Monarchs Watch: Day 15

Sports Business Daily (no link, paywall) says - from its excerpt on Google News - that the situation of the Sacramento Monarchs was the #1 item on the owners' agenda on Thursday. As I write this (1:30 pm on Friday) I'm hoping that this works itself out for the better - but I suspect that the conclusion the owners come to is "how can we spin this so that it doesn't reflect negatively on the W?"

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Bee is trying to determine why no one is going to see the Kings, the former "brother" team to the Monarchs in the NBA. Jason Jones gives the Monarchs as a possible reason why attendance is down:

Reason: Some fans are upset the Monarchs of the WNBA surprisingly folded last month. Not attending Kings games is a way for fans to show their displeasure.

Fact or fiction: Monarch fans are angry the team is gone. That anger only intensified when the Monarchs 2005 Championship banner, 2006 Western Conference title banner and retired jerseys for Ruthie Bolton and general manager Jerry Reynolds were removed shortly after the team folded. But the Monarchs had also seen a dip in attendance last season while finishing with the league's worst record (12-22). The Monarchs averaged 7,744 fans at Arco, below the league average of 8,039.

Hell, if the ownership disrespected me by taking the WNBA banners out of ARCO and with their reason that they folded the Monarchs to concentrate on the important team...yeah, if I were a Monarchs fan I'd be damned if I attended a Kings game, either.

I strongly suspect that December 9th gathering of former Monarchs ticket-holders at ARCO is going to be a Maloof beg-fest. Hopefully, 'Narchs fans won't fall for it.

Also note on the WNBA.com home page in the "Around the Web" section - they link to the article "Monarchs' Days Look To Be Numbered". Is the WNBA trying to send a message?