COLUMN: Quakers may find out ABL is all the Rage

Jordan Smith, Commentary Don't be surprised if the Rage are the best show in town. For those out of the women's hoops loop, the ABL is what the more famous WNBA would be if its players were better, the season a reasonable length and the games scheduled during basketball season instead of during the thick of baseball's pennant races. Best of all, there are no "love of basketball" groupie commercials. Thanks to the NBA's omnipotent hype machine, however, the ABL presently hides in the WNBA's shadow. That will change in Philadelphia in a few months. The Rage feature a local favorite in Dawn Staley, who played her high school ball at Philadelphia's Dobbins Tech before moving on to the U.S. Olympic team and earning a reputation as one of the finest women's players in the history of the game. The Rage won't feature WNBA crowds -- the Palestra only holds around 9,000. But their average should be comparable to the Penn men's team -- about 2,500 to 4,000 per game. And the local papers are likely to pay attention to the team because of the novelty of the sport and the presence of Staley, one of the sport's few big names. A case can be made that the ABL offers the best basketball experience in the city -- certainly on campus. These are professionals, players who dominated in the college ranks and often abroad. And they are just blocks away, with tickets reasonably priced at about $10 to $15 for general admission seats. It sure beats watching the 76ers lose 80 percent of their games. Men's college basketball will cost at least as much and is, by definition, played at a lower relative level. Obviously, ABL play is well above the local women's collegiate game. The Rage may mean more to Penn than just the rent they pay for use of the Palestra, though. The arrival of another basketball team puts added pressure on the Quakers to win. If both the men's and women's programs struggle as they did a year ago, the Rage have every capability of becoming a competitor in the local basketball market. Although Penn women's basketball coach Julie Soriero was enthusiastic in welcoming the Rage to the Palestra, it is hard to believe the ABL will help her program attract a fan base. Soriero reasons the ABL will attract people to women's basketball who would not ordinarily give it a first look. There is talk of setting up a few Rage/Quakers doubleheaders. Now, it would be impossible for Penn women's hoops to be hurt by the Rage, since attendance is typically limited to the proverbial friends and immediate family. But who, after seeing the Rage, a successful team a year ago at the sport's highest level, would be drawn to the Quakers? After all, Penn's program has been characterized by mediocrity and failure in the 1990s. Remember the great chase for a single win in 1996? After finally picking up three victories at the end of that season, Penn went on to double its win total last winter. They were 6-20. As for the men, only a quarter of the campus now has any direct recollection of a Penn team in the NCAA tournament. The Quakers won't be the favorite in the Ivy League this winter either. Ivy League basketball today is more a three-point shooting contest than the rollicking 40 minutes of rim-shaking that propelled the sport's growth in the '80s. A true basketball fan might take his or her entertainment buck to the ABL. Professional women's basketball is far from a major sport in this country. But the Rage's presence, along with an athletic director (Steve Bilsky) who played during the golden age of Penn hoops in the early '70s, and the ever-growing television supply of basketball, means Penn's teams must be good to draw fans' interest. Or the the ABL could steal the Quakers' thunder.