The 5th of July - League News

Good fishin', eh, Vern? A-yuh.

Once again, nothing much to talk about. The Liberty play tomorrow, in Detroit. Gonna save the game-day preview for the actual game-day. It's Detroit, so it'll be a doozy.

Sounds like a plan, Stan.

The Sacramento preview will most likely also be up by then as well. If not in the morning, then definitely in the afternoon. Until that time, you'll have to satiate yourselves on league news. Thankfully, there's a bunch...

AROUND THE LEAGUE...

Fever @ Sparks

Both teams were off yesterday (the WNBA is probably the only organization that benefitted from having the Independance Day on a Wednesday).

Dude, can't the 4th be on, like, the 5th?

Los Angeles has hit a patch of bad ice, while Indiana is picking up some speed again. Look for Tamika Catchings to reveal why she's an All-Star, and for Marta Fernandez to wonder why she's on that team again.

Oh yeah. The scenery...

Fever by 7.

From Tuesday...

Seattle 90, Los Angeles 71
Phoenix 95, Minnesota 79
San Antonio 84, Washington 79

Lauren Jackson (24 points) and Sue Bird (10 points, 11 assists) once again lifted the Storm above the neither-here-nor-there Sparks. Not that LA was particularly bad that night, but they didn't catch the breaks or want it as much as Seattle. Having two starting All-Stars on your team doesn't hurt, either.

Whoa. WHO got injured? She's NOT going?

So, I picked the Stars and Storm, but NOT the Mercury. Looking back at the Mercury game, how could I possibly have picked the Lynx? Much like the last time I picked the Sky, I got bit in the ass. No more. The Lynx are an automatic loss in my column, even if they go a perfect season from henceforth. Penny Taylor led the Mercury with 26 points and 7 rebounds, while Seimone Augustus (MIN) was great (16 points, 8 rebounds), as usual. She's definitely going to be an All-Star Starter...

Wait. What? WHAT?!?

As for the Washington game, nothing beyond the usual Mystics suckitude. Hammon was out for the night, so Sophia Young and Erin Buescher picked up the slack, with 24 and 19 points (2 and 7 rebounds), respectively. That's the sign of a good team, right there. Alana Beard? 26 points, 6 assists, played the entire 40 minutes. Those five wins that the Mystics have are owed entirely to one woman. Thank God SHE'S making it into the All-Star Game, especially because its in her own digs...

No. Way.(Five minutes of silence)...damn...

So, yeah, as you probably already know, the All-Star voting came back, and the lineups are as follows...

EAST
Tamika Catchings (Indiana)
Cheryl Ford (Detroit)
Deanna Nolan (Detroit)
Anna DeForge (Indiana)
Kara Braxton (Detroit)

WEST
Diana Taurasi (Phoenix)
Lauren Jackson (Seattle)
Sue Bird (Seattle) (injured)
Becky Hammon (San Antonio)
Yolanda Griffith (Sacramento)

This is why I hate All-Star games. While the West is at least arguable (although Sue Bird will not be going and thus, another deserving player might be added to the list), NOT having either Alana Beard or Candice Dupree on the starting line-up in the East is criminal.

See ya in five to seven, pal.

I'm not taking anything away from anybody who started (except maybe Braxton, who, while good, is not having a Starter-season), but if there was ever any lack of evidence that the All-Star game is a ballot-stuffing popularity contest rather than an event of pure talent... well, you know. That's that, and the East will be renamed the Shock-and-Fever.

Coincidentally, also the new codename for our upcoming invasion of Iran.

Jenny Boucek, head coach for the Monarchs, has a nice little write-up in USA Today. While her methods are suspect...

14-12! Another Monarchs victory!

...her results are unquestionable.

CBA rumblings. Apparently, WNBA players can't sign endorsement deals with non-WNBA sponsors. Some of those sponsors, according to the article, are "ABC, Adidas, AOL, Discover Card, ESPN 2, Hannspree, Kohler, Meridian, NBA TV, Nike, Gatorade, Ocean Spray, Russell, Spalding, Southwest, T-Mobile and Toyota". That means, TV, Shoes, Internet, Credit Card, Atheletic Equipment, Airlines, yadda, yadda, yadda... okay, so the only thing left for a WNBAer to sponsor is a local carpet company.

Wait? The WNBA signed with Empire?!? DAMMIT!

I know the WNBA is in some dire straits, but so much that they can't allow some gals to appear in their own endorsement deals? No wonder they all love playing in Europe.

I'm rich, bee-atch!

No performance piece for yesterday. Sorry. Essay will be up in the afternoon, though. Until then...

See ya, Space Cowboy...