Washington, D.C

WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese descend on D.C., delight fans in ‘Battle of the Rookies’

Published

2 weeks ago

June 8, 2024

WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese descend on D.C., delight fans in ‘Battle of the Rookies’

WASHINGTON — Thursday morning, Washington, D.C. native Raj Sedalia planted himself out front of Capital One Arena armed with a bucket of chalk. The next three hours were dedicated to a Washington Mystics commissioned mural, a short-term commemorative piece for what locals will long remember as the two days that the eyes of the WNBA descended on the nation’s capital.

Pictured on the left is Indiana Fever No. 1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark. To the right shows Angel Reese, a Randallstown native and first-year Chicago Sky forward. And between the two figureheads, featured most prominently, was the hometown Mystics’ first-round pick Aaliyah Edwards. In bold white script above the names, it aptly reads: Battle of the Rookies.

“I remember when the WNBA started,” Sedalia said. “And it seems like it’s really crossed the threshold of popularity with the general public.”

Part 2 of “The Battle of the Rookies” is loading….. #OwnYourLegacy | @McDonalds pic.twitter.com/2oOpy0jvzt
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) June 7, 2024
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Friday night was the second of back-to-back Mystics games moved from their normal 4,000-seat Entertainment & Sports Arena 20 minutes north to the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena to meet the demand of the star-studded stretch. Tickets for the Fever’s narrow 85-83 win went on sale April 23. They sold out within roughly 30 minutes.

On nights like this, the growing star power is hard to miss. The three teams featured over two days are all below .500. The Mystics (0-11) and Fever (3-9) have the two worst records in the WNBA. The Sky (4-5) aren’t far ahead, leading the six teams below .500.

Yet so many longing fans filed in to see the “Battle of the Rookies.” Friday night’s attendance was an announced 20,333, with Capital One Arena opening the upper deck seating. It was the highest-attended WNBA game since 2007 and the seventh-highest in league history, according to Across the Timeline. It easily cleared this year’s average attendance for Wizards home games (16,898).

Friday night’s attendance for the Washington Mystics’ game against the Indiana Fever at Capital One Arena was an announced 20,333, making it the highest-attended WNBA game since 2007. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

And it was worth the price of admission, with Friday’s game decided in the waning seconds. Karlie Samuelson kept the home team’s hopes alive with a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to one with seven seconds left. Clark, who finished with 30 points on a career-high seven 3s, sank three of four late free throws to stave off a Mystics miracle, pushing the out-of-town rookies to 2-0 after Reese and the Sky won, 79-71, on Thursday.

While Sedalia’s artistic patience was periodically interrupted — both by fans regurgitating some of the same tired narratives that have plagued the last week of national sports discourse and others eager for the on-court action featuring two of the league’s most recognizable stars — he could feel the elevated pulse of the city.

“It’s definitely a big deal for Washington to have this happen,” Sedalia said.

Thursday was Reese’s turn. Sedalia was struck by the overwhelming allegiance for a “visiting” star. An announced sellout crowd of 10,000 packed in for the Randallstown native’s homecoming. She wore Maryland-themed sneakers, part of a line of custom Reeboks with help from Chicago-based sole designer Marvin Baroota. Reese bought tickets for every Baltimore-based person she knows: family, friends and hairstylists, all there to see the rookie post her third double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five steals.

“I’m just happy to be a part of this, negative or positive,” Reese told reporters Thursday. “People are talking about women’s basketball. That’s really important. This is long overdue.”

To a question about the slew of D.C. youngsters repping Iowa or Fever gear, Clark said, “Even though we’re [3-9], people are still coming. They’re still excited about the young talent we have on our team. You see it across the board in the W. … there’s been really great crowds.”

D.C. residents John B. and Colton M. both compared it with their tickets for Clark’s No. 3 ranked Iowa team visiting Maryland back in February. John called having her in College Park, “the most electric atmosphere.” Colton, who was wearing a Clark T-shirt jersey, studied at Iowa. He proudly shared that he was in the building when Clark broke the NCAA Division I all-time scoring record.

“It’s been a huge moment,” Colton said of the WNBA’s recent notoriety. “Just for the whole sport. Everybody knows about it. Everybody knows the games are happening.”

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 07: Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever celebrates after scoring in the third quarter against the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena on June 07, 2024 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) — Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark celebrates after scoring in the third quarter Friday against the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Both John and Colton bought their first Mystics tickets to see the sharpshooter record her second 30-point outing this season. They’re even playing in a fantasy WNBA league. Colton grabbed Breanna Stewart with the No. 1 overall pick. He has Mystics center Shakira Austin, too. John was able to swipe Clark at No. 4.

They postulated an 80-20 split of fans in attendance to see Clark, who herself wasn’t so sure at times. “I could’ve sworn they were booing when calls didn’t go our way but maybe I was just being delusional,” she joked.

It’s true, not everyone arrived in downtown D.C. just to see the away teams.

Sitting a few rows back behind the home bench was Rehana Mohammed. She beamed with pride flexing her “DC vs. All Y’all” T-shirt, which was given out at a Mystics game earlier this season.

Mohammed, 34, has had season tickets for years and was in the building for both prime-time games this week.

“It’s great to see so many people getting so excited for the game,” she said. “We’ve been watching the WNBA for a long time so it’s great to see more people getting interested in it. … We ride for the Mystics. We love the Mystics. It’s just great to see so many people come out to support what we know.”

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese high fives teammates before the WNBA Commissioner's Cup game against the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena. Reese, a Randallstown native is a rookie. (Kim Hairston/Staff) — Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese high-fives teammates before Thursday’s game against the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena. (Kim Hairston/Staff)

There was some consolation for the longtime Mystics fan to see her team lose during Reese’s homecoming. She was excited to see Clark take the floor but had no interest in bearing another loss. Mohammed won’t let anyone forget about their rookie Edwards either.

The sixth overall pick had career highs with 23 points and 14 rebounds against Chicago, making her the second rookie in the team’s history to post a 20-and-10-plus game. She followed that up with a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double Friday.

For these two days, Capital One Arena filled in with fans who will one day look back fondly on shuffling their plans to see some of the league’s brightest stars on consecutive nights. They’ll remember the energy in the building when Reese, the homegrown star, gave the visiting Sky their biggest lead, or Clark bringing fans to their feet with her patented logo 3.

True to Sedalia’s sidewalk chalk mural, the rookies showed up with unprecedented demand and undoubtedly battled.

“I hope this becomes the norm,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault said. “Big crowd Friday night. Two teams going at it. It’s what’s a lot of us in the sport have wanted to see happen and it’s great to see it happen in front of our eyes.”

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Washington, D.C

Friday brings the hottest day of the year in D.C. For now.

Published

7 hours ago

June 21, 2024

Press Room

Friday brings the hottest day of the year in D.C. For now.

It was the District’s hottest day of the year Friday. Forecasts point to hotter days to come. But for now, Friday’s 95-degree high is the undisputed thermal champion.

Perhaps all of the days admitted to the 95-degree club show more similarities than differences. But as such days go, even Friday did not seem to rank with Washington’s worst and had its pleasant moments.

However, it did seem in a way fitting on that on the first full day after the solstice, the start of astronomical summer, the nation’s capital should welcome the year’s hottest day.

Scholars of weather and everyday residents of Washington might wish to parse the finer points of Friday’s conditions. But the day, and the blaze of its June sunshine, seemed unarguably appropriate to summer.

It could have been considered a kind of atmospheric calling card, a sign that nature had not forgotten us through the weeks of idyllic spring. Friday, with its 95, indicated that nature remained in the summertime heat business, and had not closed up shop.

But efforts to find some summer comfort amid the simmer were rewarded by relatively small victories. In Washington, the air stirred often, offering enough natural ventilation to carry off some of the perspiration produced by the heat.

The heat index climbed well above the temperature, meaning that humidity caused Friday to feel even warmer than it was. But in its hourly reports of conditions in Washington, the National Weather Services never recorded a heat index as high as 100.

Just before 4 p.m., with the official temperature at the day’s high of 95, the heat index was even higher, to be sure. But it stopped short of triple digits, topping out at 99.

And at that time, as at other hours in the afternoon, a ripple of breeze passed over the landscape, offering a bit of relief.

Perhaps the 15 mph breeze, reported simultaneously with the city’s highest temperature, offered a reminder that even 95 degree days are not beyond the power of natural mitigation.

In the catalogue of unpleasant characteristics of the District’s summertime, the “H’s” occupy a prominent section. Under “H” can be found haze, heat and humidity.

Friday, the year’s hottest day, was certainly warm enough to meet the hot requirement.

But humidity seemed at least near the bounds of tolerability.

And the sky often seemed piercing in the clarity of its blue. So water-vapory haze seemed frequently absent.

Nonetheless, with Friday, Washington’s string of 90-degree days reached five. The city has clearly fallen into the clutches of a heat wave.

It began before the solstice and continued afterward. And Friday, its latest member, edged out Tuesday’s 94, and reigned, at least for a day, as the D.C. heat champion of 2024.

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Washington, D.C

Opinion | D.C.’s jail is finally getting an update. Just not the one it needs.

Published

14 hours ago

June 21, 2024

Press Room

Opinion | D.C.’s jail is finally getting an update. Just not the one it needs.

For decades, detainee advocates have argued that the D.C. jail is unsafe, unsanitary and inhumane. Then, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and some of her GOP colleagues visited individuals allegedly involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, who were housed there. This obnoxious political stunt had a perhaps unintended side effect; conservative interest in jail conditions gave further momentum to complaints that progressives, not to mention the facility’s primarily minority population, have been lodging for nearly 50 years.

Thankfully, the city’s most recent budget allocates $463 million to upgrade the D.C. jail. Even so, that doesn’t mean some of the worst conditions will be fixed soon. In fact, the current plan puts the needs of only a small portion of those held at D.C. jail ahead of the rest.

Local officials agree on replacing the current facility. The main building, which opened in 1976, has experienced 10 deaths in the last 17 months. Five of these deaths occurred this year. The jail’s rigorous covid-19 policy confined detainees to their cells for 23 hours a day during the pandemic. A surprise inspection by the U.S. Marshals Service in 2021 further fueled outrage, finding instances of food withholding and a strong smell of backed-up sewage.

But agreement in principle has not yet led to shovels in the ground. Official discussions for a new jail in D.C. began 14 years ago, when the Department of Corrections requested $420 million in funding for a new facility. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and corrections officials have consistently argued that the new jail and renovated treatment facility are urgent needs. But, thanks to concerns over a clear execution strategy, any time money for the jail was included in the budget, it was promptly pushed out again. Until this latest round.

Money in hand, now, city officials have to figure out how to spend it to do the most good for the most detainees. Disagreements persist on how to do that — and the city’s current plan has it wrong. The D.C. Department of Corrections released a new timeline this month for the facility’s transformation. Under the plan, renovating the deficient primary holding space would not be complete until 2034 at best. The plan splits up the construction project with into two phases. The city would start by constructing a small administrative and behavioral health facility, then move to upgrading the existing housing for the general population.

The idea is that the current jail has bigger problems than the deterioration of the facility’s physical structure. Broader investment in the DOC, along with enhanced programming, educational opportunities and treatment for detainees’ physical and mental ailments, is necessary to change the current culture of D.C. jail so that its inhabitants can more easily reintegrate into society. And that requires building the behavioral health facility.

But, while accommodating special needs and services is undoubtedly important, D.C. officials should focus on general housing first. Of course, rehabilitation is important for transitioning back to life after detention. But the main facility’s current dilapidated state is not a safe and rehabilitative environment for any of the over 1,300 people locked up. By swapping the two phases and putting general housing ahead of specialized services, officials could provide these people with better living conditions and programming opportunities sooner, rather than leaving them to languish for another decade after so many years of neglect.

That doesn’t mean D.C. should set aside its plans for the behavioral health facility — quite the contrary. The city has an opportunity to join others in the nation committing themselves to comprehensive services for those behind bars, designed not merely to improve living conditions but also to increase their chances of successfully reentering society. Maryland public safety officials, for instance, are pushing ahead with plans for a $1 billion jail, hospital, and mental health and substance use treatment facility in Baltimore at the site of the previous detention center. The complex is set to open in 2029. By allocating funding promptly as well as responsibly, D.C. can start down the same path to providing all in its jail a safe, clean and truly rehabilitative environment.

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