Court and Spark

"I like to come because I like to watch the girls play ball instead of the boys," says Jessica.

Her friends laugh at her putdown of the boys.
"That was funny."
"Dude, you the bomb."
"I wanna play when I get older," Jessica says. "I like to watch them."
"We watch the game, walk around and bother people," says Beth.
"I think it's a pretty cool place to hang around," says Erica.
"They're girls. Girls are better than boys."

And then Beth, who's twelve and whose mom has season tickets, weighs in: "This is a man-dominated world, and it's high time the girls get out there."

During halftime, Wargin announces that the Xplosion would like to thank York Middle School, three different Girl Scout troops and the Littleton United Soccer Girls. A group of little girls goes out onto the court and gives a cheer, which includes the lines "Beat 'em, bust 'em, come on, girls, let's readjust 'em."

It's the perfect complement to Jamie Lee Curtis's cleavage, which is impossible to ignore as she bends over the hood of her broken-down red convertible in an ad for VoiceStream Wireless that plays frequently on the McNichols scoreboard screen.

In the second half, Tari Phillips is fouled. She stands at the line and makes the first free throw. She's bouncing the ball, psyching up to make the second, and for a moment, the arena is quiet. Then comes a tiny girl's voice: "Do it again!"

At the end of the night, the Xplosion loses.
But the fans clear out slowly, since players hang around to toss miniature ABL basketballs out into the crowd. A boy, maybe seven or eight, approaches Edna Campbell for a handshake. Over the PA, David Bowie is singing "We Could Be Heroes."

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