This Dedicated Fan Is a Traveling Man

Alex Chambers was not a big sports fan when his parents gave him season tickets to the Phoenix Mercury as a graduation gift in the summer of 2000. But he was excited nonetheless because, as he put it, "in the summertime, in Phoenix, any entertainment that's indoor and air-conditioned is coveted."

Nine years later, Chambers is a full-fledged WNBA fan. This summer, he has embarked on a mission to see each of the league's 13 teams in its home arena, all in a 34-day span. Tonight, he is scheduled to be at Verizon Center when the Washington Mystics host the New York Liberty, the 11th stop on his trip.

"That's the $64,000 question," Chambers said in a telephone interview, when asked how he got hooked on women's professional basketball. "I think the one thing that is most significant is that when I got season tickets I wasn't a sports fan. I didn't have that predisposition or mindset from mainstream sports, and so I was able to just go to the game and enjoy it for the game, for the sport, for the entertainment. It made an impression on me, and then it was sort of a reversal: I got into the WNBA and was kind of like, 'Why isn't everybody else doing this?' "

The WNBA has been reaching out to male fans, through "Dads and Daughters" programs and the "Expect Great" ad campaign, which featured players such as Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings making derisive comments about women's basketball, followed by the tag line: "She wouldn't say that. Would you?" The league estimates that 40 percent of its game crowds and 60 percent of its television viewers are male, according to Hilary Shaev, vice president for marketing.

Shaev contacted Chambers after he wrote about his "WNBA Summer" on the league's Facebook page in March. The WNBA has provided Chambers with press credentials and tickets to the games, and it has linked to his blog, Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter feed on WNBA.com. On his blog --titled "13 Teams, 1 Journey" and subtitled "The WNBA: know it, live it, love it!"-- he explained why he's taking this trip: "Nothing beats a WNBA game, unless it is 13 of them!"

"We do believe that's a valuable message, and that doesn't take away from the tons of female fans that we have," Shaev said. "But it's going to be more impactful with guys like him, when a guy like him says, 'You're really missing something great.' . . . Us helping him spread his message is good for us, too."

Chambers, 35, is financing the trip himself. He has two jobs -- he is an elementary school special education teacher and teaches sign language at a community college -- and said he saved money for a year to pay for airfare and hotels. He is staying with friends and family wherever he can. His sister lives in Chicago, and his graduate school roommate -- Chambers has a master's degree in sign language interpretation from Gallaudet -- lives in the D.C. area.

After a home game in Phoenix, Chambers's first road game was June 28 in Detroit, an 86-72 Shock win over Sacramento that he watched from courtside. He's currently in his busiest stretch of the trip: Minneapolis on Wednesday, Indianapolis last night, D.C. tonight and New York tomorrow. He plans to take the train to New York tomorrow morning and has been invited to watch the Liberty-Dream game in WNBA President Donna Orender's box. The trip ends July 25 with the all-star game in Connecticut.

Chambers also had two T-shirts made up, one gray and one blue, that have his itinerary listed on the front and a map of his journey on the back. The T-shirts are for sale through his Web site, with the proceeds going to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. He has dedicated the trip to the memory of Cyndee Luque, a friend who died of breast cancer.

"I wear the T-shirts to the games so people who follow me on Facebook and Twitter can recognize me and say hi," Chambers said. "That's been one of the highlights of the trip, having people say hi, letting me know that they like what I'm doing and that they're passionate about the WNBA, too."

After 20 days on the road, the arenas have started to blur together, and Chambers can't pick a favorite -- other than Phoenix's US Airways Center, of course. What stands out in his mind are the little details: the music inside Chicago's UIC Pavilion was really loud, for instance, and the press room in San Antonio's AT&T Center served Kentucky Fried Chicken. At the Atlanta Dream game on June 30, he got his picture taken with Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard.

"People ask me if I've ever thought about doing this for the NBA," Chambers said. "But that's a longer season, plus there's 30 arenas, and that would be tough. A few fans have asked me when I'm going to do this next summer. I'm not. This is not a yearly event. This is my one shot, and it's been wonderful."