July 31st, 2005: Indiana at New York

New York Liberty 67, Indiana Fever 53

Elena Baranova wears a skirt, the Indiana Fever are comfortable at the Garden, Crystal Robinson needs a fashion intervention, and autographs are gotten at an authorized time and place.



As I do before every game, I hung out by the stage door. You've never seen a more miserable team come through that entrance. One of the people I was with swore that Ann was hung over when she came in; I don't know what a hangover looks like, but poor Ann looked like death warmed over. La'Keshia was in such a mood that she was glaring at the universe in general; it's the first time I've ever gotten a dirty look from a player for not asking for her autograph. VJ was just as puzzled as we were about that Connecticut game. And in possibly the most brain-exploding, mind-blowing development of them all, Elena strolled on in wearing a skirt slit nearly all the way up the side. Elena. Skirt. Does not compute.

Catch is quite the social butterfly. During the pre-warmups, she was chatting in the courtside seats with Loree (who was using the seats as a convenient spot for stretching) and had a hug and a few words for Becky at halfcourt, not to mention chatting with the fans. You can't not like Catch. She's just so cuuuuuuuuuuute! Tully's also chatty- she and Alison (LibertyMascot to WNBATalkers, that crazy boa-wearing lady in the orange hat to the rest of you lot) had a few words while Tully was stretching at that end of the court. I find myself liking a lot of the Fever players, though I won't be cheering Indiana on any time soon (sorry, but they are kind of a conference rival in an inconvenient spot in the standings).

They made a point of talking about the anthem, which was good, though I think it was lost on the guy who was on his phone through the anthem. *headdesk* The kids were so cute, and so on key, and so so good. I'm not a rabid patriot, but I do like when people do right by the anthem, and neither cell phone dude or the boors who tried to buy cotton candy during the anthem did that.

Catch actually had a subpar game scoring today, although she was the leading rebounder with 10. VJ and mostly Shameka stayed on her pretty well so that she couldn't find her shots. Finding their shots seemed to be a problem for both offenses in general, but we'll get to that later. Natalie Williams was the star for the Fever today; she muscled in on the Euros over and over again, hitting easy shots in the lane and stepping out periodically to put in jumpers. Defense, on the other hand... but cross that bridge in the next paragraph. Streimkyte started getting hot in the waning minutes of the first half, and if they'd kept going to her when Ann and Elena were getting tired, things might have been a little different; however, she had a couple of dumb turnovers that made me shake my head and laugh. Tully ran the team well, although I was surprised at the open shots that she pssed up. She made it a game at 16:45 of the second half, by the way, so Stormfans can rest easy. Kelly Miller hit her shots late, but not often enough. Her defense is intriguing, though. It's nice to see a high pick blossoming out from under the stultifying influence of the Sting. Tan White had a flash of amazingness where she hit two shots in a row and started sparking the team, but once she missed a shot, it came unwound for her. The only thing I remember about Deanna Jackson is that red streak in her hair, which really is striking, but not related to her game. I dimly recall Kelly Schumacher playing solidly on the inside, but I think it was mostly defensive. I have got to start actually using the notebook I carry with me. I might remember things better.

Ann! Yay, Ann! 24 points and 9 boards; I think the 24 points is a career high, though I'm not sure. She hit timely shots on the inside and some lovely outside jumpers, although she keeps setting outside the arc and making me cringe. No, Ann. Three-point shots are Elena's territory. Stop poaching. Shameka looked solid out there, with 12 and 6, although her defense occasionally left something to be desired; Catchings had one possession where she gave a textbook demonstration about how to fake out a player and get open. I think it was the shot that temporarily gave the Fever a 32-30 lead, and if it wasn't, it was sometime in the same time frame. Still, she looked notably better than she did in the last few games. Elena looked great, with open threes and solid screens; both she and Ann played a lot of minutes, and spent much of the game glowing a gentle red. Becky was big down the stretch, and I was impressed with how she played at the point. Handy, that. VJ. WTF, VJ? It's a slump like this that got Katie Smith traded, you know, and Liberty fans are a lot more militant than Lynx fans; we might cause bloodshed, and that would be bad, right? I wish Erin would hit her shots in New York. She seems to be better on the road. Maybe the Board Junkies are scaring her. La'Keshia is way too strong on her shots. She needs to settle down, relax, and stop taking her shooting lessons from DeTrina. Loree played very little, and that only in the beginning of the game, when Patty had to yell at Becky about something. If Jennifer stays on the DL the whole season, at least we'll have someone easy on the eyes to look at. Much as I adore Crystal and DeTrina, their fashion sense makes my quiescent femme side come out and scream at the top of her lungs, and especially today, when Crystal was wearing a shirt that was patently too big for her and needed to be tucked in, or preferably burned. She looked like she was wearing a straitjacket, or hospital pajamas. Not an attractive look. It was neck and neck with Patty's shirt for winner of the ugly award for tonight's game.

The refs didn't suck tonight! I don't remember the other two, but I know one of htem was Bonita Spence. The game seemed to be called fairly evenly, and if there was any bias, it was towards the Liberty. I like it when the refs don't suck, don't you?

Maybe they were intimidated by the martial arts group that performed at halftime. Wow. Those were some impressive jumps for the purposes of splitting pieces of wood with one's feet. Kids with nunchuks (sp?) are not to be messed with. SpongeBob, however, can go find some other team to pester.

For five seasons, my mother and I sat in section 210, giving up our tickets after Tari-gate. In those five seasons, 210 never came up as the lucky autograph section. Today, it did. After a couple of shrieks of frustration and bursts of laughter at the way the universe works, an old neighbor of mine offered me his voucher and ticket stub because he and his girlfriend had to leave right after the game. I hesitated a bit because I might have had a dinner date, but then decided, to hell with it, and took the proffered gift. I ain't proud. So I went to DoubleTeamed after the game for the session. Erin and Shameka were the sacrificial lambs today. Erin got a haircut, though optical illusion might say otherwise; when once she had a bun that unraveled down to the bottom of her number, she's now in a ponytail that brushes the top of her number. I feel kinda skeevy for noticing this, actually, even if it is just my predilection for long, long hair (and long, long words) making itself known. I also handwriting-geeked, because I'm an autograph collector, that's what I do. When Shameka doesn't have space to work with, she keeps it simple and straightforward, every letter clear and precise, but when she has space, she has a little more flair: she draws out the end of the 's' in Christon across the t, brings it over the staff of the 'k' in Shameka, curves it out over most of her name, then brings the curve back up across the staff of the 'k' to form the second bit-that-sticks-out. Yay for experimenting.

This extended play version of the Game Notes of Doom brought to you by the kindness of strangers, Diet Sunkist, slight sleep deprivation, and victory.