UT Basketball w/ CB, Godzilla-Mania, Checking In

UT Game with CB

So, I work for a municipality these days (no more libraries for me, thanks), and so we had Wednesday off.

On Monday, JAL wrote me and asked if I could use his tickets for the Wednesday night University of Texas Women's Basketball game.  And, indeed, I could.  

Jamie was not up for it, so I called upon lifelong pal, CB, who lives maybe 3 miles from me.

Valkyries 2026 WNBA Champs, Halloween

 

Golden State wins the WNBA Finals 2026

What an insane end to the season.  Right up til the last 70 seconds of the 7th game, I really had no idea how this would go.  A true underdog story, the Valkyries arguably have no *stars* as far as the media is concerned.  There's no media darling like A'ja Wilson or wild narrative like Angel Reese has been the last five years or so, between NCAA and her time in the WNBA.  

Instead, you have a second year team with players who are rock solid coached by someone who just showed she's the hardest working woman in sports business (maybe after Holly Rowe).  

When I got into the WNBA, the Valkyries were just starting up, so as a new-to-me sports league, I thought "a ha!  I have no history to contend with if I follow a new team."  Plus, they often started their games just as Jamie was going to bed, as they would start around 7:00 or 7:30 Pacific time.  So, the Valkyries became one of my default teams.  

Accountability, WNBA Finals and World Series

Accountability check-in

This morning I weighed in at about 17% less than my mass when I started.  My mass was considerable, so this is not a small amount of mass while not a huge reduction, percentage wise.

It's all fun and games, but I have a ways to go before I hit my actual goal.  And then I have a super-goal, that I don't really think is realistic, but we'll see.

A Weekend with The League - Godzilla at the Mall, The League Takes in Culture

End of October is always a nostalgic time for us at League HQ.  Jamie and I started dating in late October, just before Halloween, and as the season goes into full swing, we recall shopping malls in Fall.

Not really, but on Friday I saw on my Godzilla socials (and, yes, they exist!) that the Haas Racing team was in town for the F1 races at Circuit of the Americas (COTA, for the locals).  This year, Haas is partially sponsored by whomever is promoting Godzilla Minus Zero, the movie dropping on November 6th.  

Anyway, as some sort of cross-promo, they had set up a former Haas car outside of JC Penney's at Barton Creek Square, which, incidentally, is where we'll be seeing Godzilla Minus Zero.   They also had a 6 foot replica of our best pal.  And, most importantly, it was free to come gawk like a yokel.

A'ja 5x MVP, WNBA Play-Offs, Baseball in October

A'ja Wilson Earns 5th WNBA Most Valuable Player award

A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces just won the 2026 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player award.  

I may have come (back) into the WNBA as a fan of what I saw in Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark as that narrative played out, but I pretty quickly clocked who this A'ja Wilson person was when I'd see other teams play the Aces and listen to postgame.  

And by the end of last season, I was a convert.  I own two WNBA items - a general Golden State Valkyries shirt and a Las Vegas Aces shirt with Wilson's number on the back.

So, five MVP titles seems like a lot, right?  

WNBA Play-Offs, Cubs End the Season, Tour of Austin Books & Comics

Aces into the Semi-Finals

If you're not watching the WNBA Play-Offs, you're missing some amazing basketball.  

It's not entirely a shock that the play-offs are going how they are.  The final 8 teams that made the playoffs were all very evenly matched, stats-wise.  Whatever happened between last season and this season to spread the talent around the W paid off.

New York, an 8 seed, knocked out #1 seed, Minnesota Lynx in just two games in the first round (sorry, Jilly).  The veteran leadership on the Liberty seemed to really pay off, and despite looking like a juggernaut most of the regular season, in the last three weeks before the play-offs, the Lynx suddenly looked sluggish.  No idea what happened, but I bet coach Cheryl Reeves was losing her mind.

Dallas and Golden State played into OT, with Dallas Wings' Arike Ogunbowale scoring something like 45 points entirely on her own as they won with 108 points.   I was expecting Golden State to just put them to bed, and not so much.

Maybe more obvious was Atlanta taking the Mystics out in two games - the Atlanta Dream may well be in the Finals.  That is a team that has just improved all season.

Catch-Up - Nooming It, Cubs in the Playoffs (MLB), WNBA Playoffs are Nigh

Cubs Clinch a Playoffs Spot

Noom With a View

Well, the weight-loss thing continues.  Slower, but happening.

As my PA Nurse has shared, your body adjusts to what you're doing, and it starts to try to slow you down a bit as it sorts out how many calories are coming in versus what is expended.  I think there's also a percentage thing that I could do the math on, but here's the idea:

I am some percentage lighter than I was, and so my loss may be, percentage wise, keeping pace.