September 12th, 2004: San Antonio at New York

New York Liberty 64, San Antonio Silver Stars 62

Patty Coyle is on crack, K.B. Sharp and Erin Thorn are still waiting for their ride home, and Elena Baranova wants you to GET MORE LOUD!


Patty raided Tot's locker. That's the only thing I can think of. This was the actual starting lineup: Erin, Becky, Crystal, Vickie, and La'Keshia. Yes, that puts either Vickie or Crystal in the four spot. Yes, that is really weird. Not that Becky or Crystal embarrassed themselves, and even VJ looked a bit more familiar. And La'Keshia somehow managed to lead the team and the game in rebounds, and add eight points. Notice me not noticing rebounds. I was busy going 'hey, wait, isn't that a foul?' in the scrum. Erin hit a three, but was otherwise quiet, though I recall one play where you got the sense she was silently yelling "NOTICE ME!": girl was wider open than I've ever seen a Liberty player be. K.B. needs to learn how to shoot. I don't care if she misses, I just wish she would shoot: she's starting to look like T-Spoon. I also wish DeTrina would play more, because she was scrapping today. This was not one of Bethany's good days, though the planets were aligned enough for her to hit two consecutive free throws in a rather key moment. And Elena... I heart Elena so much. "Get more loud!" Mom and I were in hysterics. Besides. Threes and the block. What's not to love? (Besides, Boris would get on my case if I didn't cheer for Elena.) And... er, what did Shameka say about Patty's female parental unit that she was on the bench? Poor girlfriend was stuck to the chair like someone superglued her shorts to the seat.

So are K.B. and Erin still standing outside the Hall waiting for a ride to soccer practice? 'Cause Glenn and I left around seven, and they were still standing out there schmoozing with all and sundry. I envision a station wagon rolling up with, like, Lindsay Whalen and Amber Jacobs and any other young, wholesome-looking guard in the league in the backseats. It was great, except for the self-righteous black lady who accused me of shoving in front of some little kid (I didn't do it intentionally, but I don't know how to parallel park). I think a whole bunch of Goodson kinfolk were there, because they were schmoozing like no one's business. Either Crystal is quite the social butterfly or she and Adrian Williams know each other somehow, because they were chatting up a storm. VJ, Crystal, and Elena got really big hands from the crowd, partially because they exited relatively early and partially because, well, this is New York and Crystal and Elena were two-thirds of the reason why we pulled this one out. Telling Crystal that that last call was bull (the block/charge that caused her to foul out) provoked a smile. I really like her smile.

This should not have been as tight as it was, but hey. We won, and at least I don't have to deal with any heartbroken San Antonio fans the way I do every other team.