Published April 22, 2026
Assuming I can still read a schedule, the 2026 WNBA season begins May 8. This is the closest I’ve lived to a WNBA team, and I thought I’d try something new.
As much as possible, I hope to curate for you some of the coverage of the Portland Fire, one of two new teams in the WNBA. When I’m able, I’ll share my own thoughts, maybe during and between games. It’s been a long time since I had a live blog, so no promises.
Who am I? I’m a longtime journalist with a lot of experience covering sports on every level. Many of the people involved in WNBA coverage and coaching were at the 1999 Final Four in San Jose and other big games I covered. I had my first newspaper byline in 1983 for a high school football game! And during the next decade, it was a badge of honor to be criticized for “too much coverage of girls sports!” And after that, for “too much coverage of women’s sports!”
I’m on a fixed income now and can’t afford all of the subscription services I’d need to see every game, but I’ll keep up as much as possible. I also have no photo budget, so you’ll probably see that basketball a lot.
Let’s have some fun
I’ll be learning about this team along with you.
The Oregonian/OregonLive had this look at the roster last week before the start of training camp. This story today on Sylvia Fowles, a player I covered at LSU a time or two when I worked for the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, is worth checking out.
Portland’s daily newspaper is probably going to show up pretty regularly here.
From time to time I’ll call your attention to thoughtful big-picture work such as the kind Frankie de la Cretaz provides. There are many hard-working people out there, and I hope to introduce you to some of them.
A work in progress
I haven’t decided how to handle stories behind paywalls and such things as game coverage. This is a work in progress that I hope will be a labor of love. After many months off work and even longer dealing with trauma, proper healing is going to happen only if I have things to look forward to. If I’m not well enough to sustain this, I’ll apologize and let you know.
I don’t see myself linking to stories that are rewrites of someone else’s work. If I inadvertently do so, please let me know.
When The Athletic has stories focusing on the Fire, we’ll both find them on its website and app. I’ll provide gift links when able, such as the story below on the WNBA’s broadcast plans for this season.
WNBA and Portland Fire websites will have more information and are probably well known to you if you’re here reading this. It will be a major upset if I don’t make it to The Sports Bra. If you’re close by, you should check it out on game days and nights.
I’m putting this on my blog and a page I’ve created for the Fire, but I plan to put most of my posts on the latter.
Today’s links
• Portland Fire close the first week of training camp with first live scrimmage — Oregonlive.com
• Portland Fire releasee local broadcast schedule for debut season — KPTV.com
• Former Alabama star gets new opportunity with expansion team — AL.com
• WNBA to broadcast record 216 games in 2026 season — The Athletic
I’ll post videos from time to time.
Enjoy the season. So many people here are excited.
Featured image by Giulio_Fornasar via Shutterstock.
♥
About these posts
I’m hoping to consistently help you find coverage of the WNBA’s Portland Fire in its first season. I don’t know if it will turn into something beyond that. Let’s see what happens. If I’ve missed your story and you’d like for me to consider putting it here, please message me via my Contact page up top.
I’m a longtime newspaper and website reporter, columnist and editor with experience covering women’s college basketball, Final Fours and much more. If you appreciate what you find here and would like to show your appreciation, you can check out the Tip Jar. Thank you for reading. Here’s a butterfly for you.
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