Posts tagged ‘obama’

[UPDATE: Or not ... seems like the President won't be in attendance now, and Arenas has likely been traded to Orlando for Rashad Lewis. "Great."]

The Miami Heat make their way down to D.C. from New York to play the Wizards tonight. I imagine the atmosphere will be slightly different from Madison Square Garden, in terms of expressed fan affection for the home team. Surely many will be showing up more so to boo LeBron James, the energy from which, however, could certainly lead to more cheers for the Wizards. Then again, I will be curious to see how many adoring screams there are for LeBron and Dwyane Wade reigning down from the rafters. Seems like there will be plenty in this city of transient sports fans.

Actually, I imagine the scene at the Phone Booth will be crazier than MSG. Ted Leonsis has already warned that “lots of dignitaries and VIPS” will be in the building, and that means President Obama, as evidently the Secret Service has been making security preparations at the Verizon Center this morning. Oh, and with all the trade rumors swirling, it could be Gilbert Arenas’ last game in a Wizards uniform. Right now, according to the Washington Post’s Michael Lee, he’s still expected to suit up for Washington this evening.

To describe the buzz of emotion that will be going on in the Verizon Center as a circus doesn’t really do it justice — it certainly takes all the attention away from Josh Howard’s potential season debut, in the least. But to get a bearing on the incoming team that will actually be playing basketball against the Wizards, I turned to ESPN TrueHoop’s Kevin Arnovitz, who has been embedded covering Miami for ESPN.com’s Heat Index. And away we go…

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[L to R: Reggie Love, Ted Leonsis, President Obama, daugther Sasha & guest, Sheila Johnson.]

With the exception of a Josh Howard, Kirk Hinrich or a Kevin Seraphin signing here or there, from this blogger’s perspective, the Washington Wizards are basically closed for business until training camp.  Unfortunately for me, my basketball jones does not die that easily, so I decided to take my talents to the Washington Mystics of the WNBA.

When I initially looked at the Mystics schedule, there were certain games I had ear-marked as “must-sees”.  I wanted to see Chamique Holdsclaw and the San Antonio Silver Stars, I wanted to see Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm, and I definitely wanted to see former University of Maryland star, Kristi Tolliver and the Los Angeles Sparks. But above and beyond those match-ups, the team that intrigued me the most was the Tulsa Shock.

The Shock are led by former Arkansas Razorback head coach Nolan Richardson, who is the winningest coach in Arkansas history and is famous for the “40 Minutes of Hell” full-court press.  He also gave us such college and NBA players like Corliss Williamson, Todd Day, Lee Mayberry, Scotty Thurman, Oliver Miller and Joe Johnson.  Richardson is trying to bring that same frenetic style of play to the WNBA, and so far his team has struggled with a 4-22 record.

Also on the Shock roster is former world-class track athlete and gold medal winner Marion Jones.  Her past has been marred by legal issues ranging from check fraud to performance-enhancing drugs.  So recently, she found solace in basketball — a sport she hadn’t played since she was on North Carolina’s national championship team in 1997.  Jones only plays eight minutes a game for the Shock, and she averages just 2.7 points and a rebound a game.  On her transition to basketball, Coach Richardson said: Read more »