Tina Thompson of the Los Angeles Sparks put an end to our long national nightmare last Sunday by finally becoming the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer. Until Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Silver Stars, I was so on edge during Thompson’s assault on Lisa Leslie’s record – which I dubbed “The Chase” – I couldn’t bring myself to even watch WNBA games. [facetious button off]
The 35-year-old Thompson, a 6’2″ forward, took 14 long years to break Leslie’s mark, and I give her serious credit for her perseverance. Hell, one WNBA game is excruciating, I can’t imagine someone lasting through 14 years of them. It must have felt like she was on a life-long episode of Fear Factor. Actually, more like a life-long episode of something really boring, like whatever it is they show on CNBC.
So did Thompson break the least important major record in sports? Yes, yes she did. At least I’ll make the assumption she didn’t use steroids in the process, though, so I am going to give her props for that.
Does anyone care? I’m sure someone cares, I just don’t know who they are or what planet they live on. In fact, I doubt I’ll ever meet anyone who doesn’t think Tina Thompson was an original cast member of In Living Color.
It seems safe to say that 50
