending baseballs into orbit off Goose Gossage in '94. And
I wasn't alone. Leaving the stadium that night I thought the fans were
going to burn the city to the ground.

When I first watched a WNBA game on June 22, 1997, I saw girls throw ball
after ball like bricks off the backboard with no results. I thought they
were hopeless. Six years later it is obvious the girls have come a long way
in terms of talent, execution and results since their formative years.

But first, a little woman's basketball sports history is in order:

 The girl's first ever college basketball game was played on March 21,
1893. It featured Smith College girl freshmen against their sophomores. The
sophomores put a whippin' on 'em, 5-4.

The first inner-collegiate girls' game was played April 1896. Stanford &
Berkeley tied, 9-9. Despite the girls' uniforms covering every bit of their
bodies, except face & hands, boys weren't allowed to witness the game.

Bill Laimbeer's 2003 team had strength, size and speed. They've been on a
mission since the start of the season, and he drove them like he drove
himself with the Pistons back in '89 and '90. The final game showcased what
got the Shock there in the first place. Ruth Riley is a Bill Laimbeer
clone. She's 6'5", 195 lbs., only a whole lot better lookin' than Bill.
Ruth did it all in the finals, scoring a high 27 points (11 for 19) and
thoroughly out-muscle and out-played L.A.'s superstar, Lisa Leslie.

Detroit's Neena Nolan (17 points), whose 3-pointer got the Shock back into
the game in the last three minutes, and Swin Cash, age 24, who poured in 13
points, could both to doing Covergirl ads in the off season, unlike Cheryl
Ford, who seriously resembles her dad, Carl 'The Mailman' Malone.  She was
the WNBA Rookie of the Year as the team's bruiser forward at 6'3", 215 lbs.
Ford, age 22, scored 10 points in the final game.

Carl was at the game in a dapper Hawaiian shirt, as was Saginaw's own and
Detroit Lion Charles (the $55-million man) Rogers, sitting center court,
front row, attired in a Tiger hat & jacket. Affixed to his left ear was the
biggest diamond stud I've seen in my life. He was developing a kink in his
neck from the sheer weight of it until he turned quickly to observe the 30
cheerleaders dancing on the floor.

Three overzealous ladies from L.A. wearing 'L.A. Sparks shirts were behind
me screaming 'defense' for two straight hours. I not only got tired of it,
but so did the team mascot, 'The Shock Bear', who came over, loaded up two
rolls of toilet paper into his gun, and fired them over my grandson's head,
directly into one of the woman's faces, creating an instant mummy. This was
funny stuff.

Detroit won the title beating L.A. 83-78.

They stayed the course with their game plan; played hard, scored when they
needed to, and played a complete game from beginning to end. When the final
buzzer sounded, We Are The Champions resounded throughout the arena amongst
fireworks and red, white & blue confetti. The Palace fans were elated and
the girls wept with joy.

With the win the Shock became the first professional sports team in history
to go from last place and win the World Championship the following year.
Post game comments came as follows:

"This was my best game ever," commented Ruth Riley, who spent the off
season playing professionally overseas in Valencia, Spain. "I was able to
come out and play the best basketball at this point that I'm able to play."

"It may have been her best offensive game of the season," added Laimbeer
(WNBA Coach of the Year). "We have great internal leadership and our
players are outstanding people. That's what makes great champions. This is
not a fluke. Yeah, we were a team of destiny, we surprised a lot of people,
but everybody watched us play in the finals and knew we were real good.
We're young, we're strong, and it's easier to get back than it is to get
there the first time. For a lot of people this is a storybook ending, but
for us this is just the beginning."

Swin Cash, who was seated on the floor in the locker room clutching the
championship trophy with all her might, said, "I don't think anything can
compare to this. After last season and what we went through, it's going to
be hard to top this. Nobody thought we could do it. Nobody thought we were
good enough. But here we are. This is ours and nobody can take it from us."

"We've established ourselves for the next three years," said Cheryl Ford.
"People will know the Detroit Shock when we go to their building. The fans
have brought a lot of excitement during the playoffs, and we've needed
them."

One thing is for certain after witnessing this event - you can count on
finding this fan in the building next year.

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