WNBA Players Consider Leaving Turkey

[JavaMan]

Amid violence, WNBA players consider leaving Turkey
By DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press JANUARY 5, 2017 — 3:40PM

NEW YORK — Sugar Rodgers left not long after she arrived. The New York Liberty guard traveled to Turkey this past fall after the WNBA season ended to play basketball there. She had spent a few years bouncing around other foreign leagues, then signed with Osmaniye — a team about two hours from the Syrian border.

She lasted a month in the country town where she was living before returning to Virginia in November.

"I heard about a bombing that killed 17 people about two hours away and right there I was like I don't want to stay," Rodgers said. "The government shut off all lines of communication so I couldn't get on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp. It was pretty scary not to be able to communicate with anyone."

Rodgers was one of about two dozen WNBA players playing this winter in Turkey. For years, the 14-team Turkish league has provided the opportunity for players to supplement their WNBA incomes in the offseason, offering salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — sometimes more than three times what they make in the U.S.-based league.
http://www.startribune.com/amid-violence-wnba-players-consider-leaving-turkey/409800455/
[FULL ARTICLE]

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[Beemer]

I don't blame her or any foreigner who decides to leave. Turkey used to be a stable country despite being next door to the Middle East but no more.

 

[OldAlum]

I'm nervous for Mo.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I'd be on the next thing smokin'

 

[chrissaran]

Leave as fast as you can. It's just not worth it.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Maybe they should head for Chicago - 700 dead, 4800 shooting victims in 2016. From a violent crime standpoint Turkey is probably safer than most metropolitan areas in the US.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Amid violence, WNBA players consider leaving Turkey
By DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press JANUARY 5, 2017 — 3:40PM

NEW YORK — Sugar Rodgers left not long after she arrived. The New York Liberty guard traveled to Turkey this past fall after the WNBA season ended to play basketball there. She had spent a few years bouncing around other foreign leagues, then signed with Osmaniye — a team about two hours from the Syrian border.

She lasted a month in the country town where she was living before returning to Virginia in November.

"I heard about a bombing that killed 17 people about two hours away and right there I was like I don't want to stay," Rodgers said. "The government shut off all lines of communication so I couldn't get on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp. It was pretty scary not to be able to communicate with anyone."

Rodgers was one of about two dozen WNBA players playing this winter in Turkey. For years, the 14-team Turkish league has provided the opportunity for players to supplement their WNBA incomes in the offseason, offering salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — sometimes more than three times what they make in the U.S.-based league.
[FULL ARTICLE]

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Any money they may make isn't worth the risk to life and limb. Anywhere in that area--tell our American Women to
come home. There are other, safer, places to play. Sugar was always tough to play against--she was always going to get
her 20 no matter how you guarded her. She and her GT team played JMU--in it's 4000 seat arena--sell out --
they were not just the Sugar Rogers show.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

When in doubt, get out. You'll never hear the bomb that kills you.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Risk Reward scenario.
Much higher pay in Turkey, but with it goes what might happen there more often than other places.
After the airport bombing incident last year, and the almost Coup last July, I was surprised anyone went back.

 

[easttexastrash]

I am hoping that Odyssey Sims leaves, also. Turkey is just to volatile at the moment for these players to stay and feel safe.

 

[j66kicker]

Maybe they should head for Chicago - 700 dead, 4800 shooting victims in 2016. From a violent crime standpoint Turkey is probably safer than most metropolitan areas in the US.

Great point - maybe EDD was onto something. I used to host a lot of international visitors. Many who hadn't traveled to the US before were nervous about the violence they saw here on TV back home. One guy from India immediately upon arriving went to buy a stun gun to protect himself while in the USA.

 

[Zorro]

I have been following the changing situation in Turkey for ten years now and I will guarantee that it is going to get nothing but worse. Best to get out while the getting is good. Or at least possible.

 

[j66kicker]

I have been following the changing situation in Turkey for ten years now and I will guarantee that it is going to get nothing but worse. Best to get out while the getting is good. Or at least possible.

I have a friend whose daughter lives in Istanbul. She says it's commonly felt that the recent attempted coup was orchestrated by Erdogan himself, to give him an excuse to throw his enemies in jail (or have them killed), to help him consolidate power.

 

[Orangutan]

Maybe they should head for Chicago - 700 dead, 4800 shooting victims in 2016. From a violent crime standpoint Turkey is probably safer than most metropolitan areas in the US.

Well, it looks like the Sky practice in suburban Deerfield. I'd guess most players live somewhere around there.

Not exactly the wild west.

Hey, I've lived in Chicago for 10 years now and only been robbed twice. Not so bad!

 

[Striper69]

Well, it looks like the Sky practice in suburban Deerfield. I'd guess most players live somewhere around there.

View attachment 18337

Not exactly the wild west.

Hey, I've lived in Chicago for 10 years now and only been robbed twice. Not so bad!

I was robbed when I was a kid delivering newspapers. Another kid came up behind me and held a knife to my throat.

I met him again about five years later. His parents brought him over to my friends in a new neighborhood we moved to. He was acting like nothing had ever happened.

I beat the hell out of him right on the sidewalk in front of my house. LOL!

Now I carry a firearm wherever I go. I have a concealed carry permit. No use being a "soft target".