WNBA players recall competing at the oddest venue — Radio City Music Hall
Sept 9, 2021 9:18:36 GMT -5
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Post by WBBDaily on Sept 9, 2021 9:18:36 GMT -5
But in the summer of 2004, before Catchings went to Athens for her first Olympic Games, she walked through the back hallways looking at the posters of the artists who previously performed at the iconic venue in New York City.
When she stepped onto the stage, she looked out at the seats. There were no patrons at that moment, just empty chairs facing the stage.
“It’s kind of like, ‘We are the show,’” Catchings says. “Open the curtains, and here goes the show.”
In a theater where there should have been singers, dancers or a band, the stage had been transformed for a different kind of performance — a basketball game featuring the United States women’s national team and the WNBA All-Star squad. The game was played in the midst of a six-game New York Liberty homestand, a scenario forced by logistical circumstances that nonetheless provided an unorthodox opportunity for the WNBA.
Catchings’ moment on the Radio City Music Hall stage occurred because of the 2004 Republican National Convention. The selection of Madison Square Garden as the party’s venue meant the Liberty would be out of a home arena for six games as the convention required two months of setup, reconfigurations and security protocols.
“Then it was like, ‘Oh no, now what do we do?’” says Carol Blazejowski, then the Liberty vice president and general manager.
Other venues across the city and metropolitan area were considered, but those had greater expenses and issues involved. As she and others pondered different solutions, it was James Dolan, the executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports, who suggested in a budget meeting to play at Radio City. The property was managed by the same company which owned the Garden, keeping it in the family.
“There’s no way a court will fit on that stage,” Blazejowski remembers thinking. “And he says, ‘The court will definitely fit on the stage.’”
Blazejowski had reservations. While there had been a boxing championship bout in 2000 at Radio City, no other sporting event had previously occurred there.
Dolan proved it would work before further planning began. Blazejowski says they got an 18-wheeler, loaded the disassembled Garden floor in it and drove it down Sixth Avenue to set up and test it out on Radio City’s stage. It fit.
“Then, of course, the wheels started spinning,” Blazejowski says. “You’ve got to give the guy credit. It was a very creative solution.”
Then came months of planning and convincing fans the experience would be fun and historic. Blazejowski called some season-ticket holders in the renewal process. With about only a third of the seating capacity of the Garden, the Radio City games offered a chance to pitch something unique and create demand. It worked, and Blazejowski says they sold out all of the Liberty games that season.
“It was nothing short of a miracle that we pulled it off in a specular way, so we called it the summer spectacular,” Blazejowski says, referencing the homage to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes, who iconically make the venue their home.
An important behind-the-scenes person credited with making the basketball and business operations run smoothly was Amy Scheer, the vice president of marketing and communications for the Liberty. Similarly, Scheer was initially concerned over how to take a 360-degree experience into a 180-degree one, with fans viewing the game from only one side.
Court configuration was just one of the challenges Scheer faced. Crews had to remove a few pieces of the court to fit around the proscenium. Scheer says a few squares of court — not the actual playing surface — were not installed, requiring a crew to fill in that little gap. The New York Liberty basketball court, which measured 94 feet by 50 feet, was laid atop the 144-foot wide by 66½-foot deep “Great Stage” where the game ultimately took place. They also had to consider how much runoff to give in case the ball went out of bounds and off the stage. Player safety was a concern. They even ended up having some seating for fans on the stage.
Another area of focus was figuring out the infrastructure surrounding a game not played in a typical arena — scoreboards, stats, lighting, press seating and other aspects of game days. Garden employees and the technical crew at Radio City made it work.
And then came back-of-house planning due to the numerous floors at Radio City. They created an elevator schedule, and at certain times, no one could use the elevators to allow the teams to come up and down from the dressing rooms and court level.
“I don’t know that there was any one difficult part; it was like sort of waves of how to conquer things,” Scheer says.
The hurdles were immense. They had to build a temporary training room. They couldn’t forget much — not even laundry detergent — because they couldn’t reenter Madison Square Garden’s tight security entrances during the convention.
When the Liberty opened their new temporary arena against the Detroit Shock, Scheer hadn’t slept the night before as she worked on last-minute preparations. Normally someone who rarely sits during a game, Scheer was perched on a chair at the end of the Liberty bench to better assess everything and not be stuck in the audience.
“It was so bizarre now that I think back at it,” Scheer says. “My view was actually watching the audience reaction. I’ve never had a better seat at a game.”
Leading up to Radio City’s opening WNBA matchup, Swin Cash and her Detroit teammates had a running joke.
“‘Guys, listen: We’re on a stage, the fans are out there,’” Cash says. “‘Remember, nobody fall off the stage.’”
But in that first game, the joke ended up being at Cash’s expense as she took a dive into the orchestra seats while going for a loose ball.
And then came back-of-house planning due to the numerous floors at Radio City. They created an elevator schedule, and at certain times, no one could use the elevators to allow the teams to come up and down from the dressing rooms and court level.
“I don’t know that there was any one difficult part; it was like sort of waves of how to conquer things,” Scheer says.
The hurdles were immense. They had to build a temporary training room. They couldn’t forget much — not even laundry detergent — because they couldn’t reenter Madison Square Garden’s tight security entrances during the convention.
When the Liberty opened their new temporary arena against the Detroit Shock, Scheer hadn’t slept the night before as she worked on last-minute preparations. Normally someone who rarely sits during a game, Scheer was perched on a chair at the end of the Liberty bench to better assess everything and not be stuck in the audience.
“It was so bizarre now that I think back at it,” Scheer says. “My view was actually watching the audience reaction. I’ve never had a better seat at a game.”
Leading up to Radio City’s opening WNBA matchup, Swin Cash and her Detroit teammates had a running joke.
“‘Guys, listen: We’re on a stage, the fans are out there,’” Cash says. “‘Remember, nobody fall off the stage.’”
But in that first game, the joke ended up being at Cash’s expense as she took a dive into the orchestra seats while going for a loose ball.
“I was just going hard for a loose ball, and you’re just not thinking about it in that moment,” she says. “But I do remember I saw myself going to the edge, and it was just like my athleticism kicked in. It was just like, ‘OK, boom, jumped it, got it, jumped back up on stage.’”
Cash was fine after her tumble, and it served as a memory of playing in such an unusual setting. Players and coaches had to watch where they were going and, at times, watch what they were saying.
“What I learned really quickly is, because it is a concert place, that you can talk at a regular voice but it will still project to the crowd,” then-Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer says. “So you really had to watch what you said because they would hear every word you said.”
“It was loud. You hear yourself. You could hear the echo,” said then-Liberty guard Vickie Johnson, who also most remembers that pivotal Cash jump. “The lighting was different because that skip pass from left to right, we had to be on target or else it was going into the audience. I was like, ‘No loose ball, don’t go after them. Don’t jump off the stage.’”
After the Liberty vs. Shock game, Cash and Laimbeer returned to Radio City because the WNBA used the locale as the Team USA sendoff ahead of the 2004 Olympics. Between the Liberty games under Radio City’s lights, the league’s brightest stars converged on the venue on Aug. 5, 2004, as final preparation for the U.S. women’s team hunt for a third consecutive gold medal. Then-Comets coach Van Chancellor led the U.S. team, while Laimbeer headed up the All-Stars. Cash was a first-time Olympian.
“Staging it in this unusual setting we thought would be advantageous and bring some extra attention to the WNBA, the national team and, of course, their impending departure for Athens,” says Val Ackerman, then the league’s president.
Like Blazejowski, those involved wondered if the stage could possibly be large enough when they first heard about the Liberty games and Team USA sendoff.
“It was different,” Laimbeer says. He and others note the experience was reminiscent of old high school gyms.
The game was broadcast on ESPN with Mark Jones, Ann Meyers, Doris Burke and Rebecca Lobo on the call. All-Star Games already present different opportunities for broadcast crews, with the chance to report from the bench talking to players not in the game. As Lobo says, there was a different vibe. The broadcast even featured segments of Lobo behind the scenes, exploring the bowels of the venue and offering historical tidbits, telling the viewing audience about the hydraulic system built in 1932 that later was used on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and how government agents were stationed there during World War II to protect the technology.
Cash was fine after her tumble, and it served as a memory of playing in such an unusual setting. Players and coaches had to watch where they were going and, at times, watch what they were saying.
“What I learned really quickly is, because it is a concert place, that you can talk at a regular voice but it will still project to the crowd,” then-Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer says. “So you really had to watch what you said because they would hear every word you said.”
“It was loud. You hear yourself. You could hear the echo,” said then-Liberty guard Vickie Johnson, who also most remembers that pivotal Cash jump. “The lighting was different because that skip pass from left to right, we had to be on target or else it was going into the audience. I was like, ‘No loose ball, don’t go after them. Don’t jump off the stage.’”
After the Liberty vs. Shock game, Cash and Laimbeer returned to Radio City because the WNBA used the locale as the Team USA sendoff ahead of the 2004 Olympics. Between the Liberty games under Radio City’s lights, the league’s brightest stars converged on the venue on Aug. 5, 2004, as final preparation for the U.S. women’s team hunt for a third consecutive gold medal. Then-Comets coach Van Chancellor led the U.S. team, while Laimbeer headed up the All-Stars. Cash was a first-time Olympian.
“Staging it in this unusual setting we thought would be advantageous and bring some extra attention to the WNBA, the national team and, of course, their impending departure for Athens,” says Val Ackerman, then the league’s president.
Like Blazejowski, those involved wondered if the stage could possibly be large enough when they first heard about the Liberty games and Team USA sendoff.
“It was different,” Laimbeer says. He and others note the experience was reminiscent of old high school gyms.
The game was broadcast on ESPN with Mark Jones, Ann Meyers, Doris Burke and Rebecca Lobo on the call. All-Star Games already present different opportunities for broadcast crews, with the chance to report from the bench talking to players not in the game. As Lobo says, there was a different vibe. The broadcast even featured segments of Lobo behind the scenes, exploring the bowels of the venue and offering historical tidbits, telling the viewing audience about the hydraulic system built in 1932 that later was used on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and how government agents were stationed there during World War II to protect the technology.
“The WNBA in those days was so fresh and new, so they experimented with different things,” says Lobo, who was in her first year out of the league and in broadcasting. “You kind of felt the excitement of that. In those days especially, I think, because all of us had grown up without a WNBA. All the players who were playing in that game when they were kids, there was no WNBA. So there was a certain fresh, newness of, ‘Oh this is cool, this is new, this is different. Let’s embrace it and run with it.'”
Instead of the traditional pregame introductions from the bench, starters ran down the aisles when their names were called. The Rockettes performed at halftime, and the broadcast showed people in Times Square watching the game on the ABC studio board.
But as Laimbeer and players say, once the ball tipped, it was just basketball.
“Once the ball went up, it’s game time,” Catchings says. “We were there to prepare for the Olympics. That’s my first Olympic Games, and I wanted to be great for Coach Chancellor and for the team.”
As a rookie, Lindsay Whalen played for both the Connecticut Sun (as a Liberty opponent) and for the All-Stars at Radio City. Whalen remembers the bright, hot lights but more so the atmosphere and competing against legends like Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley.
“It was just an unbelievable feeling to be there, let alone play,” Whalen says. “It wasn’t six months ago that I’m still in college and next thing I know, I’m witnessing how Dawn Staley carries herself and how Tina Thompson goes about her business. A close peer of mine, Diana Taurasi, is on the Olympic team getting ready to go compete in Athens. I’m like, ‘We were just playing in the Final Four and now she’s playing in the Olympics.’
“I just tried to take in as much as I could.”
Team USA picked up a 74-58 win over the All-Stars, and the Liberty eventually moved back to the Garden after the politicians packed up.
Since those games at Radio City, there have been a few other basketball games played in unique settings. Scheer produced professional basketball’s first outdoor game, held at the USTA National Tennis Center. And then there was the Carrier Classic, the college basketball games played on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in 2011 and 2012.
But in the WNBA’s history, Radio City was a creative solution to celebrate the best the league had to offer.
It’s even more exciting to think of how much has changed when it comes to parity. Team USA dominated that game. Flash forward to the 2021 sendoff to the Tokyo Games where the All-Stars beat the Olympians. Laimbeer says, “The depth of the talent level in our league is the best it’s ever been.”
But the moment remains a key memory for those involved. Scheer fully appreciated the magnitude of her efforts when Sports Illustrated later featured a two-page photo of the event. Blazejowski keeps a large photo in her house to commemorate what she says is one of the most signature events she’s ever been a part of.
For some of those who played at Radio City, reality sunk in at a dinner after the game.
“The rest of the night, it was just kind of one of those things like, ‘How cool that we witnessed a game at Radio City,’” Catchings says. “Literally a basketball court being on a stage like a whole produced show. How cool is that?”
Instead of the traditional pregame introductions from the bench, starters ran down the aisles when their names were called. The Rockettes performed at halftime, and the broadcast showed people in Times Square watching the game on the ABC studio board.
But as Laimbeer and players say, once the ball tipped, it was just basketball.
“Once the ball went up, it’s game time,” Catchings says. “We were there to prepare for the Olympics. That’s my first Olympic Games, and I wanted to be great for Coach Chancellor and for the team.”
As a rookie, Lindsay Whalen played for both the Connecticut Sun (as a Liberty opponent) and for the All-Stars at Radio City. Whalen remembers the bright, hot lights but more so the atmosphere and competing against legends like Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley.
“It was just an unbelievable feeling to be there, let alone play,” Whalen says. “It wasn’t six months ago that I’m still in college and next thing I know, I’m witnessing how Dawn Staley carries herself and how Tina Thompson goes about her business. A close peer of mine, Diana Taurasi, is on the Olympic team getting ready to go compete in Athens. I’m like, ‘We were just playing in the Final Four and now she’s playing in the Olympics.’
“I just tried to take in as much as I could.”
Team USA picked up a 74-58 win over the All-Stars, and the Liberty eventually moved back to the Garden after the politicians packed up.
Since those games at Radio City, there have been a few other basketball games played in unique settings. Scheer produced professional basketball’s first outdoor game, held at the USTA National Tennis Center. And then there was the Carrier Classic, the college basketball games played on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in 2011 and 2012.
But in the WNBA’s history, Radio City was a creative solution to celebrate the best the league had to offer.
It’s even more exciting to think of how much has changed when it comes to parity. Team USA dominated that game. Flash forward to the 2021 sendoff to the Tokyo Games where the All-Stars beat the Olympians. Laimbeer says, “The depth of the talent level in our league is the best it’s ever been.”
But the moment remains a key memory for those involved. Scheer fully appreciated the magnitude of her efforts when Sports Illustrated later featured a two-page photo of the event. Blazejowski keeps a large photo in her house to commemorate what she says is one of the most signature events she’s ever been a part of.
For some of those who played at Radio City, reality sunk in at a dinner after the game.
“The rest of the night, it was just kind of one of those things like, ‘How cool that we witnessed a game at Radio City,’” Catchings says. “Literally a basketball court being on a stage like a whole produced show. How cool is that?”
