We’re smack dab in the middle of August and school’s about to begin pretty soon in a number of areas around D.C. There isn’t much going on in the nation’s capital with the Olympics going on, but there were still some notable stories nevertheless. Let’s go through some of them.
Mystics head to Jake Whitacre’s hometown. Kinda.
Last Friday, the Mystics went to Sherando High School in Stephens City, Virginia. If you don’t know where Stephens City is, it’s just a bit south of Winchester. The most notable alum from Sherando would be former NFL wide receiver Kelley Washington who played eight seasons in the league.
There was a long line of fans waiting to high five them when they arrived:
Took practice on the road today, just arrived in Winchester! Kids are hyped!!!! pic.twitter.com/Gl5CVmZIQM
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) August 13, 2016
While they were there, the Mystics practiced:
.@Breezyyy14 @EmmaMeesseman ✌ https://t.co/WunhK6SBUv
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) August 13, 2016
and they were also drill instructors.
Nothing like learning from a pro! @IvoryLatta12 pic.twitter.com/jILTZACvAI
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) August 13, 2016
#Encouragement @KIA_VAUGHN pic.twitter.com/0wG6daQkWR
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) August 13, 2016
This isn’t the first time the Mystics have driven over 70 miles to hold a practice for local schools. Last year, they did the same thing at Millbrook High School which is just outside the Winchester City limits.
I kinda get that going to a community in the Shenandoah Valley is a bit left field. But most communities are too far away from any decent pro sports team to visit them. Seeing the Mystics travel this far and do something like this is commendable.
LaToya Sanders leads Turkey to the Olympic quarterfinals
Sanders signed a multi-year contract extension with Washington last winter, but did not play for the Mystics so far this season in order to focus on her duties with Turkey and the Olympics. She was the second leading scorer (22 ppg) among all Olympians in group play and led them to the quarterfinals. However, they lost in quarterfinals to Spain in heartbreaking fashion, 64-62.
Top Wizards stories within BF
We welcomed some new writers to the team this week. Here they are along with their front page debuts:
- Austin Sternlicht (Twitter: @AustinS1027) wrote about five “under the radar” home games you should watch at Verizon Center this season. It elaborates a bit more on the piece I wrote about the 10 games you can’t miss, which also included some of those “blockbuster” games.
- Jesse Lyles (Twitter: @AKidNamedGeno) wrote about why Caron Butler should return to the nation’s capital before calling it a career.
- Fim Oshin (Twitter: @TheRealOshin97_) wrote about the Wizards’ bench being an asset this season.
And here’s more content for y’all:
- The preseason schedule is out, if you’re interested.
- Jake HAS TO PUT THE SIMPSONS INTO EVERYTHING
- The 2011 NBA Draft is something that will haunt the Wizards for a long time to come.
- The NBA released a highlight reel of the Top 50 assists of last season. John Wall didn’t get mentioned for any of them.
- We’ll get to a more positive story for the moment. ThePGPhenomenon wrote about the Top 5 Wizards moments since Wall was drafted.
- Alan pegs the Wizards as the 7th best team in the Eastern Conference ... as of right now.
- Hands11 wrote this FanPost about Emeka Okafor attempting to make an NBA comeback.
Links outside of BF
- Wiz of Awes’ Ben Mehic writes that Paul Pierce should have retired in D.C. in 2015. I don’t disagree with him here because Pierce wasn’t particularly good in a Clippers uniform — and he’s still going to come back this season...
- Justin Rowan of Hoops Habit gave four reasons why the Wizards will make the playoffs once again this season. (Yes, this is the same guy who writes for Fear The Sword.)
- Candace Buckner of The Washington Post gave 10 tidbits on the Wizards’ 2016-17 schedule.
- Ben Standig of CSN Mid Atlantic spoke with Scott Brooks, who calls the John Wall and Bradley Beal backcourt “a perfect fit.”
- Keely Diven of CSN Mid Atlantic wrote about a recent Twitter Q&A Kelly Oubre had while waiting for a flight. The most interesting questions Oubre was asked about was on Zendaya the pop singer.
- Ted Leonsis was stoked to meet Tomas Satoransky earlier this week.
A very nice young man is now in DC, welcome! pic.twitter.com/xtgsymjVGc
— Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis) August 16, 2016
- Frank Thibault, the father of Mystics GM/HC Mike Thibault, is a board game inventor. If you go to Toys R US and buy Topple Chrome, that’s a game he invented, and it gives him some decent royalty checks. Frank lived with his family in the Bay Area since 1956 (!!!!!) where Khalida Sarwari of The Mercury News has more. He is now 91. After reading this story, I think it’s safe to say that Mike will pwn all of us at board games, whether his dad invented them or not. Cool stuff.
That’s all I have for this week’s links. If you have things that you’d like to share, feel free to do so in the comments or as a FanPost.