June 22nd, 2003: Charlotte at New York

New York Liberty 69, Charlotte Sting 57

The Sting are mostly charming, new uniforms are disturbing, and you can't trust a woman who doesn't play around with the fun-loving furry dog.


Sting fans, wherever you are, you’ve got a wonderful team. It’s not just that they’re talented on the basketball court, but they’re also good-natured and charming to fans. Even fans of the other team. Most of them were friendly, coming over to talk and to sign autographs; Rushia Brown was particularly charmed by some Cleveland homies who came decked out in retro Browns stuff. The Sting need people to come to their games and appreciate them, damn it! They deserve better than to be part of the running joke that’s attendance in this league. I wish them luck… except when it comes at the expense of the Liberty.

Halftime notes. The Liberty, per usual, can’t rebound to save their lives; Sting are up by four on the boards. Elena looks like she’s been having Utah flashbacks; she looks like she thinks her teammates are the ones in the teal. Becky, of course, is hitting everything that she looks at- and she’s doing it with the aid of a heating pad applied to her back. I honestly think Becky is turning into a little bit of a diva the likes of which the Liberty has never seen before in its history. Staley and Spoon both look like they’re playing for their jobs, since Miller and K.B. are both coming up fast.

We’ve got to stop giving up so many offensive rebounds. This is becoming a disturbing pattern. The Liberty don’t let them shoot very well at all, but they give up offensive rebounds out the wazoo. Trust me, you don’t want a rebound out the wazoo. Crystal came out of hibernation in the second half and threw in some very key baskets. Poor Miko got knocked to the floor twice in two possessions and again later in the game; after the last, she was on the floor writhing in pain for a while as the hippity-hop race went on at the other end of the court. She really didn’t look right after that; it wasn’t just that she looked dazed but also that she looked like she had a touch of the flu or something.

And Spoon was on the bench at the end of this one, but that was because Richie’s conscience tore at him about not playing the bench girls enough; the finishing lineup was Miko, K.B., Linda, Lindsey, and Erin.

Charlotte really piled up the fouls, but a lot of them were pointless and stupid. Sutton-Brown looks really good. I really regret my votes for Tari at center now; Tari’s not really a center, as much as we have her play like one. The new uniforms are not flattering to Andrea Stinson; I really, really didn’t want to know just how much Stinson there was underneath that uniform. I honestly think that certain movements of certain parts distracted her defenders long enough for her to get her shot off. Feaster looks wonderful. She needs to get some love from the league and some attention from defenders; she’s strong and she’s quick. She shoots well enough to have led the nation in scoring in 1997-98, and she’s smart enough to have gone to Harvard. I wanted to scream every time Becky was assigned to her. I don’t like Shalonda Enis. She didn’t shake Maddie’s hand. You can’t trust a woman who doesn’t play around with the fun-loving furry dog.

I saw that Lacey goes deep and makes a lot of moves. Intriguing. I don’t agree with picking up Brumfield and Tynesha Lewis, though; any point guard that Houston throws back must truly and utterly suck, because Houston has never had a truly elite point guard though Perrot came close. If Kelly Miller had had a better game, perhaps things would have been different, and we wouldn’t have seen so much of the end-of-the-bench types.

Again, where the heck was everyone? Trying to beat the traffic to the game at Shea tonight? With a Rutgers alumna and a Philly girl in the house for the Sting, there should have been more fans. I grant that the attendance might have sucked because they weren’t giving anything away, but COME ON!

Unwanted Midriff sightings included VJ, Elena, Crystal, Andrea Stinson, and Tari. I think VJ’s midriff is going to be on the UMs list all season, the way she hustles.

In the end, this is the only thing that matters... I CAN USE THE SECOND BANANA!