Tuesday, September 16

The Yankees win the penant! The Yankees win the penant!

Okay, no, they didn't, but that's the jubilant sports cry that always comes into my head when my team finally (finally!) wins. The Detroit Shock are the new WNBA champions. Detroit took L.A. tonight, 83-78, thanks to some amazing play by playoffs' MVP Ruth Riley. I leapt into the air and screamed. Man, I would have loved to be in Detroit tonight, celebrating with a crowd of over 22,000 fans (a WNBA attendance record). They had a lot to celebrate; Detroit is the first team in American professional sports history to go from worst in the league one year to champions the next. And it was an incredible game. Incredible. Tweety Nolan came up with a huge three at the end, and then she and Cheryl Ford proceeded to nail their free throws to clinch the win. L.A. lost! Lisa Leslie fouled out! Jen Garrett screamed with joy. Truly a sight to behold.

On a couple of side notes, I really enjoyed watching Karl Malone watch his daughter Cheryl play, especially when she was at the line and it looked as if he could barely stand to watch. After the win, when Cheryl jumped on her father just like a little kid, I nearly cried it was so sweet. On a less sweet side note, I think Swin should have gotten playoffs' MVP. No, she didn't have Riley's points tonight (a career-high 27, by the way), but she did have 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists and it was her play and her leadership that got her team through all three games. When is Swin gonna get a little love?

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