A New League Brings

A NEW LEAGUE BRINGS new excitement and hope for a sport. In 1997, women’s basketball finally produced a professional league of its own.

The Los Angeles Forum hosted the first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game between the Los Angeles Sparks and the New York Liberty. For months, fans anticipated the event featuring the matchup between Lisa Leslie of the Sparks and Rebecca Lobo of the Liberty. Over 14,000 witnessed the tip-off between the two post players.

Leslie won the opening tip and batted the ball to her teammate Jamila Wideman. Los Angeles forward Penny Toler sank the League’s first basket with an 11-foot jumper less than a minute into the contest.

Both teams exhibited streaks of nervousness. They combined for 45 turnovers. But there were also glimpses of brilliance.

Midway through the first half, Leslie broke free to the Sparks’ basket. The crowd urged the 6-foot-1 post to go for the dunk, but her legs couldn’t quite propel her above the rim. Leslie finished the contest with 16 points and 14 rebounds, leading Los Angeles to a 67–57 victory. Lobo paced the New York scoring with 16 points.

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POINT Generations ago, who would have thought that women would field a basketball league of their own? The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League featured in the Hollywood movie A League of Their Own came into being only because major league baseball suffered with the men away during World War II. Even then, the women played only from 1943 until 1954. But women’s basketball took off to produce a viable league with a fruitful crop of players and fans.

Jesus told a parable about producing another kind of crop. As a farmer scattered seed, some fell on a path, some on rocky land, some among the thorns, and some on good soil. Only the seeds that rooted in the fertile soil grew. And only when God’s Word enters listening ears can it lead to understanding and a changed life.

GOAL! Read the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23. Ask God to help your life be fertile soil for his Word so that you may help bring others to the Lord.