Dear Residents of Arizona,

To those that have supported the Mercury throughout the entire season and will be there to do the same on Friday - thank you! To those that haven't - this is my rally call, and plea, to you.

If you're not planning on attending the Phoenix Mercury vs. Los Angeles Sparks game at US Airways Center on Friday, you're missing out.

But...I forgive you.

Maybe you don't know that your Phoenix Mercury are one (1) win away from returning to the WNBA Finals for the 2nd time in 3 years. For that matter, you may or may not know they play the dreaded Los Angeles Sparks to get there - have you already forgotten the "Beat LA!" chants we Arizonans know and love?

Again, I forgive you...

Perhaps you weren't aware that the Mercury posted a WNBA league-best 23 wins this season. Or that the Mercury led the lead in scoring. Again. Both as a team and individually. Or that Phoenix has the 6th Woman of the Year. Or that they have the 3pt percentage leader. Or that the Mercury have 2 of the 5 All-WNBA 1st team selections (Diana, Cappie). Or that they're averaging almost 100 points per game in 40 minutes in the playoffs. Or that the Mercury's pace of play is actually faster than your Phoenix Suns, and would average more points than the Suns in a 48 minute game. Or that they have the best team free-throw percentage in league history. Or that they have the probable MVP of the league in Diana Taurasi. Or the respect that these ladies are getting on a national basis.

Maybe you didn't know those things.

Well...now you do. And the team needs your home-town support more than ever to rally them past Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, and the Sparks.

If you're not necessarily a WNBA fan, need I remind you that Kobe Bryant hails from the same city as the Sparks? Need I remind you of the myriad of annoying fans that infiltrate Suns games wearing a Kobe jersey and taunting us? By the way, they're still there at Mercury games. Need I remind you of how many championships the city of Los Angeles has? Need I remind you of the atmosphere at Suns games when they play the Lakers? As Arizonans, we shouldn't even think twice of about attending an event or showing our support for a Phoenix team when their opponent starts with a 'Los Angeles' or 'San Antonio'!!

If ticket prices are a concern, let's put that to bed right now. You can get fantastic lower level seats for insanely low prices starting at just $16. Or, for an upper level seat, you can purchase them starting at $2 (are you kidding me?!?!). If you're worried about getting your money's worth, just ask the thousands of fans around you on Friday when Diana does her "rally call" during the player introductions - the chills you'll have are normal, and the other 10,000 fans will have them too.

If you're strictly a Suns fan, sorry, that's no excuse either. Almost the entire Suns team has supported the Mercury at some point throughout the year (some on multiple occasions) including Amare Stoudemire, Grant Hill, Alando Tucker, Robin Lopez, Taylor Griffin, Goran Dragic - and yes, even Sir Charles Barkley. Grant Hill even asked Ann Meyers-Drysdale (Mercury GM) if the Suns could borrow Diana Taurasi for the NBA season! If you're a Suns fan, you're a Mercury fan.

To close, if you have a personal vendetta against the WNBA, there's not much I can do about that (except this). All I ask is that you come out, and support your Phoenix Mercury team - they need you. They need the same love and support you've shown the Suns for over 40 years. They need the same energy and passion you have at Cardinals games. They need that type of enthusiasm and quite frankly, they absolutely deserve it.

For those that are fans, and plan on attending, please feel free to forward this letter/message on to others. If anyone has any questions, you are more than welcome to give them my personal email address (bjyork15@gmail.com) and I'd be happy to go over their reasons why they wouldn't want to come - and convince them otherwise.

So, I ask, will you join me Friday to help get this Mercury team to the 2009 WNBA Finals?

Sincerely,

Ben York