August 20th, 2006: Washington at Connecticut, Eastern Conference First Round

Connecticut Sun 68, Washington Mystics 65

The Game Notes aren't ready for the season to end just yet, the referees persist in sucking, and various non-Sun players search for dinner.


I forgot how much I like going to Mohegan Sun for a game. It's not my homecourt, but it's a nice place to visit.

Major, major props to dts for ushering us through the STH line and being Intrepid Local Guide for an autograph collector or two. Le'Coe Willingham is startlingly beautiful up close- her photos do not do her justice at all! It was cool to see all the ins and outs, since STH are allowed in 90 minutes before gametime instead of 60. I was a bit nervous, since I'm, y'know, obviously NOT a Sun season ticket holder, but they didn't really check closely. Heck, I had less trouble than dts and the young lady he was helping out!

Lovely anthem. Harmony was a bit off- I think either of the young girls who performed could have done well alone- but mostly great. Is something wrong with the announcer? He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as I remember- no pitch changes for player announcements, which always used to be my favorite part of player acknowledgements. If he's sick, I hope he feels better!

Sales's decision-making clearly took the day off. (Maybe it wasn't awake yet?) Bad shots, and she should have been credited with more turnovers. Taj also didn't look fully herself, although she was physical. No one was shooting well, and I mean no one. Whalen impressed me, getting to the line; she and Douglas both at times took the game on their shoulders and carried their team through. Erin Phillips once again had what I felt was the backbreaker, that three.

Again, lousy shooting. I thought for sure Richie was going to flip his shit for good. By the end of the game, we were sure he was planning to get tossed, but Meadors refused to take over the team. Beard came up big, especially that bank three and the near-steal at the end. She still seems steamed at the world, and I wouldn't want to go near her in the next coupla days. I'm surprised DeLisha was allowed to get off those threes- shouldn't Taj be familiar with her from, oh, I don't know, having played against her since the freakin' ABL? I think the dynamic would have been different if it hadn't been for her foul trouble; on the other hand, I felt she should have been ejected on the flagrant. I would have put Koehn in for Teasley for the last few plays, for offense and a better matchup on Phillips, and given Blue a little more run, but I'm sure Richie had his reasons. Oh, and it made me very sad that Crystal looked awful today. Maybe this time she follows through on the retirement threat?

The refs were simply awful. Teasley's "continuation", Beard's block out of bounds, the out-of-bounds that went off Douglas's foot but was given to Connecticut… so many awful plays. By the third quarter, we were starting to wonder if Napier had made it personal with Richie. I did notice she made a lot of the appallingly awful calls, and she's living up to my "oh dear goddess, noooo, not a ref with a ponytail!" standard. Attention whore. Lots of bizarreness, too, notably Sales's T and the mess with the flagrant.

Great ovation for COY Thibault. 'Mone got a nice hand, too. We hooted and hollered when Cappie was named to the All-Rookie team.

In case it didn't get mentioned, Brooke Wyckoff and Jen Derevjanik were at the game; they sat together, and we saw them walking together on the concourse. Seimone and her folks were also present- they, like us, were among the throngs looking for somewhere to have dinner after the game.

Ugly, ugly game. Not pleasant to watch. I'm glad the Sun pulled it out, but next time, could they do it by shooting over 30%? Whatever. We'll be back next week; I'll be in my usual Rebecca Lobo Liberty jersey (y'know, only two people commented on the fact there was a Lib fan at a Mystics-Sun game?).

After the game, Laurie Koehn stormed out of the arena like someone lit her ass on fire, carrying a fugly black-and-white shirt. She was in some kind of hurry- I don't know if all the fans were even out yet. I suspect dinner reservations, since she and her old teammate Megan Mahoney were chatting a LONG time during shootaround.

Courtside, Ripley, sorry I couldn't have stayed longer, but our table awaited! It was nice to meet you guys!