June 13th, 2012: New York Liberty STH Cruise

Because I have Cruise Notes of Doom.

So, this was possibly the most awesome season subscriber event the Liberty have put together. Randall's Island was awesome, and I was too young for the one at the club in 2002 (my 18th birthday fell after the season), but this was a fun event all around.



The line started half an hour before we were supposed to board. Everyone got a lei. Not for Leilani, as far as I know, but as part of the party theme. They were either blue or orange. (We brought our own in Liberty blue-green. You can get them at Party City. It's an Olympic year, so you can wait until their end-of-summer sales. End plug.) I do not know where Kym Hampton got her rainbow lei, or the little anklet lei, or where Plenette got her yellow lei.

Holy crap on a stick, A'riel's gotten tall. A lot of Liberty fans remember when she was a wee bitty little thing on her mama's chest a week after being born. (Some of us remember even before that, but we're heading over into creepy mode now.)

Favorite item of clothing: Leilani Mitchell's hat. Very Carmen Sandiego. Also a fan of the rainbow lei from Kym. (Kiabear has a little one of those.)

Alex Montgomery, I cannot even with that shirt. When my first reaction is "oh my God, you match the security band", that is a bad sign. Kara Braxton also needs to invest in pants that fit her properly. She had to resort to tying a sweater around her waist so no one would notice her hanging over her waistband. (Next time, may I recommend a longer top?)

There were a lot of technical issues with the mic, so the factoids and trivia had to come later than they originally planned, with the food coming first. The poor servers got mobbed pretty much the minute they came out from the kitchen. Things only smoothed out much later, after the first edge of hunger had been worn off the rabid wolves.

Kia Vaughn spent much of the first half of the trip, until the team photo, wearing a life vest and holding on to the ceiling whenever she had to move. And when there was some sharp rocking, the look of terror on her face was almost comical. I... get the feeling Kia doesn't do boats. Kara and Kelley also seemed uncomfortable, but there's a difference between uncomfortable and a constant facial expression of "we're going to die we're going to die I want my mommy".

Memorable factoids: Alex Montgomery was a cheerleader in high school and can crochet. DeMya Walker was originally expecting a son that she was going to name Zachary; instead, the little girl we know as Zachara came along. Essence Carson is a former Girl Scout. Kia Vaughn is terrified of clowns. (I shudder to think what would happen if she saw a clown on a boat.)

I think the only word Cappie Pondexter willingly said was "Party!"; she used it like a Pokemon uses its name. I suppose that's one way to avoid controversy.

Kelly Miller needs to be louder. I couldn't make out a word she said, not that she said very much.

There was an ongoing lack of salad forks. It became a point of pride to claim one. Om nom nom salad. The finger foods were so-so- a bit salty, possibly because of preservatives- but the brownies were on point.

I was not on the dance floor, but many people were. We went up to the upper deck during the Electric Slide. DeMya seemed to be really enjoying it.

I don't know if I've ever seen Nicole Powell smile that much before. It was weird. Like, she was actually enjoying something. I am not used to this!

Melissa, the poor unlucky wretch who succeeded Chris, that poor unfortunate soul, as our season ticket rep, celebrated her birthday today. We've given her so much shit the last year and change that we felt we should give her something nice, so we got her team-colored M&Ms. She seemed to like them. I think she probably likes the Godiva someone else gave her better.

There was trivia, and it was awesome. It was mostly about the earliest years of the team- the inaugural game, the first All-Star Game, Spoon's Shot, that kind of thing. The husband and I both got called up- him for the inaugural game, me for Spoon's Shot. We both answered correctly, with extra information. He got a signed Essence Carson replica jersey. I got a pair of Six Flags passes. The questions sort of got read out of order, so when I answered, "Compaq Center, Houston, Texas" to the question of where Spoon's Shot occurred, Kym and Alex looked at each other and me in confusion. After running through sponsorships in my head, I was sure I was right and said I could give them the call if they wanted. It was quickly determined that they were looking at the wrong damn question. I think only one question referenced the blue era, about the number of Most Improved Players the team had had. I forgot about Janel McCarville, so I would have gotten that question wrong. Who was in the inaugural game, who we played in the home opener, where the first All-Star game was, who signed the first contract in league history, why Swoopes missed the first season, when Sue Wicks retired- those I would have gotten all right.

The cruise was beautiful. Lots of pictures. Some turned out better than others. Posted a few.

All in all, it was awesome, and it needs to happen again next year, timed a little better so there's time for a full limbo line.