Shock Players Resistant to Playing in Tulsa?

Jayda Evans at the Seattle Times writes a provocative article about the opening of free agency in the WNBA. Her comments about the Whalen/Montgomery trade:

Since a source back east said fan/media meddling led to the trade of PG Lindsay Whalen and the second overall draft pick from Connecticut to Minnesota for PG Renee Montgomery and the top overall pick, I'm wondering what you'd conjure up for the Storm or your favorite team.

And check out the comments:

It was no surprise to Shock fans that some of the players didn't want to go to Tulsa, especially those who attended the event Plenette put together after the team was moved. The mother of one of the players involved in this mess(who was already overseas) said then that her daughter wouldn't play in the WNBA next summer. What shocked me is how surprised by and unprepared to deal with it the league seemed to be. - CG12

CG12: A few reporters have calls into WNBA for an answer about the dual cored players, but aren't getting a response. Tulsa has problems anyway because former Shock players don't want to play there and are rumored not to play in the WNBA this summer. The WNBA may have flexed its rules because it needs big names to draw ticket sales and make games interesting. The Paris twins aren't going to do that on their own. Still doesn’t make it right. Stay tuned…- Jayda Evans

Monarchs Watch: Day 17

Jayda Evans over at the Seattle Times claims that the Monarchs are toast:

Very reliable sources said the WNBA was unable to secure new ownership for Sacramento, so that team will dissolve and there will be an expansion draft.

Okay. I think this is the second reporter who used a "very reliable source" to state that there was going to be an expansion draft. Here's my question: why can't the WNBA announce that? Or are they hoping that the Marion Jones story and David Stern's quote that women might play in the NBA will bury the bad news?

Because let's face it. It is bad news. Franchises folding are always bad news. Why can't the WNBA just be up front about that? Why not just get the bad news out of the way instead of giving fans false hope? If right now isn't the right time to announce that, then when is the right time?

I'm hoping that the reason that no such thing has been announced is that there is still some slight hope that the Monarchs can be relocated. And the Monarchs don't necessarily have to relocate in the West. Another eastern team would be fine. The point is to show that a WNBA franchise has value. If it doesn't, the WNBA is simply too large and we need to stop talking about new franchises opening anywhere for a lonnnnnnnnng time.

This culture of secrecy in the WNBA is as annoying as hell.