202. Los Lynx

I finally made it to a Lynx game. I haven’t had any real excuse not to go this year. It’s just that I haven’t made the effort to go get a ticket and spend an evening at Target Center this summer. I’ve been missing out.

I decided to finally get a ticket after the hullabaloo over the players wearing shirts that said Black Lives Matter along with the names of Philando Castille, Alton Sterling, and the Dallas Police Department Badge. The four officers working that game walked off their posts. And then there was an ensuing spat between noted nincompoop, police union head Bob Kroll and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges.

David Brauer, a former reporter and avid twitter user, tweeted that he wanted to start a #KrollDepreciationNight to get people to the game. I decided this was as good a time as any to go. I bought tickets that day.

Fast forward to today when I met Brauer and a few others for a drink before the game. There aren’t too many times in life where I’ve met random people for at a random place, but I’m glad this was one. We met at Huberts. (Side note: I ended up telling Brauer a lot more of my life story than I tell most people the first time I meet them. It was kind of fun. I guess we’re BFF now.) The place was filled with plenty of people in Lynx gear.

I’ve been to a lot of Timberwolves games and a lot of high school basketball games. While the Lynx are professionals, this game felt like a high school contest. It was a bit more intimate with most everyone down in the lower bowl. Most everyone who was their seemed like they wanted to be there and it wasn’t just something to do on a Friday night. And a lot of people cheered for the players by name. While you do that at a Wolves game, it feels kind of like a formality. With these cheers, it felt like the fans surrounding us might really know the players they were cheering for.

I like when a team finds their niche market and embraces them. A good portion of the crowd were older, lesbian fans. God bless them, they’re the best fans. Their cheers were passionate, earnest, like moms cheering for their kids. There were plenty of families too. I loved seeing elementary age girls (and a few boys) wearing Maya Moore and Lindsey Whalen jerseys.

The basketball wasn’t bad either. Both Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles scored over 20 points. I also got to see Breanna Stewart, the former best college player in the country. The Lynx maintained a healthy lead throughout and won by seven points.

I loved hearing the “Who’s House? Our House.” chant. It was much more creative and passionate than anything I’ve heard at a Timberwolves game.

I’m glad I went and I would definitely go again the Lynx. Screw everyone who thinks the Lynx don’t deserve to be mentioned with the “real” Minnesota sports teams. They damn good and deserve to be recognized as such.