WNBA Starts, Cubs Fall to Rangers

apparent Marvel-nerd A'ja Wilson is ready for more awards

WNBA Starts 2026 Season

This weekend saw the start of the 2026 WNBA Season.  There's a few reasons this start is of note.  

First, this is the 30th Season of WNBA basketball.  A league that people (read: sad misogynists) have written off and mocked and trod upon has made it 30 years.  think about how many pro football leagues have come and gone in that time.  Pretty amazing it's endured.

The W is also now, very suddenly, worth far more than it was just five years ago.  Somehow the college hoops rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, which led to the largest viewership ever for women's NCAA basketball bubbled over to the WNBA.  People watched the Fever and Sky and figured out - hey, this sport is cool.  And I can be counted among those people.  

Since then I've not soured on Clark, exactly, but she was out most of last season and my attention turned to other teams and players.  Now I watch a few teams, and Clark is nice to see, but she's not even a favorite on the Fever (hey, Kelsey Mitchell!).  And I still love A'ja Wilson's play over on the Las Vegas Aces.

Second, this is the first year after the signing of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the players' union and WNBA leadership.  So, now we're watching players who are (gasp) making a living wage.  But, an unintended consequence for the players, at least, has been the jockeying for payroll and teams really working to set themselves up for success.  Success will mean real money for teams these days, and you have to spend money to make money.

Third, there are two new teams this season, which meant a new-team-draft.  Twice.  Players could be pulled from their team and made to play in Portland or Toronto.  Not exactly a horrible fate for a player, but it meant a lot of uncertainty.

So, between those two factors, there was a tremendous amount of shuffling pre-season as players were recruited, waived, sent down to the Development League, etc...  Star players even landed in precarious positions, like Natasha Cloud - who wasn't picked up until two days or so before tip-off (I found this a grave mistake on just everyone's behalf).  Or Kate Martin who was sent down from the Valkyries' main roster. I do not know what was going on with Hailey Van Lith, but Chicago was obviously managed very poorly last year, so maybe there was bad blood there, but this star recruit was also waived until getting snatched up by Connecticut.  (And if I may - I'm stunned no one has Chloe Bibby.  That player can hoop at least as well as many other folks.  Someone is leaving an opportunity on the table).

As it was opening weekend, there were *a lot* of games played.  Too many.  I didn't finish the LA/ LV game I started last night because I was watching my fifth game and was very sleepy, indeed.

Anyway, now is the time to figure out the WNBA!  New season!  New rosters!  Cool new jerseys!  A'ja just dropped new shoes!

League Pass is only $40/yr.

Cubs News

So, the Cubs won 10 in a row.  

Now, over the weekend they started strong by winning a game, but then they did drop two in Arlington playing against American League bozos the Texas Rangers (we're an Astros house when it comes to the AL).  But that was going to happen.  Baseball is a game of averages and it's a marathon, not a sprint.  

It is hard to explain the euphoria that comes with a 10-game winning streak that was punctuated by three nights in a row of walk-off plays in the 9th.

Did I see either loss?  I did not.  League blackout restrictions - literally the stupidest of policies still cooked up by the MLB - kept me from watching a game occurring 213 miles away.  

Another reason to hate the @#$%ing Rangers.