NFL
Perhaps you’ve heard the oldest cliché in coach-speak. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog!” (Insert 20-point comeback montage here.) News flash: dogs have been domesticated for quite a while now. Shortly into the Sky’s sleepy loss in Connecticut, one could see that Chicago, similarly, didn’t have much bite. With the Sky eliminated from the playoffs after a frustrating Sunday loss, the team must find a new motivation. A better full-game effort is needed in the remaining five games.
Always a Tomorrow?
Too often in 2026, Chicago has fallen far behind in a contest only to rally for a win or near-miss. Analysts could have cautioned the Sky about outcome bias. In layperson’s terms, this means that an athlete tends to learn more when she loses. The glow of victory can be too strong, making mistakes easy to dismiss. The league is also more competitive now. Excellent teams learn to love both playing with a lead and managing the advantage. “We’ll get ’em next time!” is another coach-speak the 2027 Sky must forget.
After Connecticut’s Diamond Miller hit a three to extend the Sun’s dominance, she emphatically celebrated with her teammates. Meanwhile, Kamilla Cardoso again grew frustrated, and rightfully so, over biased officiating. Thankfully, Chicago’s angst never progressed into aggression. The Sky took the right action by turning their tension against the sport itself. The Sky quietly fought back on the scoreboard, without a detour through the doghouse.
Even with Courtney Vandersloot quietly recording her 3,000th career assist, Chicago’s run fizzled before time expired. A team-friendly scribe may spin the eventual 81-87 defeat as a “yeah, but” positive, granted Vandersloot’s impressive feat and the late scoring push. Consider a counterpoint.
Tilling Success’s Soil
In the 2021 WNBA Finals, Mercury star Diana Taurasi made slight contact with an official in the series’ second game. The league’s rulebook states that a player who makes deliberate contact with an official must be automatically suspended for a game. After the league’s further review…no suspension. Go figure! So much for every woman’s equality under the natural moral law.
How did Chicago respond when the series returned home for game three? While ESPN’s anchors lazily equivocated the inequitable decision, the Sky responded with a 40-minute display of dazzling athleticism. Chicago recorded the largest Finals victory in WNBA history, 86-50.
What relevance does this happy reminisce have on the Sky’s future? The rout reminds us that playing to win never amounts to chasing one’s tail, even if the standings seem too daunting. The Connecticut Sun will set for the final time this season. Scoreboard heroes will likewise fade as the hands of time continue to wind. By contrast, the seeds of competitive passion can bear fruit even years later. Thus, next month’s tilling can build a rainforest hued in only the brightest Sky blues and yellows, with the coach-talk thesaurus rightfully returned to the shelf.
