Buzz. (bŭz)

Q: Definition, please?
A: As a verb, to make a low vibrating or droning sound as from a bee; as a noun, excited interest or attention.

Q: Are there any alternate pronunciations?
A: No.

Q: May I have the etymology please?
A: From Middle English.

Q: Could you use it in a sentence?
A: The 2009 Mystics are creating quite a buzz.

Mystics and "buzz" in the same sentence? How long has it been since we heard that? As recently as last season, the BasketCases had trouble giving tickets away. But this season's a whole new ballgame (pun intended).

Attendance is up -- tops in the WNBA. And the quality of the play is up even more! Win or lose, the Mystics are creating excitement. Around town, people are beginning to take notice. The buzz is beginning to build.

For example, last Sunday, hours after the Monarchs game, the BCs were leaving a restaurant on Connecticut Avenue (nowhere near the Verizon Center) when a Peapod delivery van pulled over to the the curb and the driver leaned out the window. Did he need directions? No. He was looking at BC Judith, still in her Mystics shirt, and he asked excitedly, "Did they win?" Judith told him "Yes!" Then they chatted about the team and about how he wished he could've made it to the game (he had to work), until (reluctantly) he left to complete his delivery rounds. Buzz!

And then last Tuesday, a service technician had just finished fixing the photocopier at BC Eileen's office. As she's signing off on the work order, he noticed the Mystics clock on her wall and asked, "Are you a Mystics fan?" Well, 20 minutes later, after talking about everything from how much better Crystal Langhorne is playing in her second season to how much he loves the way Marissa Coleman rolls up her sleeves ("looks like she's ready to go into battle"), he too (reluctantly) left to head off to his next job. Buzz!

Then on Wednesday, during a check-up, one of our doctors surprised one of the BCs by bringing up a newspaper article she had just read about the Mystics. Buzz! And this morning, we awoke to an upbeat story about the Mystics in USA Today. Buzz, buzz!

We haven't heard this kind of talk about the Mystics for years. Over the last several seasons, we've watched attendance dwindle and enthusiasm for the team all but dry up. Back then, if people were talking at all, it was to complain or commiserate. But now, the talk is different. People are getting excited again. And we're even noticing that some fallen-away fans are beginning to find their way back to the Phone Booth.

The BasketCases always believed there was only one surefire way to recapture some of that magic of the early years of the franchise: If you make it fun, they will come. And to be "fun," the fans not only needed players and coaches we could get excited about, but a team that's competing every night.

And this season, the Mystics are delivering: Lindsey Harding literally racing up the floor, splitting the defense and finishing in transition; Crystal Langhorne spinning right, spinning left, under & up . . . 2 points; Alana Beard, playing like a true WNBA All-Star; Matee Avjavon going off for fourteen 4th quarter points. The list goes on. Plus, as a team, the Mystics are competing . . . game in, game out.

This is exiting stuff! No wonder people are talking. No wonder The Buzz is Back!

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Game day! Sunday morning update . . . The Mystics' match at 4pm today against the Indiana Fever will be the third meeting in two weeks between these teams. The Fever's lineup will look a little different, as center Tammy Sutton-Brown is out with "a stress reaction in her right big toe." For their part, as Mike Fratto writes here in today's Washington Times, the Mystics are focused on stopping Indy stars Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas, each of whom played critical roles in the Fever's wins in those first two games. Like the Mystics, we're hoping for a very different outcome against the Eastern Conference leaders this time!