'Stand or hide in the tunnel' for the anthem, Valkyries WNBA fans show loyalty; ready for early Finals Game 6

Caffeine might not even be needed. Pure adrenaline could get the job done.

Fans of the Golden State Valkyries are in for an early-morning wakeup call on Thursday when Game 6 of the WNBA Finals tips off in Atlanta at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time.

But during Mondays Game 5 against Atlanta, which began like every other Finals game, with both teams leaving the floor moments before the playing of the national anthem only to return seconds after it completed, the packed Chase Center in San Francisco was raucous.

Fans of this 2-year-old team, clad floor to rafters in their giveaway lavender T-shirts, were beyond keyed up. They were loud and on the edge of their seats, willing their team on every play en route to a 64-55 victory that gave Golden State a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

That buzz could last a few days, which will come in handy when that alarm clock rings.

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"I will be taking time off of work that day, for sure," one female fan said, planning a personal day for Thursday.

"Its really disappointing that more fans wont be able to be cheering for the Valkyries on the West Coast," said another female fan, who brings her kids to games. "Its pretty hard to do with kid drop-offs and school, but Im going to make it work somehow."

Some retirees said they get up early anyway, so theyre not sweating it and will be glued to their TVs for a road game, per usual.

A couple of male fans said they would be watching on their laptops … at work. Shhhhhhh.

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The strange start time in Atlanta is due to conflicts at State Farm Arena. The Dream, who normally play at Gateway Center Arena, have played playoff games at State Farm Arena because Gateway has a capacity of only 3,500 for basketball games.

But now that the NBA season has started, State Farm, home of the Atlanta Hawks, has gotten busy.

Some juggling was required once it became clear that the WNBA Finals would be going back to Atlanta for a Game 6 on Thursday. There is a Hawks home game that night. Several other options were considered before the early game time was chosen to create an unusual doubleheader of sorts.

Many fans in the Bay Area seemed far more concerned about the scheduling chaos for Game 6 than they are about the controversy surrounding the national anthem walkouts that have been swirling around the WNBA Finals since Game 1.

"I dont understand why were singing the national anthem [before games] to begin with, thats all there is to it," one female fan said. "If they want to go back [in the tunnel] and re-group, great. Weve been doing it for two seasons."

"This is a non-controversy that people are trying to make into a controversy," a male fan said. "I dont think not being out on the floor for the national anthem says anything about patriotism or loyalty to the United States."

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Many fans said that being on the court for the national anthem shou