Meet Linda . . . Live! Mystics GM Linda Hargrove hosts her first "Chalk Talk" of the season today at 3 PM in the Coca Cola Theatre on the 400 Level of the Verizon Center. No invitation necessary and admission is free (as long as you have a ticket to the game, that is). Here's your chance to meet Linda, to ask her some questions and hear what she has to say about the Mystics' game against the Sky. The BasketCases guarantee you'll be glad you stopped by.

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At halftime of today's game, the Mystics will honor recently retired Nikki McCray. Nikki was the first player assigned by the League to the Mystics when the franchise was launched in 1998. Nikki played for the Mystics for four seasons before being traded to the Indiana Fever.

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And while we're on the subject of "recently retired" former Mystics, don't miss Jon Gallo's article in today's Washington Post about how Stacey Dales (no more Shuman) has found "Blue Sky in Chicago." In the article, Linda Hargrove reveals how the Mystics lost Stacey to the expansion Chicago Sky:

"I called Stacey several times to try to convince her to come back and play for us," said Linda Hargrove, Washington's general manager. "But every time, she told me she was retired, and I believed her. Why wouldn't I? But then I found out from the league office the Sky was talking to Stacey and then I got a call from [Chicago] Coach [Dave] Cowens asking about her.
"Then Stacey called and told me what was happening. By that time, we couldn't change our list of players we were protecting. If we knew she was coming back to play in the WNBA, then we would have protected her. There's no way we would have let Chicago take her."