We Won't Cry for You Argentina

It wasn't easy, you'll think it strange
When we try to explain how we feel
That we still need respect after all that we’ve done
You won't believe us
All you will see are young girls you once knew
In unis with sixes and sevens and nines

We had to let it happen, We had to play
Couldn't stay all our life down at heel
Looking up at the scoreboard, staying out of the sun
So we chose free-dom
Running around, trying everything new
And nothing fazed us at all
We never expected it to

We won’t cry for you Argentina
The truth is we meant to beat you
All through our wild days
Rio’s mad existence
We kept our promise
Now keep your distance*

The young USA baby-ballers (average age 20.5 yrs) played a veteran team from Argentina (no player younger than 22, and one in her thirties!) in their second game of the preliminary round of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio this evening. And for the second time in two days, they raced out to an early lead, outscoring their opponent 12-2 in the first five minutes, and continued to build on that early lead, winning 85-54. Golden Gopher Emily Fox led all scorers with 18 points, while Georgia's Tasha Humphrey added 14. The Terps' Marissa Coleman was the only other USA player in double figures, with 12 points. She also tied the game-high in rebounds (8), and had 3 assists and 2 steals, for a truly outstanding performance -- and all of this was off the bench and in only 21 minutes.

Tomorrow, in their last game of the preliminary round, the USA team faces the defending gold medalist, Cuba, at 6:45 pm EDT. Like the USA, Cuba defeated Colombia and Argentina in the first round.

*With apologies to Tim Rice

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Meanwhile, in Motown tonight, the Mystics' winning streak came to an end, as they lost to the Shock, 66-58, who were playing without All Star MVP Cheryl Ford. With the Mystics' egregious first half performance, in which they scored 6 and 7 points in the first and second quarters, there was nothing the Mystics could do in the second half to win this game, period.