Check Out WNBA Finals . . . No, They Didn't Pay Me to Say That

I'm going to make a plug for the WNBA Finals. If you aren't reading this shortly after it was posted, you may miss it because the Detroit Shock are up on the Phoenix Mercury at the moment, and the Shock can take the title with a win tonight. It looks a lot better and is a lot more exciting than I remember it. Shooting has definitely improved.

I told my colleagues that I watched Game 3 the other day, and they said "So you were the one!" Hardy har har. I know there were at least two viewers, because I talked about the game with someone else. ESPN2 does some interesting things with it, too, including, as I mentioned in a comment, putting a mic on Bill Laimbeer (I think both coaches have one, but he's complaining the most). That's half the entertainment. They also do in-game, sideline interviews with assistant coaches, which is pretty different.

Plus, if you want drama, you got it. The finals are the finals no matter who's playing, and these girls are out here battling. I've seen at least one black eye and a few elbows and several "get in the face" moments.

On a side note, Karl "the Mailman" Malone's daughter, Cheryl Ford, plays for the Shock, and he's also in attendance tonight. I have never, ever (ever) liked Kountry Karl, but his daughter - she's a star (and All-Star game MVP), and she's alright with me.

I'm a little disappointed by the commercials, though. Why don't they feature the players?

**UPDATE** - The Mercury took game 4, so it's all tied up and the finals are back in Detroit. May the best woman win.

Quickie Answered

Kudos to Patrick for allegedly knowing the answer to my "Quickie!" I don't know if I believe that he didn't look this up, because I don't even know all the people on my favorite teams, much less all the people on two teams. But even if you looked it up, I'm impressed.

If you didn't see his comment, the WNBA finals features the Detroit Shock v. the Phoenix Mercury. The Shock are up 2-1 after their win last night. I watched the game last night on ESPN2 and I was surprised that I knew several of the young ladies, Diana Taurasi being the most famous, but I'm not sure I can give you a starting five. Even Google is in on the WNBA bash, because when I searched for images by typing in "wnba finals," it asked me whether I meant "nba finals." Ouch. Of course, this didn't work the other way around.

If they really want to make the sport more appealing, I think they should start by lowering the baskets. I have some other ideas as to why it's not so popular, but I think I'll save my likely controversial comments for another time when I'm ready to get hate mail.