Fever, like Racers, could be History

Every once in awhile, the timing of things throws you for a loop.

That was exactly the case last week when I received a copy of "Gretzky, Indy & the WHA" on DVD. The film was made by director (and former Indianapolis Racers superfan) Timothy Gassen and included an hour-long historical perspective of the Racers' impact on the city which aired at the IMAX downtown over the weekend.

In 1976, a sold-out Market Square Arena celebrated the Racers' Eastern Division Championship. A year later, fans went crazy as the underdog Racers' swept the heavily-favored and hated rival Cincinnati Stingers in the quarterfinals of the WHA Playoffs. In 1978, a 17-year old Wayne Gretzky skated for the first time as a professional hockey player as an Indianapolis Racer. Fellow all-time great Mark Messier did the same just a few weeks later. The team folded a month after selling Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers, and releasing Messier, who eventually caught on with the Oilers after the NHL Entry Draft included the disbanded WHA team's players.

Gretzky scored his first professional goal in Indianapolis

In just four-plus seasons, the Racers captivated Indianapolis, and for a very short time turned the city into somewhat of a Hockey Town (just think about that for a second: Hockey a success in Indianapolis. Sounds crazy right?)

30 years later, the team is largely an afterthought. Many of the fond memories of the never-say-die Racers have been lost in the sands of time. A select few fans (like Gassen) are able to keep the team alive through these memorandums, but a two-disc DVD, some old game programs, and some vintage Wayne Gretzky jerseys on eBay are all that remain of the Indianapolis Racers franchise.

So, why was I so thrown off by the timing of my Racers' history lesson? It just happened to come on the same weekend as the season opener from another franchise that is on the brink of extinction - the Indiana Fever.

Saturday night was the ten-year anniversary of the date when Indianapolis was awarded the Fever franchise. A few months from now, the team could be gone for good.

Team owner Herb Simon has stated publicly that the team will fold if they are not succesful in the box office and on the basketball floor. A lot of that is due to the recent struggles of the Indiana Pacers, who have been hemmoragging money due to sagging attendance, and have been forced to as the Capital Improvement Board for a Conseco Fieldhouse bailout.

Obviously, the Fever haven't had the impact on this city that the Racers once did. They've been solid over the past few seasons, but never a serious Championship contender. That being said, losing any major sports franchise (even WNBA ones) always hurts.

I don't expect the Simons to continue a franchise that is a money pit, but does anyone else find it the least bit ironic that the Pacers paid Jamaal Tinsley ($6.75 million) 8 1/2 times the entire Fever payroll ($800,000) last season to not play? Such is life in today's WNBA. The only reason that the league still exists is because of the financial support from the NBA.

Times are tough for the WNBA. The flagship franchise and four-time WNBA Champion Houston Comets have folded. So have seven other teams since 2002. If MLB, NBA, and NHL teams are not immune to the current economic situation, how can some of the less-popular and less-valuable WNBA franchises survive?

I hope Tamika Catchings can stay healthy. I hope Katie Douglas can be the star player for her hometown team. I hope Tully Bevilaqua, Yolanda Griffith, and Tammy Sutton-Brown can gel with Catchings and Douglas to win a WNBA Championship - a title could be the franchise's only saving grace.

Most of all, I hope I don't get my Indiana Fever DVD in the mail in 2039.