The enthusiasm for the first and only home exhibition matches of Golden State Valkyries is completely disproportionate to the bets of the game. When Kate Martin made a free throw game in the end of the third quarter, the roar of more than 17,000 fans sounded like a more important response to the third quarter free throw. It started and went all night: Player introduction was a party. A failed LA Spark challenge almost lowers the house. Despite the little defeat in the game, Valkyrie cheered in the form of applause.

It feels like a word that is rarely used related to professional sports. People can expect enthusiasm; the Bay Area has too many waiting times to see the day. Somehow, the WNBA has never had a team that supports women's basketball history in this huge, diversified market. But they are here now, and from the earliest rewards, this is where cynicism might take a year off.

They tried to call Chase Center "Ballhalla" and perhaps thought that some Nordic word games would come up with the idea of ​​a happy future. Fans broke into several “Ode to We Go”, their tongues as clumsy as you would expect, lacking poetry, but not spirit.

The team is the first expansion team in 17 years and the first person in WNBA history to sell 10,000 season tickets. (Again, that's so long?) Valkyrie will do so in front of the sold-out crowd when they're in court on Friday night's Sparks in San Francisco.

"It's been a blessing to finally see all of this, he won the championship last season," forward Kayla Thornton said. "Since 2016, they've been working hard and it's amazing to be the first to wear a jersey and play. Listen to the cheers - everything is great. ”

But, als, a team cannot live alone. Most inaugural seasons are courses of patience and vision, and the time between creating a team and playing games is almost ridiculous. All of this is: It's been a tough year.

Through expansion and college drafts, the construction of the roster has spread from anomalies to a mystery. Rumor has it that three-time All-Star Mel Plum's trading interest was with her being traded to spark. Shyanne Sellers, the Maryland forward, selected No. 17 at the college draft April 14, was cut in just a week after training camp. The team's top draft pick, 19-year-old Lithuanian Just Jocyte, was selected for 5th, but announced last week that she will stay in Europe this season and join the Valkyries next year.

The team said it was drafted to realize coach Natalie Nakase’s desire for a fast-paced, wide-spaced offense that could shoot 3s and wear out opponents, and it’s very likely that the roster configuration and reconfiguration would last into the regular season. Valkyries also seems to be at least relevant to the future: lower salaries ahead of the new CBA in 2026, which is expected to match the popularity of the sport. Free agent classes after the season, which include 21 current and former All-Stars, some of whom may be lured into the Bay Area by top-notch facilities and Warriors/Valkyrie boss Joe Lacob.

But, for the moment, all of this is another day. As Valkyrie completes pre-match warm-ups and sprints, they start with five coaches and staff while on the bench before starting the elaborate, only player hand-strike/hug routine, ultimately including all possible combinations of available humans. Absolutely non-company crowd, including little girls with big eyes with parents, apparently know its basket. They roared for former UConn point guard Kaitlyn Chen, who Nakase described as "generally loved by the basketball world." It turns out that this season will have to be loved in different uniforms. She was waived on Wednesday.

The team without expectations can only surpass them, which may bring Valkyrie in the near future. The final game of the first game in team history was a 35-foot three-pointer from Laeticia Amihere, who led the team with 20 points but was also defeated. However, she will always have this moment: her last second followed by a huge building roar. Then, fans seemed to breathe collectively after more cheers: at first slowly, then faster, then almost urgent.

"I know we lost, but it's like we won for almost a second," Nakase said.

The confusion is understandable. As the fans cheered, they started standing, and at first almost everyone. Fans cheered as players looked up and cheered, which could be something that could be a rare place - at least so far, the game itself is enough, and the scoreboard is God of no one.