SSN NEWS BLOG!

Silver Stars guard Vickie Johnson was interviewed today by Chris Duel and Jason Minnix of ESPN’s 1250 The Zone.  She talks about her upcoming retirement, the current WNBA season and few other surprises.  Silver Stars Nation wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to listen to VJ’s latest interview, so if you missed it this afternoon you can listen now.   Silver Stars Nation would also like to thank Chris Duel and Jason Minnix of ESPN’s 1250 The Zone for their continued support of the Silver Stars.    Be sure to tune in Monday through Friday 3pm - 7pm for the best radio sports talk show in San Antonio.   ESPN The Zone

ESPN 1250 The Zone Vickie Johnson Interview

The Silver Stars take on the Chicago Sky Friday July 3rd @ 7pm.   Come on out for dollar hot dogs, beer and soft drinks and celebrate the 4th of July weekend with the Silver Stars.

Purchase Tickets

The 2009 All Star Game is just around the corner and voting has already begun.  Help send Becky Hammon, Sophia Young, Ruth Riley, Vickie Johnson and Erin Perperoglou to the 2009 All Star Game.

Log on to vote now

SAN ANTONIO, June 17, 2009 – The San Antonio Silver Stars join the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red for Women campaign to increase awareness of heart disease and encourage women to take action to reduce their personal risk by hosting Go Red for Women Night on Tuesday, June 23, when the team hosts the Phoenix Mercury.

The game is televised on ESPN2 and tips at 6:30 p.m. All fans are encouraged to wear red to help show their support for the AHA cause.

The first 2,500 fans through the doors get Go Red bangers courtesy of H-E-B along with a 2009 Silver Stars schedule magnet. The American Heart Association is offering free health screenings on the plaza level with blood pressure, weight and blood general health checks. Fans also will learn heart healthy tips throughout the game.

During select Silver Stars home games, including June 23, the Spurs Foundation is selling charity t-shirt 4-packs that include red, green, pink and white t-shirts fans can wear to games, including Go Red on June 23, Go Green on July 12 and Breast Health Awareness on Aug. 29. The 4-packs are $20 (all four shirts will be the same size) and individual t-shirts are $7. Proceeds from the t-shirts benefit the charities associated with the various causes supported with the Silver Stars theme nights, as well as to support the education and recreational programs of the Spurs Foundation.

Go Red For Women is the American Heart Association’s solution to save women’s lives. With one out of three women dying from heart disease, the AHA is committed to fighting this highly preventable No. 1 killer. GoRedForWomen.org, a premiere source of information and education, connects millions of women of all ages and gives them tangible resources to turn personal choices into life-saving actions. For more information please visit GoRedForWomen.org or call 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278). The movement is nationally sponsored by Macy’s and Merck & Co., Inc.

Individual tickets for the 2009 Silver Stars season are on sale and can be purchased by phone at 210-444-5090, online at sasilverstars.com or at the AT&T Center Southeast Box Office. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on weekend event days at 10 a.m.

SAN ANTONIO – Vickie Johnson has played more WNBA games than any other player in the history of the league. She played the first game in league history on June 21, 1997, helping the New York Liberty to a 67-57 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Now, after 13 seasons, more than 4,000 points, 1,500 rebounds and 1,000 assists, she will play her final WNBA game.

“This is my final season in the WNBA,” said Johnson. “I really enjoyed my 13 years in the league and I can truly say every time I stepped on the court, I gave 110 percent, and I hope and pray the fans saw my hard work and dedication to the game every night.”  Read more at the Silver Stars Website

Watch the KSAT 12 News Video with Greg Simmons

The Silver Stars will raise the Western Conference Championship Banner in the home opener Saturday June 13th at 7pm.  Come out for Dollar Night and Celebrate with the Stars.

Ben York from The Phoenix Mercury Blog on Fanster.com was cool enough to do a quick question and answer exchange with us about the Mercury and Stars to prepare for opening night.

Ben York: The Silver Stars had an amazing year last year going 24-10 before getting swept in the finals against Detroit.  In 2009, they are once again one of the favorites for the title. Is there any reason to think they wouldn’t be contending for a title again?

STL - I think with any team this season injuries are going to be a make or break situation. The 11 man roster is going to make it hard since there will be no depth. However, the Stars played with a very short bench last season as well. There are teams that relied heavily on their long bench, and this season they can’t do that. I think the Stars will definitely make it back into contention this season, but it has to be a team effort! So now it’s just about getting everyone into rythm with each other. The injuries going into the finals last season killed us.

HFH - Actually I don’t think they are the favorites to even win the west much less the WNBA title.  It seems just like last year we are being overlooked in favor of LA.   I do believe they have what they need to win it but a few key factors with be
1.  The return of Ann Wauters.  I don’t see a deep playoff run without her.  I am hopeful however that her late return may actually work in our favor in that she will come back fresh and be ready for that final push. 
2.  Injuries. We need to stay healthy.  I don’t know how many are aware of this but we barely had enough healthy players to dress out to meet the requirements going into the finals.  Key backups as well as starters playing injured.  That put a tremendous stress on Young and Hammon with double and triple coverages as well as playing 40 minute games.  A healthy team will be key. 
3.  How quickly the new players integrate into the system.  If they can pick up the system and develop the chemistry our team is known for it will be a HUGE.  We need more then our starters to carry us.  If we have to rely on the same 5 players to carry us we won’t go very far.
4.  Rebounding.  Our lack of rebounding was huge last season.  We need to fix that this season and if we don’t it will be very hard to match last years wins.

Ben York - Becky Hammon averaged 17.6 points and 5 assists a game last season, is there any stopping her??

STL - Ha ha! No, I think Becky will always have that tenacity. Last year teams double and triple teamed her, but this year there will be an adjustment to that and I think that having Shanna back could take some of the pressure off of Becky. Edwige shooting well could too. The Stars have the power this season to pull some pressure off of Becky.

HFH - If the series against DET is any indication then Triple teams…lol! 
I think Becky will be able to do what she needs to do.  Be it scoring or distributing and setting up her teammates.  We have Shanna back and have added Snell and if they can come in and force players to defend them and pull that extra defender off Hammon I think that  Becky will keep those numbers.  

Ben York - What’s San Antonio’s game plan to counteract the Mercury’s high powered offensive attack?

STL - REBOUND!!! We have to have more second chance opportunities.

HFH - Team defense.  They will have to have their defensive rotations down to stop DT and Cappie.  They need to clean up the TO’s and fouls that were so prevalent in the preseason as well.

Ben York - Name one player, new to the Silver Stars, who will make the most impact on the team this season.

STL - I think Snelly will contribute the most out of the newbies, I still can’t believe the Merc didn’t hang on to her to be honest. I also think that Megan Frazee has a chance to do some things if she is given the minutes.

HFH - I think Belinda Snell.  I liked what I saw of her in the game against Indiana and I think once she gets comfortable in our system and familiar with her new teammates she can really make an impact in giving us some much needed offense to help take some of the load off Becky and Sophia. 

San Antonio Silver Stars All Star Guard Becky Hammon will co-host Ticket 760’s Morning Drive tomorrow Thursday June 4th.   Becky will be on from 8am-9am and will be taking phone calls. You listen live at   Ticket 760

Silver Stars Nation would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU you to the  KSAT 12 Sports team for all the outstanding coverage of the Silver Stars Training Camp.  If any of you have missed any of the coverage you can catch up on the message board.  We have uploaded each KSAT 12 Sports report in addition to providing you direct links the Silver Stars Offical Website’s Camp Videos,  just follow the link provided and scroll though the thread for each update.   Be sure to check out all the video’s and tune in to KSAT 12 News at 5:00pm, 6:00pm and 10:00pm and don’t forget to watch Sunday’s Instant Replay at 10:30pm.  KSAT 12 Silver Stars Reports.

I was recently talking to Leigh Anne Gullet (SSPR) and we were talking about her blogs that she writes for the SASS official blog and her recent series of “3 word” blogs that she has done and I told her that I was going to write a 3 word blog about her! We laughed and she was like “Oh goodness! I’m scared.”  ….. I’m not quite sure if she was scared because I am a wise-ass or if she was like ‘oh no what is this chick going to pick as my 3 words’….. BWAH HA HA!!!! (That is my great evil laugh just for you Leigh Anne haha)

It’s not too often that fans can say that their front office is as open to dealing with fans as SASS is. And I think that is one of the reasons that SASS is so envied by other fans. There are other message boards that have members that have openly commented about how cool it is that the SASS front office and PR are as open to talking to fans and generally interested in their thoughts and opinions. And to me, that boils down to Leigh Anne. She has made herself accessible to us and is only a mouse click away and is overall friendly and very informative to fans in general. She also makes sure that we are informed as to events that SASS will be having and all that

I cannot even imagine some of the emails and questions she gets from fans and how it probably gets so redundant, but she handles it and always makes you feel like it was the best question in the world to ask. : )
So for me personally, I would say my three words would be:
1. Kind
2. Funny as hell (ok so thats not 1 word)
3. Patient

Kind because she will always give a lending hand when she can. Since becoming one of the co-owners of Silver Stars Nation I have had to ask her things a lot. When I took over Becky’s site those questions doubled ha ha! She extended her offer to help me with things I may need and believe me, I have definitely took that hand several times!

Funny as hell…. well LA (yes thats what I call her lol) is funny! And not to mention she is a good sport. We tease her all the time and she comes right back at us. Not to mention her blogs in general always make me laugh, she always adds a great twist to the stories she is telling that makes you crack a little grin while you are reading it.

Patient… trust me… she is patient lol! I have had to go to her with a few things before and she has always come through for me and I totally appreciate it. And honestly…. she is dealing with WNBA fans, and like it or not guys, we can be like a dog on a bone when it comes to wanting things lol!! And I think that her being accessible to us is awesome to say the least, but I am also sure there are times she would like to strangle us lol! However, after doing a head count all of us are still here so that shows how patient she is : )
When the thought of doing this blog ran through my head I thought I was going to do it with my 3 words about Leigh Anne, but I managed to branch out so to say and got a couple players to give me their three words on Leigh Anne as well : )

Erin Buescher

3 words:

1. Energetic
2. Inspirational
3. Laughing!

Edwige Lawson-Wade

Here is how I would describe Leigh in 3 words:

kind: Leigh was so nice with when we first met. I thought that was awesome especially since I didn’t know anybody.

funny: Because she always makes jokes and always try to speak french to me and her french is funny

generous: She offered right away to pick me up from the airport and she takes care of my family at every home game.

Chantelle Anderson

intellectual - most people wouldn’t think this right away because Le can be extremely absent minded sometimes. but once you get to know her you find out that she’s really quite brilliant. lol.

compassionate - Le is compassionate to a fault. since i’ve known her i’ve been trying to get her to care less about people in general. haha. but i love that she’s cares very deeply for those that are close to her and will do anything to help them out.

smart ass - Le comes across as this very sweet, nice person, which she is. but she has a devious side to her that has been known to make smart ass comments at the drop of a hat. lol.

Becky Hammon

3 Words to describe Le..

Kind
Loyal
Thoughtful
Creative
And one heck of a Wheel of Fortune player!! ..But not soo good at dog training..

 
……… Ok…. so Becky couldn’t decide on 3 words, but you get where she is coming from. I think that the overall consensus is that Leigh Anne is an awesome person and she does a great job at dealing with us and taking care of all of our Silver Stars.

So LA (Leigh Anne) thank you very much! I don’t think we tell you how much we appreciate you, but we do

Silver Stars fans tune in tonight Sunday May 24th for KSAT 12’s Instant Replay.  Helen Darling and Shanna Crossley will be on tonight at 10:30 PM.   Silver Stars Nation would also like to give KSAT a HUGE THANK YOU for all outstanding Silver Stars coverage this past week.