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People forget the Power
People forget Portland had a women's basketball team before the Fire
Portland's expansion WNBA team made all kinds of headlines this past week; first for potentially selecting a name, and then for replacing it's team President.
The President is something that's going to be an ongoing deal with its ownership group from Sacramento, and fans have little input on how that plays out. But, the team name is another thing, Fire seems to be the way team ownership is going.
The Portland Fire, coming to the Moda Center in 2026. At least that's the way rumors are spreading due to legal moves the owners have made to secure the name, and because that's the name of the original WNBA team that played in the league from 2000-02.
People mostly forget or are unaware that there is another original team name available that played out in Portland - the Power.
The Portland Power played in the American Basketball League from 1996-98, when the league folded. The team was popular and featured Katy Steding, who helped make the game very popular in Lake Oswego and Portland, and was a national team success after a stellar career at Stanford.
The ABL doesn't get much attention for whatever reason, but Portland Power would seem to be a great fit, although I'm still among Fire supporters.
Cliff Pfenning
Cliff is a lifelong resident of Oregon and has four decades of experience as a writer, photographer, videographer, broadcaster and now producer. He's a grad of Benson High and the University of Oregon.
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