June 1st, 2003: Washington @ New York

New York Liberty 70, Washington Mystics 57

The season begins in earnest, a new stat is christened, and Elena Barrrrrrrrrrrrranova makes her Garden debut in the seafoam green.


My apologies for the extreme belatedness of this report. I did write it on gameday, in the back of mum's rental, but the board ack ack pffted on me. Without further ado...

Woo! Home opener! Gametime! Adrenaline! Elena! KB! Yeah, I’m not going to be able to deliver a very good report from this one. The first thought of the day was, “Oh, god… where the hell is VJ?” This was followed by, “Oh my God, VJ’s in street clothes… oh, my god, those are UGLY street clothes.” Bad words followed, especially when Becky was shooting so badly. But we came back. Man, today was all about the hustle. Everywhere I looked, Liberty players were swiping at balls, hustling after stuff, fighting and defending. This was more obvious in the first half, since they ran out of gas a bit in the second half before getting it back together again.

*happy sigh* Elena! The announcer got such a kick out of her name; he rolled the R so long I thought he was Spanish. She seems to be meshing very quickly with the team. YES, there were some moments where she looked like the new kid on the block- one pass from KB comes to mind immediately- but she gave it her all. I loved it. I was thrilled when we got her, and now it feels like my faith is being rewarded. Seven points, some boards, some steals, some assists (updated with Newsday info- 7 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 steals)… she so rocked coming off the bench.

KB was incredible. She has so much potential. From what I’ve seen, she is our next point guard, no question. Thorn has nothing on her, and neither does Becky. She handles the team well, and she doesn’t play like a rookie. She’s wonderful. *happy sigh*

People-spotting… Kym and Sue both came, and Sue’s girlfriend was also there. They and VJ hugged and kissed, it was a courtside love-fest. Also, supposedly, Diana Taurasi was in attendance. Note that this is second-hand information, though. It would make sense, but I have no proof, since apparently the cameraman was asleep at the wheel. Either that, or Sue asked not to have the camera in her face anymore. (updated with Newsday info- DT *was* there)

UMS- that is to say, Unwanted Midriff Sightings- included Tamika Whitmore, Stacey Dales-Schuman, and Teresa Weatherspoon, the latter being quite prolonged. This is a stat I’ll keep up through the season.