July 24th, 2004: Detroit at New York

These game notes were thought lost, but have since been unearthed, so hop on into the Wayback Machine…

The Liberty make their Radio City debut, Swin Cash exits upstage right, and Shameka Christon and Elena Baranova try out for the Rockettes.


Okay. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's still much of the disconcerting to watch a basketball game at Radio Freakin' City, but not quite as 'ohmydeityofchoice, was this ever a bad idea' as I thought. I still don't dig not being able to move around as easily (though there are some pretty awesome people in my section, and a friend in first mezz may occasionally have seats open). Nor do I dig the extremely exorbitant prices for food and drink- $4 for a bottle of water that runs me a buck on the street?! Also- balloon animals and jugglers aren't exactly making me think of this place as the perfect basketball home for my team, ya know.

But the seats are nice and cozy, the view isn't as horrible as I thought it would be, and it's nice not to have to get up every single time some stupid kid feels the need to get up and do whatever. And Lord knows the place gets loud, even without the prompter, and it seems like the girls are enjoying it- Crystal was getting a kick out of the setup before the game, and Elena and Shameka got quite the kick out of it afterwards, but more on that in its proper place. The intros were a riot, with the dancing and the train and Bethany pulling out a ballet move and VJ getting her quiet groove on.

The Liberty seemed more than a little hyped up about this- Crystal's pass somewhere to the vicinity of Becky's guardian angel comes immediately to mind. La'Keshia also seemed a little tight, and I have no clue why she was in so many minutes when DeTrina would probably have been as effective and would have gotten the crowd into it like no bench player really has since Olga. Elena seemed sluggish at the start, but then three-three-three and she was on fiyah. All we need from her are a few more of those hook shots that make my heart skip a beat and a few less inexplicable passes, and we'll be really good to go. Crystal provided the offense when we needed it in the first half, and she was on Deanna Nolan like someone'd Velcrod her shorts to the woman (*watches Tari and Shameka put away the Krazy Glue* well, that might explain it...:)). Becky provided the showtime that was so aproppriate to the big stage (though BrokenMarionetteMiming!Becky is not my favorite Becky, and I've no particular fondness for any sort of Becky anyway). VJ showed up at most of the right times- she got hit an awful lot, though; there was one play when she went flying across a large part of the floor and the ref asked if she was all right, then proceeded to let the game go on as if nothing had happened. She was one of the few players who consistently drove and forced everything to go inside. Bethany was quiet, but I expect that- as long as she doesn't make too many egregious mistakes like fouling Nolan on a three-pointer, I shan't complain. Erin had one fnatastic pass to DeTrina, who in return had one really nice shot and an and-1. I lurve D-Train, but not enough to buy the cheesy t-shirt.

Ruth Riley handles mighty well for a big woman- not just a tall, but a big- and she's got a nice outside stroke. She's not up to three-point land yet, but by the time hse's 30, she might well be. Hell, by the time she's 27. Cheryl Ford was essentially a non-factor tonight, and that may have been the difference in the game. Swin Cash is one of the best finishers on the break, and now holder of the prestigious 'first dope to fall off the stage at Radio City' award. She was also a very dirty player, shoving VJ sans mercy. Deanna Nolan still has a sweet stroke, and leaving her open isn't the world's greatest idea- neither is fouling her. *clears throat and stares at Crystal and Bethany* Elaine Powell is still bothered by her bad heel- she had to come out early and briefly in the second half and I think that was the reason. The Joneses were also basically big bits of useless, though Merlakia helped puncture some of the 'woo-hoo, Shameka HIT one of those facocta threes!' euphoria we were feeling. Barbara Farris is one tough customer- she and La'Keshia were going at it hot and heavy every time they were both in, and they were often in at overlapping times; there was one point when Patty sent La'Keshia in and SFO countered with Farris immediately. The parental unit over yonder *points to the living room armchair* theorized that was La'Keshia's purpose in the game- be a big ol' foul magnet, and not in the bad way. Oh, and Coach Laimbeer? Please. For the love of whatever you happen to believe in, SHADDAP for a change! If you really want to be a villain, go coach the Sparks.

The refereeing can be summed up in two words: JUNE COURTEAU.

Nice loud crowd. Totally digging that. I assume that the madwomen of Court 15 were in the seats stage right- those are the ones closer to the Liberty bench, for those who don't keep track of stage directions; to someone from the audience, that would be to the left. Spotted many people that I knew, which made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I like the loudness of the place. I also like the D-Train t-shirts, or at least the fact of their existence; but they'll have to make a Nova one for me to buy something.

And of course, the indelible image of the night, other than Swin Cash running off the stage without bothering with an exit... Rockette!Elena and Rockette!Shameka. For those of you who couldn't be at the game, here's the deal- at the end of the game, we were all standing and cheering, and the team came downstage to wave at us and make us feel all special. As everyone filed off, Shameka put her arm over Elena's shoulder, and they started kicking it up like they would be the next women to don sequins and lose their dignity. I not only fell over laughing, I lost a friendly bet with my friend/neighbor that it would be either Crystal or Tari who pulled this trick first.

All in all, not abad place to visit, but I don't want my team living there.