We may still be weeks away from actual dribbling and shooting…but if your appetite for basketball and BBQ is already in mid-season form, you’re in luck. Your Fastbreak Club’s annual pre-season party has a date, a location, and a time. All we need now are some Fastbreakers to help chow down on some BBQ and introduce themselves to the 2009-10 Lady Bulldogs (and there are a lot of new faces this season). You all know the drill by now: You stuff your face with yummy BBQ, you hear from each and every member of this year’s Lady Bulldog roster and the coaching staff, you get the inside scoop on  the upcoming season from Coach Landers, you take pictures and get all your stuff signed…and, best of all, you leave fired-up and ready for another Fastbreaking season of Lady Bulldog hoops!

This year, we’re adding door prizes to the fun. Some lucky Fastbreakers will be leaving with courtside chairs for an upcoming game and…here’s the big one, folks…a season parking pass. Do the math on that one…it’s a keeper! So, please, make your plans now to join us. It’s the Lady Bulldog Nation family reunion…the first big party of the fall…The Fastbreak Club Pre-Season Celebration BBQ!

WHERE: Flinchum’s Phoenix (Located at the end of South Milledge Avenue. Milledge will fork when it comes to Whitehead Road. Take the right fork, cross Whitehead Road, and enter Whitehall Forest. Look for the sign just to the left of the entrance. Stay on the main road for 1.5 miles until it dead-ends at Flinchum’s Phoenix.)

WHEN: Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at 6:00 PM.

Pre-Season Celebration BBQ invitations, which all Fastbreakers should have received in the mail by now, must be RSVP’ed by Monday, October 5.

To learn more about the Fastbreak Club (including how to join), click here for the current membership brochure/application.

After a remarkable worst-to-almost-first turnaround (from a dismal 4-30 record in last year’s inaugural season to this season’s 18-16 campaign), the Atlanta Dream are currently battling the three-time and defending league champion Detroit Shock in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs. Due to scheduling conflicts at Phillips Arena, the Dream’s opening-round home games versus the Shock will be played just down the road at The Arena At Gwinnett Center (in Duluth, GA). Fastbreakers should be very familiar with The Arena, which has hosted many Lady Bulldog regular season and postseason tournament games.

Don’t miss your chance to root for former Lady Bulldogs like Detroit’s Kara Braxton, and Deanna “Tweety” Nolan and the Dream’s own Coco Miller! These are must-win games for the Dream and they’ll need that “Sixth Man” boost from a rockin’ home crowd. Ticket prices start at only $10.00 and they can be purchased via Ticketmaster by clicking the link below:

Click here to purchase Atlanta Dream WNBA playoff tickets.

WNBA Playoffs (First Round, Best 2-of-3): DETROIT SHOCK VS. ATLANTA DREAM

Game 1 (last night in Detroit): DETROIT – 94, ATLANTA – 89

Game 2: Friday, September 18 (7:30 PM), The Arena At Gwinnett Center

Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, September 20 (3:00 PM), The Arena At Gwinnett Center

There’s a new Fastbreak Club board in place (details were just published in the latest Fastbreaking News, your official booster club newsletter), bus trips are being planned, the Pre-Season Party details are being worked out, and this joint is about to start jumpin’. The Fastbreak Club weblog was, is, and ever shall be your website of choice for all things Fastbreaking. Club news, team news, game recaps, exclusive photos and video content, links of interest…we’re talking one-stop shopping here.

Starting this week, we’ll be updating once a week or so to get you caught up in what went down in the Lady Bulldog Nation over the summer. Then, once Club activities crank up and the actual games start being played, you’ll want to check in here every day. Bookmark or “Favorite” this website and you’ll never be the last to know anything that’s worth knowing when it comes to your Fastbreak Club and Lady Bulldog basketball.

Your own contributions to the Fastbreak Club weblog are welcome and much-wanted. Story tips, pictures, suggestions…whatever…just send ‘em along to m.holcomb@charter.net. Our goal is to get better at this website business every year. Don’t be shy with your input!

Here’s to a great 2009-10 season…both on the court and right here.