WNBA's Toronto expansion will help amplify culture of women's basketball in Canada

When the news of a WNBA team coming to Toronto last week, my phone blew up — as the kids say.

From LinkedIn to WhatsApp I couldn't keep track of the happy emojis, the questions about where to get season tickets and a barrage of other happy pronouncements and requests for more information.

Being able to break this story is definitely a badge of honour and pride for me, and the CBC Sports team. The response was absolutely incredible. Family, friends and fans were commenting on the tweets and on the Instagram posts with messages of jubilation.

I have never seen such a tremendous outpouring of excited and positive comments on anything I've ever written. Normally the comments are not as happy or making some disparaging remark about women's sports. There were no rude comments about my own identity and what I look like. In fact, the comments (which my editor routinely advises me not to read) were happy and exuberant.

WATCH | How sports fans are reacting to potential Toronto WNBA expansion team:

There are a few comments about readers asking questions like "why is it always Toronto and not other parts of the country?" But those are questions that can be directed to venture capitalists — not me. I was on Metro Morning the day the story broke and a caller phoned in to say that he was a happy dad but concerned it was not a woman owner.

While I am the first person to advocate for women owning teams and franchises, the story was only out for a couple of hours. Yes, we want more women coaches, officials and front office medical staff. Absolutely, but it's not a fair criticism before we know the details.

As far as those opportunities go, Kayla Alexander couldn't agree more. The Canadian Olympic Team member and professional player