For Once, the AJC Dreams Positive

Surprise of surprises! The Atlanta Journal-Constitution actually reported positively on the relocation of the Atlanta Dream's opening round playoff games to Gwinnett Center. Granted, it got moved to the "Inside Access" section but it's there! And with a nice playoff photo, too!

Contracts are contracts, but evicting a team from its home arena for its first-ever playoff outing is a disappointment. After talking with Tonya Alleyne, the team’s vice president of media relations, it seems less like a failure to plan and more like a failure to dream big enough for this team.

In its first season, the Dream finished with league-record 30 losses. This year, they clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference and made the second-biggest turn-around in league history. They’ll play the 2008 champions, the Detroit Shock.

Nobody expected it to happen in year two, Alleyne said, because it never does.

“We’re very happy to have this problem,” Alleyne said. “We’ll play wherever they will put us. We’ll play on a playground.”


I'd like to make an official request to the AJC - we need Jamie Gumbrecht to cover the Dream. Or just put Dream game results in the "Inside Access" section. The Sports Department at the AJC ain't worth a.....

My Trip to Gwinnett

I decided to take a trip up to The Arena at Gwinnett Center on a Sunday when there was nothing going on. You can always read the instructions on the website, but I've never trusted website instructions.

So, I headed out from Chamblee to I-285, and then took North I-85 from there. Here are some details of the trip:

* The goal: to get to the "Sugarloaf Parkway" Exit. As it turned out, this would be exit 108. However, that's a strange exit. You get off on Exit 108 -- which diverts you for a little while and then you see another sign that says "Exit 108". In the end, you end up taking Exit 108...twice.
* You turn right off the exit. You'll be going under the interstate and shortly afterwards you cross Satellite Boulevard. You want to start getting in the left lane at this time.
* The Arena at Gwinnett Center will be on your left. There should be a sign. It should be across from the Georgia Baptist Missionary Center, or some permutation of those words. I saw "Georgia" and "Baptist" in there.

It's not hard to find. Traffic was heavy but there were a lot of lanes and none of those annoying traffic crawls associated with downtown Atlanta. Of course, this is Sunday afternoon; who knows what it will be like on Friday night?

I't's a very new looking place. Philips Arena is Gritty City; The Arena at Gwinnett Center is Shiny Suburbia. The building was completed in 2003; the gloss is still on everything.

There's a crapload of parking. Lots as long as the eye can see. You might need to hike, but parking, from what I understand, is free - that's $10 in your pocket right there.

Playoffs are Determined

Here are the match-ups for the first round of the WNBA Playoffs - we start with the Conference Semifinals:

Eastern Conference

#1 Indiana vs. #4 Washington
#2 Atlanta vs. #3 Detroit

Western Conference

#1 Phoenix vs. #4 San Antonio
#2 Seattle vs. #3 Los Angeles

In both the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals, the matched teams play each other three times. The first game is played at the location of the lower-seeded teams, the second and (if necessary) the third games are played at the higher-seeded team.

And now, the upcoming schedule of the Atlanta-Detroit Eastern Conference Semi-Final.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Dream will play at the Arena at Gwinnett Center for these games, and not at Philips Arena.

Game One:

Where: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI
When: Wednesday, September 16th at 8 PM
Where on the dial: ESPN2
Where on the internet: WNBA Live Access

Game Two

Where: The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA
When: Friday, September 18th at 7:30 PM
Where on the dial: NBA-TV
Where on the internet: WNBA Live Access

Game Three (if necessary)

Where: The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA
When: Sunday, September 20th at 3 PM
Where on the dial: ESPN2
Where on the internet: WNBA Live Access

See you there at Gwinnett! One Team...One Dream!