This reporter got a photo of the four Lynx All-Stars clowning around, sitting together in the locker room – the first time in league history four teammates were chosen as All-Stars. That quartet several weeks later that year helped bring Minnesota its first pro basketball championship since the Lakers in the 1950s.
Lynx
Posted inLynx/WNBA
Billboard connects young fan with Lynx shero
Maya Moore’s “Wings” billboard has been a huge hit, especially locally. But perhaps its most lasting impact will be on four-year-old Liliana Sikakane.
Posted inGophers/College, Lynx/WNBA, Sports
Being on both sides of the whistle
A seasoned Coach Staley advises new Coach Whalen New Gopher Women’s Basketball Coach Lindsay Whalen said in last week’s “View” that she soon would “reach out” to South Carolina and U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley. Staley in 2000 became the first WNBA player to take a Division I head coaching job (at Temple) […]
Posted inSports
Plenty of good storylines filled our sports columns in 2017
The coverage of another Lynx championship run earns our top-of-the-list status 2017 was not a bucket list sports year, but in so many ways it wasn’t any less memorable for that reason. Both “Another View” and “Sports Odds and Ends,” the two columns I am responsible for filing each week, once again stayed true to […]
Posted inSports
Former prep stars and current player give Lynx nothing but praise
After watching the Minnesota Lynx capture their fourth WNBA championship this decade —winning their previous three in 2011, ’13 and ’15 — former girls basketball prep stars Tamara Moore, Carolyn Blair-Mobley, Rikiee Ellis, Tyrai Ross, and Dee Buford as well as former Golden Gophers player Crystal Flint, and current prep player Taylor-Tidwell, had nothing but […]
Posted inLocal & State, Lynx/WNBA, News, Sports
Lynx achieve dynasty status
Not since the Minneapolis Lakers played here in the 1950s, and not since the Minnesota Twins’ two successful World Series trips in 1987 and 1991, have the Twin Cities seen such a successful pro team as the Minnesota Lynx. This nearly unparalleled record of success reached a new plateau in the team’s thrilling triumph over […]
Posted inSports
Lynx practice squad gets team in fighting shape
More than human crash-test dummies Winning a championship, or winning four in seven tries as the Minnesota Lynx have done, involves more than the players and coaches. There are countless behind-the-scenes folk who are just as integral in the team’s success: the Minnesota Lynx practice squad for example. “We get a few elbows. We’ve broken […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
Lynx dominate Washington to win Game 1
Getting the first game out of the way was just as important as winning it, said Minnesota Lynx players. The hosts’ 8-0 run to end the first quarter finally shook off whatever rust that might have built up as the Lynx took a 1-0 lead Tuesday with a 101-81 victory over Washington. “I thought we […]
Posted inSports
Strong bench helps Lynx teamwork function at high level
This series will cover the WNBA’s 21st season with at least one story on the league weekly from the season’s May 13 opening to its closing on September 3 and through the 2017 playoffs. A strong team is only as strong as its formidable bench. A strong bench therefore proves invaluable, especially during stretch runs. […]
Posted inSports
The Only One in the Emerald City: All-Star practice highlights
This column continues the Only One series in which this reporter shares his experiences as the only African American journalist on the scene. SEATTLE — The word “replacement” often can be misunderstood, especially in sports. Minnesota’s Rebekkah Brunson and Sugar Rodgers of New York were both named All-Stars by WNBA President Lisa Borders to replace […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
All-Stars talk about their All-Star games
This series will cover the WNBA’s 21st season with at least one story on the league weekly from the season’s May 13 opening to its closing on September 3 and through the 2017 playoffs. This coming weekend’s WNBA All-Star Game in Seattle has at the outset an old-time Western theme: the younger Eastern Conference vs. […]
Posted inSports
Watching Lynx play from the stands is hard for ‘Papa Pete’
This series will cover the WNBA’s 21st season with at least one story on the league weekly from the season’s May 13 opening to its closing on September 3 and through the 2017 playoffs. He has only been away for a few months, but when Jim Peterson casually walked into the locker room after a […]
Posted inSports
WNBA expands its fandom to social media, fantasy gamers
This series will cover the WNBA’s 21st season with at least one story on the league weekly from the season’s May 13 opening to its closing on September 3 and through the 2017 playoffs. Now in her second year at the helm, WNBA President Lisa Borders believes one of her initial goals in moving the […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
Wiggins’ allegations play to stereotypes of the WNBA
Candice Wiggins’ recent allegations that a bullying culture existed in the WNBA during her eight seasons, and that the majority of the players are not heterosexual was, as expected, met with criticism from present and former players alike. “I was stunned and disappointed” after reading her published comments, said WNBA President Lisa Borders last week […]
Posted inSports
Wiggins drops ’98 percent’ bomb on WNBA
Former Minnesota Lynx player Candice Wiggins last week dropped a bomb on the WNBA, and the Lynx organization took a direct hit as a result. Wiggins, the Lynx’s 2008 top draft choice and third overall, played here five seasons before she was traded to Tulsa in 2013 and retired in 2016 after eight seasons. She […]
Posted inLynx/WNBA
WNBA Finals | Lynx, one point shy of making history, fall to Sparks
Minnesota came one defensive stop short of history. Nneka Ogwumike’s conversion of her missed jumper with two seconds left gave Los Angeles their first WNBA championship since 2002, a 77-76 win. And the Lynx once again lost a chance to repeat as champions in an Olympic year — Minnesota lost to Indiana in 2012 after winning in […]
Posted inSports
WNBA Finals | The league’s best square off for championship glory
Nicole LaVoi, the University of Minnesota Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport’s co-director, was very relieved that her one-hour talk at the Tucker Center was scheduled for last night and not today. LaVoi, a loyal Minnesota Lynx fan, wouldn’t have missed Game 5 of this year’s WNBA finals for the world. “We are going […]
Posted inSports
Lynx keep dream alive
One of the greatest joys over my 38 years as a journalist who has weathered the test of time has been watching the growth of the WNBA and locally covering the Minnesota Lynx. I have a great appreciation for the business of sports, and believe me it’s a business in which you find out who […]
Posted inSports
WNBA Finals | Maya Moore powers Lynx to Game 5
The Los Angeles Sparks’ California dreams turned into a nightmare as the defending champs Minnesota Lynx powered through a thrilling, must-win Game 4 against in Los Angeles to bring the series back home. When recently asked if she was to start a WNBA team using only Minnesota and Los Angeles players, ESPN’s LaChina Robinson didn’t […]
Posted inSports
Lynx players encourage and coach kids in North Mpls
The Minnesota Lynx starters — Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles and Lindsay Whalen — hosted nearly 50 local boys and girls from a North Minneapolis elementary school, and taught them game fundamentals and values on the day after their Game 1 buzzer-beater defeat. WNBA President Lisa Borders sat in her workout gear […]