Dream Assistant Coach With Meadors Since the Beginning

When Marynell Meadors became the head coach of the Charlotte Sting in the inaugural 1997 season, one of her assistant coaches was...Sue Panek. When Meadors returned as a head coach in 2008 with the Atlanta Dream, what happened with Panek?

There's a great article in a Pennsylvania newspaper about Panek, which explains:

“It was funny because in 2007 around Thanksgiving, I was watching ESPN, and they said that Marynell Meadors was named head coach and GM of the Atlantic Dream,” Panek said in a telephone interview from Atlanta. “I was thinking about whether I should call her, whether I wanted to get back (in the WNBA). The next morning, she called me and asked me if I wanted to join her in Atlanta.”

And what does Panek do as an assistant coach?

“My duties cover a broad range,” Panek said. “I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the team, from setting up travel and hotel accommodations, requesting VISAs for foreign players, taking care of the equipment, setting up practice times, both when we are on the road and in Atlanta.”

Give the article some click love. And if you see Sue Panek sitting behind the Atlanta Dream bench, say hi!

Career Points in an Atlanta Dream Uniform

A recent post was made at the Atlanta Dream message board stating that Iziane Castro Marques has become the first player to score 1,000 points in an Atlanta Dream uniform. So I decided to check on that.

Here is the list of career points leaders while wearing an Atlanta Dream uniform...and congratulations, Izi!


Iziane Castro Marques 1015
Angel McCoughtry 743
Erika Desouza 699
Sancho Lyttle 669
Betty Lennox 595
Ivory Latta 534
Chamique Holdsclaw 348
Jennifer Lacy 285
Tamera Young 270
Katie Mattera 220
Michelle Snow 185
Shalee Lehning 157
Coco Miller 150
Alison Bales 133
Kristin Haynie 94
Kasha Terry 92
Stacey Lovelace 91
Armintie Price 87
Camille Little 62
Kelly Miller 59
Kristen Mann 45
Yelena Leuchanka 44
Ann Strother 39
Nikki Teasley 39
Chioma Nnamaka 16
Brittainey Raven 11

Women Out Front Keynote Speaker Kathy Betty Discusses the Dream

On January 14, 2010 Georgia Tech celebrated its "Women Out Front" celebration with Kathy Betty as keynote speaker. Betty is the owner of the Atlanta Dream.

A video of Kathy Betty's speech can be found at the Atlanta Dream's Facebook page. (Unfortunately, I'm not able to post it to the blog.) Apparently, there were forces out there that tried to dissuade Betty from purchasing the franchise:

And let me tell you, I had a lot of people come to me and say, "Don't do it." "This is not the right time", "this is not the right investment" - but my heart was always there.

And I think as women support women, we understand that there's a bigger decision than just logic, or just your head. It's all about your passion, and your love and your support. And believe me, we're going to make a difference in Atlanta, we're going to make a difference not only on the basketball court in the community.

And we're going to work with every little girl so she can dream to be a professional baseball - I mean basketball player! Sorry, it's way past my bedtime...!

Betty got some chuckles from her gaffe, but...well, why not professional baseball as well? Maybe Betty was just thinking big.

Toby Wyman Becomes New Dream Chief Operating Officer

From Our Sports Central:

ATLANTA, Ga. - The WNBA Atlanta Dream has hired Toby Wyman as the organization's new Chief Operating Officer. Team owner Kathy Betty recruited Wyman from the Atlanta Braves organization where he served as Assistant General Manager of Business Operations for the Gwinnett Braves.

...

Wyman had rejoined the Atlanta Braves organization in 2008 after leaving in 2006 to start his own mobile marketing company that provided branding and marketing support to sports organizations. During his tenure with Gwinnett Braves, Wyman tripled net profits, increasing total gross revenue 216 percent.

From 2001 - 2006, Wyman worked with the Richmond Braves responsible for the day-to-day operations of the club.

Wyman has extensive experience in advertising and consumer branding having worked at executive level on national accounts for Ocean Spray, T.J. Maxx and the Boston Globe. As Vice President of Advertising for Foot Locker, Wyman worked with global brands such as Nike, Reebok, and Adidas.


Finally, the Chief Operating Officer spot is filled. I wondered how long that was going to be left vacant.

What do I think of the choice? I think it's a great one. Why? Because I think a lot of the WNBA promotion really sucks. It's been my belief for a long time that the WNBA needs to be promoted more like Triple-A baseball. In Triple-A baseball the fans are unlikely to know the names of the players, so the goal of the franchises is to make sure everyone has a good time. Get people to visit first, then they can begin learning the intricacies of the game.

If you can get the Famous Chicken to show up at a Dream game...well, I know people who would attend a game for that reason alone. Mr. Wyman, please call The Chicken.

Wikipedia and WNBA Player Popularity

For those of you who don't know much about the internet, Wikipedia is a user-defined encyclopedia with several million entries. Users can edit encylopedia entries and accept that their own work will be edited. Just about every WNBA player has an article - those articles might not be up to date, but the articles exist.

One interesting fact about Wikipedia is that there is a statistics page where a user can enter an article name and determine how many hits the article gets. Wikipedia hits appear to measure popularity of articles both familiarity as well as intensity - an article which is being continually edited or read by the same subgroup of people will get lots of hits. Both depth and intensity of popularity can be measured in the same number.

Given that, I looked up how many hits each Wikipedia article devoted to an individual member of the Atlanta Dream received in the month of December 2009. All eleven current players of the Dream currently have articles; I duly entered each person's (article) name and counted the hits.

Wikipedia Hits for Dream Players in December 2009


Chamique Holdsclaw: 2090
Ivory Latta: 744
Angel McCoughtry: 707
Michelle Snow: 707
Coco Miller: 394
Iziane Castro Marques: 266
Armintie Price: 249
Erika de Souza: 225
Sancho Lyttle: 224
Jennifer Lacy: 186
Shalee Lehning: 146

The numbers all seem to pass the "smell test". Holdsclaw, having a decade-long history in the WNBA, having been the #1 Draft Pick and considered the future of women's basketball should be getting a lot of hits in a month.

As for the players of foreign nationality - Castro Marques, de Souza, and Lyttle - they don't get a lot of hits. In the case of the Brazilians it's because they didn't have college careers in the United States.

Some placements are real head scratchers. Michelle Snow might get hits because she dunked in a college game and because she's a Tennessee alumna. And why does Shalee Lehning have the fewest hits of all? At least it gives an idea of why it was so surprising that Marynell Meadors would let Ivory Latta (#2 in hits) go for a relative unknown.

However, there are WNBA players out there who make the Atlanta Dream's total number of Wikipedia hits seem paltry. Becky Hammon's 2266 total hits exceed Chamique Holdsclaw's. Sue Bird's 4621 hits make her Wikipedia article more popular than the articles of the six leading players in article hits among the Atlanta Dream.

Diana Taurasi's 6336 hits make her - by herself - more popular than the entire Atlanta Dream! As for Candace Parker's 21,547 hits, it makes Candace Parker a force to be reckoned with.

Can we do this for teams as well as players? Why not?

Wikipedia Hits for WNBA Teams in December 2009

WNBA: 5797

Los Angeles Sparks: 5308
WNBA Tulsa: 3450
New York Liberty: 2600
Phoenix Mercury: 2306
Seattle Storm: 2267
Chicago Sky: 2047
Atlanta Dream: 2042
Connecticut Sun: 1974
San Antonio Silver Stars: 1895
Washington Mystics: 1793
Minnesota Lynx: 1733

Do these numbers mesh with official attendance statistics? No, they don't. However, it makes sense that the Sparks and the Liberty would be the two most popular teams. Maybe going to Wikipedia can make sense out of the attendance numbers supplied by the WNBA. If Wikipedia is a better indicator of team popularity than announced attendance, it might give us a better idea of which teams have the most solid fan support.

Dream Looking for Director of Tix Sales

There's not much news today, but what there is, I got. Posting is going to be difficult over the next three days, but I always write that and the next thing you know, things change. We'll see.

From the NBA Team Jobs site:

Summary: The Atlanta Dream are seeking a highly motivated self-starter with sales-oriented and customer service experience to train and manage a team of energetic Ticket Sales Account Executives.

If you have a bachelor's degree, at least three years working for a pro sports franchise in ticket sales, and at least two years of management experience, you might be who the Dream are looking for.

Kathy Betty Press Conference

Kathy Betty speaks about her goals for the Atlanta Dream in her press conference on October 29, 2009.

Also, if you look hard, you can find the announcement of Kathy Betty as the new owner by WNBA President Donna Orender.

(Thanks to @atlantadream on Twitter.)

Dream Website Wakes Up

There is a story and picture about the ownership change at the official Atlanta Dream website. It's the first website update of any kind in almost a month.

Granted, it just links to a story at the WNBA website. But I'll take what I can get. Let's go, Dream!

Mechelle Voepel Writes About Atlanta Change of Ownership

Her new article can be read at the ESPN website:

"I am a businesswoman, first and foremost. I believe that to be successful, you have to -- at the end of the day -- make money. I can sell something when I'm passionate about the product. Developing more sponsorships and continuing to get the community active in the Atlanta Dream is something that will come naturally to me."

Betty is a graduate of Alabama, while her husband's alma mater was Georgia Tech. Both of them became very supportive of Yellow Jackets sports. But Betty said it was a talk by Georgia Tech women's hoops coach MaChelle Joseph to the school's athletic board a few years back that really hit home for her.

"I thought, 'You know, I could help,' " Betty said. "It really got me interested in supporting them at a different level, not just to be a fan. But to also reach out and make a real difference."

I'm hoping that Kathy Betty can make the Dream a success both on the court and at the turnstiles.

A Night at the Opera

Atlanta Dream fan Scarab asks the question: "How many WNBA ballers, current & former, can u recognize?" I believe the pictures were taken at Opera Atlanta, a popular nightclub.

(I think I can only recognize four....)

Dream It AND Be It: Dream Sold to Kathy Betty

Left to right: Atlanta City Council President Lisa Boarders, new Dream owner Kathy Betty, WNBA President Donna Orender, Atlanta Dream Head Coach Marynell Meadors and Dream player Jennifer Lacy.

We now have the word that we've been waiting for. No, not word about the infamous Surfin' Bird, but word that the Atlanta Dream has safely landed in the arms of a new managing partner, Kathy Betty. However, in the colloquial sense of the term, Betty is the new owner. The existence of the Atlanta Dream is assured to at least the end of the 2010 season, and hopefully, many years beyond that.

According to the WNBA news release, the Atlanta Dream will be owned by Dream Too LLC, an investment group headed by Kathy Betty. She becomes the first woman in Atlanta history to own a sports team. Here is the same article (essentially) from:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution story, one which gives more background into Betty's motivations for purchasing the Dream. This is an update from an earlier article this morning.

USA Today

Atlanta Business Chronicle

For those who haven't been following along, Betty is the widow of Earthlink CEO Garry Betty. She's been a major supporter of Georgia Tech women's basketball, so purchasing the dream is simply a logical extension of her interests. (Mr. Betty was a graduate of Georgia Tech.) She also has further Atlanta ties as a former executive vice-president of Scott Madden Inc, an Atlanta-based consulting firm.

Apparently, Dream Too LLC had some help from Atlanta mayoral candidate Lisa Borders, currently president of the Atlanta City Council. Borders "carved out time to bring sponsorships to the table and find investors who will make the Dream a continued reality for the staff, players and, of course, our fans" according to Betty. (It doesn't hurt that Borders is running for re-election.) The news has gone up on her political website as Borders claims that the Dream staying in Atlanta increases the flow of tourist money in the coffers of Atlanta businesses.)

According to Steve Visser's additions to the updated AJC article above, it is implied that Mr. Terwilliger no longer has any ownership stake in the Dream. I do not seek to condemn him, but to praise him. Just remember, without Mr. Terwilliger we might not have had an Atlanta Dream for the last two years. Thank you, Mr. Terwilliger, for all of your support of the greatest team in the WNBA. (My opinion.)

As for certain staff members of the Sports Department of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it looks like they'll have to wait at least another year to pull out that "Dream folds" article they've had queued up since 2008. To quote Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown:

The local press seems to think that we'd save everyone the time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves. Me, I'm for wasting sportswriters' time. So I figured we ought to hang around for a while and see if we can give 'em all a nice big shitburger to eat!

And now, let's sing! "We're a wild and an untamed thing...we're a bee with a deadly sting...!"

Departing Donehew Discusses Dream

Jim Fuller at the New Haven Register writes about a discussion he recently had with Danielle Donehew. Donehew left her front office job at the Atlanta Dream to become the Assistant Commissioner for Women's Basketball in the Big East Conference.

I also asked Donehew about the future of the Dream considering some rumors have been circulating about their staying power.

"I have high hopes for the Dream and for the future of the franchise. Over the last two years we built a great product. We were able to take an expansion team that only won four games in the first year to 18 wins in the second year and a playoff berth. I am really pleased with what we built. I think over the time the Dream will continue to build and be something that the WNBA will be very proud of.

"There are always rumors, in an economy such as this funding is always tough but I am excited to say that there are some new investors at the table," Donehew said. "I can't get into any details right now but I do think over time there will be some new investors that are going to come in and make a huge difference."

In short, we know little more than we knew before. "We're negotiating. Be patient." The Dream's main website hasn't been updated since October 1st and communication from the DFO has been minimal. (Though not absent.) I'm hoping for a big payoff, myself.

Mystery Dream Players Work With Toles

Dan Fleser over at Go Vols Extra reports something interesting about Tennessee freshman guard Morgan Toles:

One of the prime examples is a freshman: guard Morgan Toles. She's the daughter of former Tennessee linebacker Alvin Toles. She's worked out regularly with members of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream.

I wonder who is working with her.

Where in the World are the Dream?

You got us. The Dream webpage has been pretty much dormant since the end of the season. Other teams have started to update their offseason overseas player pages, but the Dream's offseas page still has the 2008-09 offseason information.

So...anything going on in the DFO?

Negotiations Continue Regarding New Dream Owner

Tara Polen over at SportsPageMagazine.com has some heartening news for Atlanta Dream fans:

Although they may be getting near to their last time out, an unnamed Atlanta Dream official assured me today that the team is still on the court.

...Negotiations continue, and until things are comfortably settled and all assurances are made, the Dream will not be taking the next step of going ahead and selling renewals to its season ticket holders.

That said, all indications look very good for [Kathy] Betty to be the new owner, according to this Dream insider. The team personnel are in "stand by" mode, and are being asked to be "patient." Thus, they are extending this request to their fans and season ticket holders. But the mood is definitely positive.

As for rumors of a move to Gwinnett Center -- those seem to be unfounded.

You need to go over to the actual link to read the rest of it. However, it is very good news. It looks like the game might not be over just yet.

Detroit Shock To Move to Tulsa

From The Associated Press:

A Detroit Shock official says the WNBA team is moving to Tulsa, Okla.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Monday because he was not authorized to make the announcement.

Detroit made its debut in the league in 1998 and won titles in 2008, 2006 and 2003. The Shock lost last month to the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference finals after rallying to earn a playoff spot.

That's the entire post. It's hard to believe, but at least the Detroit Shock still survive...just not in Detroit.

Now it remains to be seen if the WNBA will have thirteen teams next year...or twelve. Come on, Dream Front Office, end this vow of silence, even if it's just to officially say, "We'll say more in two weeks."

Tulsa: New Team or Old Team?

From the All Basketball Review:

Forrest Cameron (no relation to Bill Cameron), publisher of the Greater Tulsa Reporter newspapers, told the Free Press that Nolan Richardson, the former coach at Arkansas and Tulsa, was involved with a group that is trying to bring the Shock or another team to Tulsa. Bill Cameron and fellow investor David Box have said Richardson would serve as the team’s coach and general manager should Tulsa land a franchise.

This sort of implies two things:

a) Tulsa is open to having a team relocated, and
b) there is no landing spot for Marynell Meadors if that team is Atlanta.

Fourth and Eight

Bob Corwin posted at RebKell that Danielle Donehew, the Executive Vice President of Operations and Finance for the Atlanta Dream, has accepted a job with the Big East Conference as their Associate Commissioner, Women's Basketball.

At the Dream, Donehew had a strong presence in the Atlanta community as well as the internal workings of the franchise, including the start-up phase of the organization. She managed the basketball operations side including, but not limited to, staff recruitment, financial implementation, contracts, payables, organization of team travel and arena management liaison. Donehew headed up all broadcasting efforts for television, radio and the Internet, along with managing the talent and production.

One way you can tell that a franchise/league/company is on the ropes is when top personnel begin to leave. (The colloquialism is "the rats are leaving the sinking ship".) For all we know, this move might have been in the works for a long, long time. After all, if you were an executive for a women's basketball organization, and someone asked you to be the #2 person for Big East women's basketball, wouldn't you accept a job?

Still, that can't look good, that someone so important to the organization has decided to leave now. Combined with the fact that the season ticket holders have heard nothing from the Dream - not even banalities - and the fact that Tulsa has officially put in its paperwork to become a franchise, it foretells a convergence of events that looks very, very ugly. Dark clouds don't always mean rain, but you'd better have an umbrella.

Once again - if there is anyone in the Dream front office that is going to speak up and tell us something about the future of the Atlanta Dream - that time is now. Please.

Then again, there might not anything to say. Nothing good, anyway.

Making predictions is a loser's game. Ron Terwilliger might decide to put in another year. Kathy Betty might buy the franchise, or someone else. The Dream might rework its lease with Philips Arena. But right now, it's fourth and eight, and I'm hearing the rumbling cleats of the defense closing in.

No Renewal Packages Received by Dream STHs

A couple of well-renowned posters on RebKell - pilight and Scarab - stated that they have not received their Atlanta Dream ticket renewal packages for 2010. Scarab adds that no other season ticket holder (STH) has received their package, either.

pilight stated that 2010 tix could not be purchased. I've looked at every website in the WNBA and you can buy 2010 season ticket packages except for Minnesota, but they're simply not affixing a label year to their season tickets and I suspect that 2010 ticket sales are under way in the Land of a Thousand Lakes. Only the Atlanta Dream is still offering "2009 season tickets".

What's up with this? I'd like to know. Deal with Philips Arena not been finalized? Or something worse? (You know, this Tulsa thing is taking a long time to finalize....)

This stuff needs to be addressed by someone speaking from a position of authority in the DFO.

Ownership Change Rumored for Atlanta Dream

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Kathy Betty, widow of former EarthLink CEO Garry Betty and a major contributor to Georgia Tech's basketball teams, has emerged as the top prospect to buy all or part of the Atlanta Dream, Central Atlanta Progress President A.J. Robinson said.

"Talks have involved into her taking that role or taking a bigger role in the team," Robinson said late Friday morning.

Current Dream owner Ron Terwilliger told the WNBA in August that he wanted to relinquish his position of primary owner of the two-year old professional women's basketball team. Terwilliger, chairman and chief executive officer of Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential, said he intended to remain an investor in the team.


More information on Betty below:

Kathy Betty was the wife of Garry Betty, known for taking dial-up Internet company EarthLink public in 1997, a year after he joined the company. He died of cancer in 2007 at age 49.

Betty is a major contributor to the men's and women's basketball programs at Georgia Tech and is on the board of the Jimmy V Foundation.

(Note: I can't do anything about the AJC's slow-loading links. Linear B was deciphered more quickly than waiting for those pages to load.)