Latest News
New York vs. Chicago always is a special sports matchup. Mainly because folks in Chicago find it a way to invalidate any New York state of mind that smacks of superiority. That’s the way the Cubs-Giants baseball battles played out back in the day when the North Siders were winning National League pennants with regularity more than a century ago (everyone does remember 1908 and “Merkle’s Boner” and all that, right?) on the pages of Chicago’s numerous newspapers.
Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel instead of a photo of Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo? It appears so.
That’s the way the Bulls-Knicks rivalry during the Michael Jordan era went down and why the confrontations were so enjoyable for many (generally outside the New York metropolitan area).
And so, Friday night (July 6) offered another opportunity for Chicago and New York to meet.
In New York (OK, at Citi Field in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens to be more specific), the Mets played the Cubs. In Chicago (OK, at Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont, to be more specific), the WNBA Sky hosted the Liberty.
The cities split with the Cubs defeating the Mets 8=7, while the Liberty downed the Sky 64-59.
Given the status of Major League Baseball and the WNBA, Chicago would appear to have come out a winner in splitting the two games.
Of greater significance is Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo going 4-for-5 with a three-run homer off Johan Santana. Not that one victory means much in a Cubs season in which the greatest accomplishment could be avoiding last place in the National League Central. But legends — or their beginnings — do not register officially until New York media have had the chance to be witness. Some of them witnessed his Cubs debut June 26 in Wrigley Field, but nothing counts until it happens in New York.
Well, consider Rizzo revealed. Or witnessed. Or whatever.
“For 10 games, he’s been pretty good,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “He makes adjustments, he watches and to sit on pitches like he does and have an educated guess is pretty dang good. It wasn’t going to happen, but it would’ve been nice [to have him] for 162 [games]. He had to develop and be down there and that’s part of it, and he’s doing a heck of a job.”
The Cubs are 7-3 in the games Rizzo has started since being called up from Class AAA Iowa. More than fairly impressive, considering the team’s record is 32-51.
Also impressive is his .375 batting average. Something says that average eventually will go down. Which the Cubs can live with as long as they eventually go up in the standings and — someday (hey, everybody has to have a dream) — to the World Series (last appearance by a Cubs team being 1945 and last title being 1908).
And when that happens, the New York media will take note. Even if it doesn’t occur in the Big Apple.
The Sky tied a season high with 18 offensive rebounds. It blocked a season-high eight shots. Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot had a career-high seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Center Sylvia Fowles was 9-of-14 from the field, had 20 points and tied a career best with four steals; guard Tamera Young was 8-of-17 from the field and had 16 points.
The photo research department at elliottharris.com failed to locate a WNBA picture but did find this.
So how did the Sky lose? By missing 15-of-21 free-throw attempts. For the mathematically challenged (such as the person typing crafting today’s effort), that means the Sky was 6-of-21 on free throws (28.6 percent). That’s the worst percentage in franchise history.
“This is easy to dissect,” Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. “I can count the number of times we’ve shot 21 free throws on one hand — and we missed 15. We also missed 10 layups — that’s 35 points. You hold a team to 64 at home, that’s enough to win, but we’re not a very good basketball team right now.”
“I don’t know what it is about the free throws,” said Fowles, who was 2-of-6 on foul shots. “Individually, if you go down the line, we’re not bad at shooting free throws.”
“It had to be nerves,” Young (0-of-2 on free throws) said of the team’s poor shooting. We shoot free throws all the time in practice and we make them. So in the game, it’s like, ‘Are we rattled? Are we not mentally focused?’ Obviously it’s mental. When you miss one, you’re thinking about that one free throw instead of moving forward and thinking, “OK, I’ll make the next one.’”
The Sky (8-6) will have a chance to correct its mistakes quickly. Chicago plays at Indianapolis on Saturday (July 7).
Guard Cappie Pondexter led the Liberty (6-9) with 19 points. Essence Carson (14), Leilani Mitchell (12) and Kara Braxton (11) also were in double figures. If it’s any consolation to provincial rooting interests, Pondexter is a Chicago native.
OK, so free-agent guard Ray Allen is heading from the Boston Celtics to South Beach and will become a member of the Miami Heat. Which means he will be in greater proximity to the beach and females in swimsuits during the season.
Speaking of Miami and females and swimsuits, the fine folks at TMZ have some Candice Swanepoel and Arianny Celeste for your viewing pleasure: