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.

WNBA Pre-Season in Austin: Las Vegas at Dallas

Sunday night, CB, JAL, Tanya, their kid (redacted) and myself went to the Moody Center at the University of Texas to catch a WNBA pre-season game.  

WNBA does play some games not-at-home but in cities where they know there's interest in women's sports - like my own Austin, Texas.  And given my own watching of women's basketball, both college and pro, that tracks. 

The game was well-attended, if not sold out.  I think it holds just over 10,000 when set up for women's games (they don't open the upper tier) and I could see some empty seats, but there may have been a story there as they were in one block in one area.  

This was a game between the Dallas Wings and Las Vegas Aces.  Las Vegas won last year's WNBA championship, and deservedly so.  And, along the way, two of my favorite players became A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray.  I watched some of Dallas last year but felt they were being coached horribly - and it became an exercise in frustration.  But this year is clearly a different story.  

Rewind 03/29/2026 - MLB, UT Basketball, WNBA

accurate!

Been a minute since we checked in.  

Jamie's Birthday

It was Jamie's birthday.  We have done nothing for it.  We're 51 now.  It is not exciting.  We'll have dinner with the parents tonight, and dinner with Steanso's family on Tuesday.

Baseball Starts

It's opening weekend for Major League Baseball.  Cubs have a really good lineup, and despite Opening Day jitters and a loss to the Nationals, I'm enthusiastic about our chances - especially as we bounced back and beat them 10-2 in the second game.  Bats are looking good, fielding shouldn't be a problem, and then it's up to the pitcher rotation.  

It looks like The Cubs org is also not being weird, and went ahead and locked up two favorites with 6 year contracts - Centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and 2nd Baseman Nico Hoerner.  Both produce on defense and at-bat, and are fan favorites, so its nice to not worry about contract nonsense through the season on two key players.  

I expect Happ will also retire a Cub one way or another, and I'd love to see Suzuki remain a Cub as long as he's playing the US.  

In addition to baseball, it's good to have my imaginary friends back for the post-game show.  Cliff, Elise and Cole.  And Anthony Rizzo seems to be living part time in Chicago, so I imagine he'll be on with other analysts like Dexter Fowler and Ryan Dempster.

  

Texas Basketball

Both Longhorn Basketball squads made it into the tournament this year!  Hooray!

The men's team played really well, but lost to Purdue after a close game, going down by two points in the last seconds.  No shame at all.  I'm excited about UT men's basketball for the first time since high school.

UT Women, however, have progressed to the Elite 8.  So far they beat Missouri State 87-45, Oregon 100-58 and Kentucky (who I thought of as a really good team this season) 76-54.  

This team is really, really good - and what's nuts is that as good as our seniors are, things look equally (or more) bright for next year based on our lower classmen and recruits.  

While we have our stars in Rori Harmon, Madison Booker, Kyla Oldacre, et al...  Sarah Graves is UT's secret weapon as someone who doesn't just ride the pine.  She's maybe the most enthusiastic player and has become an avatar of the positive vibes of the UT team - leading the bench in enthusiasm for her teammates.  Plus, when she comes off the bench it's a sign from coach Schaefer we have this locked up.  To top it off, Graves has scored multiple times in the tournament after coming in.  

 

WNBA

Sounds like the Connecticut Sun has been purchased as an organization and is headed to Houston.  Houston did have a team years ago, and it sounds like the Sun will reclaim that old team name - The Houston Comets.  No other word on what this means, but I am excited as the trip to Houston is easier than heading to Dallas.  

The contract negotiations are done, the players and WNBA both getting something, and I think it looks like the WNBA players will finally have real pro-athlete pay.  It's now tough to look back at the women who played in the league the past 30 years and know what they did so all of this was possible, but looking forward, it's going to be better for both players and the league. And maybe mean a longer season.

Weekly Rewind - Week of 01/18/2026: Symphony, Pal Check In, Unrivaled Basketball, Reality TV

Jamie works on a puzzle while Emmylou watches over us both

Jamie is working on a puzzle I got her months ago - a 1000 piece picture of Wrigley Field from the press booth, I believe.  Emmylou has been less than thrilled that it means Jamie is not on the sofa with her.  She has made a nest on a different sofa to keep an eye on the world.

A Night at the Symphony

WNBA Finals: Las Vegas Aces Sweep in Four

Well, that was fun.

I mean, the whole thing.  Deciding to put down the money for the WNBA package on YouTube/ YouTubeTV, trying to pick a team, failing to do so, learning about the WNBA, figuring out the hype about A'ja Wilson was not just hype.  Figuring out who the stars were.  Figuring out who the villains were, Alyssa Thomas.  

On October 10th, 2025, the Las Vegas Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury in four games to win the 2025 WNBA Finals.