The city of Hartford “got the chance to embrace the what-could-have-been camaraderie that comes with hosting a major-league women’s sports franchise” on Saturday when the Sun played the Sparks at PeoplesBank Arena, according to Maggie Vanoni of the NEW HAVEN REGISTER. Hundreds of people “decked out in various shades of orange flocked to downtown Hartford’s Pratt Street” before the clash, and hours later, the Sun received a “standing ovation” after beating the Sparks. Official attendance records clocked 10,478 for the team’s first game in Hartford since its inaugural season in 2003. On July 2, the Sun will play its final game in the state’s capital at PeoplesBank Arena when it hosts the Wings and former UConn star Gs Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. The game is “expected to sell out because of Bueckers and Fudd,” but it will also “be the Sun’s final farewell to the city that could have once been its home” before the team relocates to Houston in the fall. Sun President Jennifer Rizzotti said, “We’ve proven over the last couple decades that Connecticut deserves a team.” She added, “Not every city can sustain a W team, but a city like Hartford in Connecticut, I think, could. … If this leads to that opportunity, to bring a team back, then that will be a good, that will be a positive for us, for sure” (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 6/1).
Hartford embraces 'what-could-have-been' with Sun win
