Thanks for reading: Support Women’s Sports is a fan-written and centered newsletter. It is the next step of a project I started in 2010 to elevate women’s sports stories and athletes. I am a full-time feminist creator and your support of this newsletter, both as a subscriber and member, helps me devote more space in my day for more content. Support this work by forwarding this newsletter to a few friends.

— Veronica

The All-Star game was so good, y’all. So much fun.

The United Center: It was great to walk up to the United Center and see the faces of the W. And the throngs of people, mostly women and families, flooding the sidewalk. It was what dreams are made of.

It also was a stark reminder of the fact the Chicago Bulls had opportunities to give Chicago a W team, but refused. And yes, I will be salty about this & remind y’all forever.

The intros: Angel, Kah, and Marina all got fabulous welcomes home from Chicago. Angel got the loudest of the three. In fact, she was one of the loudest of all the intros. A’ja and Paige also got similar cheers.

The game: A lot has been said about the lack of competitiveness of the game, but I didn’t really care. And I’m competitive! When the game started, I told my friend that I just hope everyone has fun and no one gets hurt. The ACL epidemic is real and if they had played in bubbles, that would had been ok.

Caitlin came out firing and there was a moment at the start of the 4th that I thought the competitive mode might turn on all everyone on the court, alas.

THE DUNK: For all the dudes out there that claim the W’s success is tied to dunks, there you go. * eye roll * For reals though, it was great that Seattle’s Dominique Malonga is now the youngest player to dunk in the All-Star game. Let’s hope for many more to come cause I love when players get hyped for each other.

19,783: This game broke the WNBA All-Star game attendance record AND drew more fans than the 2025 NBA All-Star game. We continue to see only growth in women’s sports now that the market has shown itself to be viable. Can you imagine where we would be if the patriarchy hadn’t keep us confined for so long? I can.

Cathy: Look, I’ll give her credit for the business end of the W, but the past three years, since a certain Fever player ended the chat, the league has been plagued with racist, homophobic, and transphobic fans. As the Commissioner, she should be a leader on getting in front of all the hate that has infiltrated the league. It’s like Caitlin is a monkey paw - bringing huge numbers of fans, but the price we are paying are MAGA fans and their hate.

Postgame: I went to one post-game party and it was pretty meh. Here’s to 2027 and better party decisions.

What was fun were the pre-game activations with Just Women’s Sports and Togethxr.

JWS: Held at Bottom Lounge, there were photo backdrops, stickers everywhere, a snack wall (limited to 4 items), arcade basketball (that Allie Quigley played on for about 10 minutes), keychain making station, a bar, other activities, and lots of great music from the 80s and 90s.

Togethrx: Held in a warehouse, aka the Togethxr House, it was jam packed with activities including Angel Reese’s Barbie house and a half basketball court where I took some good shots. AND finally someone had free coffee! Whew!

Merch & swag: We picked up some decent swag from sponsors, but the merch didn’t wow me and my new friend. Maybe if we had remembered to bring a tee for the Togethxr house spray paint station?

Overall: It was great to just hang out and have some fun before the game. Because of this, I did not get to WNBA Live. There was just too much to do this weekend!

The very last event I attended was on Sunday night at Nobody’s Darling. A singles mixer for the over 40 set. That started out slow, but turned into quite the party.

In the end, the weekend was filled with so much basketball, friends old and new, and a lot of fun. It was pretty perfect.

Sadly the Bandits got swept in the AUSL Championship. Still a great run this season! See ya, gals next season!

While this newsletter and the larger project of supporting women’s sports is my passion project, I still need to buy groceries and buy nachos at games.

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