NFL
Science fiction writers, at their best, have at least a cautionary message about the future. Be it Skynet, unfriendly aliens, or rabid monstrosities, even the wildest tales can have didactic messages about tomorrow. Still, no one thought that, by 2020, a superbug would already be devastating Earth. How would humanity survive? More importantly: would the WNBA cancel its season?
The answer to the former question remains elusive. Meanwhile, women’s basketball dribbles on. Courtney Vandersloot, the Sky’s leader in the pandemic’s sequestered Wubble, returned to Chicago and is still playing excellently. While the league enjoys a fine All-Star weekend in Chicago, “Slooty” and her Sky have an opportunity to draft a yellow-and-blueprint on how to segue from a lost 2026 to a tantalizing future.
18 Reasons To Beam
Candidly, the primary purpose for running the Wubble was to maintain the WNBA’s brand salience. Americans felt pocketbook stress, and every sports league shared the pain. After Seattle won the 2020 championship, many players surely felt relief that a season of acute stress had ended (apart from the victorious Storm).
While the Sky did not make it far in that year’s playoffs, one indelibly delightful match returned joyful tears to despairing fans’ faces. On August 31st, Chicago faced then-lowly Indiana in another in a mind-numbingly endless stretch of fanless, neutral-site contests.
What followed was, by contrast, incredibly stimulating! Vandersloot bakrupted the Fever with 15 dimes before leaving the game with victory already secure. Wait, stop the clock. Ticha Penicheiro’s record was only 16 assists? Vandersloot wisely returned to the court. She recorded her 16th assist before finishing the brilliant night with two more helpers, both fittingly to her wife, Allie Quigley.
Leaping forward six years, fans can only see Quigley’s #14 on a Wintrust banner. Although Vandersloot continues to serve her point Goddess role astutely, Father Time is, alas, waiting with his scythe. Thankfully, two younger players provide promise for Chicago’s basketball redemption.
Baton Passes
With the Sky experiencing another turbulent roster transition, Vandersloot must especially shepherd two exceptionally talented players. The first is a familiarly joyful name in the women’s basketball multiverse: Kamilla Cardoso. The South Carolina star delighted fans with a winning three in the SEC tournament en route to a perfect Gamecock season. Although she can sometimes become frustrated when missing a shot or recording a foul, Cardoso still has a joy for her game and plays with an easily observed passion.
To greater surprise, but higher delight, is the development of rookie Sydney Taylor. Chicago signed Taylor to a bargain-basement deal in April. The move generated little attention at the time, but Taylor proves sensational! Her supremely well-timed shots repeatedly allowed the Sky to reclaim or maintain late leads. Most recently, in Wednesday’s pre-break finale in New York, Taylor leaped to an unthinkable mark. Her 31 points marked a career high and, by any right reason, should have secured a needed triumph.
Then, of course, another bizarre collapse cost Chicago the game. Taylor left the court crying as she ran down the exit tunnel. How terrible! Taylor, her franchise, and Chicago basketball fans deserve more dignity. However, complaining about pseudo-curses will not help anyone. Vandersloot, a two-time league champion, has nothing left on her to-do list, except, hopefully, one item. As she continues her excellent play on the court, she can lead by basketball action and through her self-cultivated leadership acumen.
Timed Out
Vandersloot, a woman never seen complaining or swinging a proverbial fist at misfortune, stated any franchise’s goals perfectly in a succinct, unscripted comment during the 2021 playoffs. A scribe (certainly not an employee of Team NBS Media!) asked about the team’s ambitions for that postseason. “Our goal is to win the championship,” Vandersloot replied. While another ring will not arrive this fall, the sentiment’s truth remains, and remains plausible long-term. Indeed, if Slooty can use Skye’s fan to inflame Cardoso’s passion and dry Taylor’s desponding tears, time may learn a lesson already realized by every human being who has touched a basketball: nobody makes every shot.
