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Top Stories of the Week: Dolson's announcement, Wall's NBA Community Assist campaign, more

By Albert Lee
Stewart W. Small

They say that April showers bring May flowers. The problem is that we still have showers. We had 15 straight days of measurable rain, and we may not see a break for some time.

We should have some better weather in the coming days, but man. It has been tough. But in Washington, one team's regular season is coming to a start this weekend, while the other still is playing for some awards.

Mystics begin the regular season on Saturday vs. New York

The Liberty will be coming to D.C. this Saturday at 7 p.m. ET to play the Mystics in both teams' regular season debuts.

Stefanie Dolson comes out

She did so in an ESPN column by writer Katie Barnes. I personally would like to see the day when stories like these aren't news. But the reality is that a number of people who aren't straight often feel ostracized if they decide to live they wish to.

Regardless of Dolson's sexual orientation, I still would love to hang out all day with at the bar chatting about anything and at the karaoke booth. No, I don't want to dance and get pushed around like G-Wiz though!

John Wall is a finalist for the NBA's Community Assist Award

This week has been light on Wizards news, but Wall is one of 10 NBA players who are finalists for the 2015-16 NBA Community Assist Award. Whether it's to "Light the Night" for the late Miyah Telemaque-Nelson or to make a kid's wish come true, Wall is a great leader in our community.

So Tweet #JohnWall #NBACommunityAssist every day through next Wednesday, May 18 so he can bring a piece of hardware back to the nation's capital!

If you want to make it a little easier, you can also retweet these examples from other notable local athletes like these guys:

Other Wizards stories

  • Pacers head coach Frank Vogel and Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger were fired last weekend. Some Wizards fans thought that perhaps the team should have held out longer to decide on who would be their head coach. I disagree and believe that Scott Brooks is still the right guy given what they were looking for.
  • We have a podcast on the coaching carousel.
  • Bradley Beal is going to Tokyo, Japan on Thursday, May 19. While there, Beal will attend a Playoffs Viewing Party at Ebisu Act Quare.
  • Marcin Gortat has had a fun offseason so far. Check out this tweet of him chillin' on his Yamaha jet ski:

Other Mystics stories

  • I chronicled the Mystics' WNBA Draft failures over the years as well as one cult hero... Until it was 2013 when I chronicled Mike Thibault's WNBA Draft successes. Think about it. All five of Thibault's first round draft picks with the Mystics from each of the last four seasons are on the 2016 opening day roster. I'm just leaving it there.
  • Brian Kotloff of WNBA.com has his Mystics season preview and is complimentary of The Washington Posts. I get that he's talking about the Mystics being a young lineup and they really are. But they're also a more experienced young core than most other teams.
  • Clay Kallam of Slam Magazine predicts that the Mystics will finish in fifth place in the WNBA. Remember that the Eastern and Western Conferences are pretty much a wash now with new scheduling rules in place. Like what we have said about Meesseman all winter, Kallam agrees that she "needs to be the star" or you can expect another early playoff exit. In the past, you could excuse early playoff exits because the young core was gaining experience. But now, that tolerance is waning.
  • Sue Favor of WomensHoopsWorld has her 2016 WNBA season preview. She calls the Mystics a "long-term rocket science project" in a good way because "it's obvious to all that coach Mike Thibault is a genius." But the lack of a superstar -- unless you're down with Meesse-mania -- requires that "Washington needs an explosion in the lab to shake things up" beyond just her.

That's all I got for this week's news. If there's another story you'd like to share, do so in the comments or in a FanPost!