Reunion

What a blast! The 25th Anniversary WBL Reunion went terrifically -- great attendance, great friends, great discussions, great memories! We had:

A fun reception, with memorabilia and game film

A re-enactment of the historic tipoff from the first professional women's basketball game in 1978

A hotly contested game -- full court, even! -- with WBL players

An intriguing panel discussion on Women's Basketball: Then and Now

A WBL Honors Dinner with highlight clips, door prizes from the WNBA and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, a lively keynote speaker (Mariah Burton Nelson), and a moving rendition of "The Dream" by Cardte Hicks

What's a Reunion without photos? We know you took lots of them. Some of ours will start going up soon, but we also think it would be fun to see the Reunion through the eyes of the players: If you e-mail or send photos, we'll post them here. (Please include a caption or identity of people in the photos, in case there's anyone we didn't get a chance to meet.)

Our 25th Anniversary re-enactment of the first professional women's game tipoff will be featured in an upcoming Women's Basketball magazine. If you're not already a subscriber, check with your local bookstore, and if they don't get it, tell them to get off the stick!

Other news items mentioning the Reunion include:

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Chicago Daily Herald

Des Moines Register

Chicago Sun-Times

And, from the 25th Anniversary WBL Reunion Commemorative Program, a cartoon we commissioned that we just love:

(After hours of internet surfing, we found Patrick at, of all places, findacartoon.com. He was quick and reasonable -- if you need a cartoon, we highly recommend him.)

Suzanne Alt, Kathy Andrykowski, Wanda Ard, Lynn Arturi Chiavaro, Kim Blacklock, Molly (Bolin) Kazmer, Queen Brumfield Nard, Patti Bucklew, Breena Caldwell, Tonyus Chavers, Patti Decker, Kathy DeBoer, Scooter DeLorme Barnette, Sue Digitale, Doris Draving, Tesa Duckworth, Rita Easterling, Augusta Forest, Liz Galloway McQuitter, Lynda Gehrke Phillip, Vivian Greene, Althea Gwyn, Barb Hansen, Bertha Hardy Smith, Cardte Hicks, Pat Hodgson Gleason, Joy Holman, Barb Hostert, Peggie Jackson Hicks, Marguerite Keeley Crump, Jessie Kenlaw, Marie Kocurek, Michelle McKenzie, Charlene McWhorter Jackson, Mara Melbourne Willis, Adrian Mitchell Newell, Pat Montgomery, Diane Morales, Mariah Burton Nelson, Brenda Pitts, Debbie Ricketts Heenan, Nancy Rutter Huerd, Mary Schrad, Angela Scott, Mary Scott, Denise Sharps, Lynnette Sjoquist, Donna Simms, Toni Stachon Paolini, Retha Swindell, Debra K. Thomas, Vonnie Tomich Raketic, Heidi Wayment, Faye Young Miller. (If I accidentally left anyone off the list, please let me know asap. Things were a bit hectic at times.)

Other WBL personnel: Doug Bruno (Chicago Hustle coach), Sherwin Fischer (Chicago Hustle owner, also WBL Commissioner, 1980-81), Vince Gennaro (St. Louis Streak owner), Steve Kirk (Iowa Cornets, Nebraska Wranglers coach), Larry Kozlicki (California Dreams, Nebraska Wranglers owner), Ed and Terry Reisdorf (New York Stars owners and general manager).

Here are just the first batch of photos (mostly the reception; the re-enactment, game, panel, and dinner will go up shortly):