Welcome Home!
About fifty or so hard core Mystics fans turned out at National Airport tonight on very short notice for a totally impromptu, welcome home celebration for the team upon their return from Atlanta. While we waited outside the security area for the Mystics to deplane, hundreds of other travelers passed through our fan tunnel and received an unusually warm welcome to our Nation's capital.
Sheila Johnson was the first to round the corner and see the fans. She and the players were completely taken by surprise to see us there. Nakia, seen here pulling out her cell phone, immediately starting taking pictures of all of us, and then posted this via Twitter:
The players and the entire staff filed through, high fiving and hugging everyone in sight.
While the players went off to retrieve their luggage, the fans insisted that Dr. J, Angela, and Coach Plank say a few words. 
Dr. Johnson reminded everyone that a few years ago, she had laid out a "five year plan" for the Mystics' success. Now, she said, Angela and Julie were well ahead of schedule. This brought not only huge applause, but loud chants of "Coach of the Year" for Julie. What an historic day for the Mystics franchise and their fans! And to end it with spontaneous fun at the airport . . . If you're a sports fan, you know that special moments like this are rare and can't be taken for granted. We'll remember this one for a very long time. We hope the Mystics' players, coaches and owner do too!
Thank you, Mystics!
Photo credits: Nakia Sanford (third photo from top) and DC BasketCases
posted by BasketCases @ 11:38 PM
20 comments
20 Comments:
Thanks for this amazingly rapid posting and your role in getting those 50 or so of us out there. What fun and what delight in seeing how surprised the players were at the gathering. Great job!
Great job!!! Hope you got some x-tra caffeine in your morning cocktail!
Thank you BCs and readers for encouraging folks to go to the airport. Not all of us could make it, but we were at home thinking about you and wishing we were there. Thanks for representing the rest of us! I love that Dr J travels with the team. I hope every last one of them is so proud of the accomplishment...but not so cranked up that they miss sleep between now and Wednesday. Go Styx, beat the Dream two more times!!
Thanks so much BCs for being there and posting the great pictures and story. Thanks to all who went. After all these years as a STH I am overwhelmed with pride, joy, and excitement. Well done Mystics organization, especially the players who refused to lose.
100B6
Thanks BCs for the rounding up of dedicated fans!! We couldn't be there physically but it's great to see the pix.
Go Mystics!!
Very cool that some people went to greet them. I am sure they appreciated it. Will the 1st round be on comcast sports channel. Anyone know?
Way to go fellow Mystics fans. Thanks for showing up and showing the team some love. Thank you Washington Post for FINALLY putting our ladies on the front page (almost above the bend in the paper - if Hayneworth was acting a fool we would have made the top:) and for giving our ladies to prominent pictures on the 1st and 2nd page. They deserve the recognition. Way to go Mystics
Thanks, BasketCases! We had just gotten back from Philly for the Livestrong Challenge and were soothing our aching muscles up here in Frederick, so getting to National that late on a Sunday was unlikely. However, we were there in spirit and the excitement comes through in these pictures. Props to all of you who made it out - awesome!
Can't wait for Wednesday!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MYSTICS PLAYERS AND ORGANIZATION. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MYSTICS' FANS. AND SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS AND THANKS TO THE DC BASKETCASES.
BC,
Who votes for coach of the year and when is it announced? It would be such a shame if Coach Plank didn't get it.
Just went and looked up the Coach of the Year voting process. Unfortunately the WNBA website isn't updated with the 2009 winner yet (http://www.wnba.com/history/coach_year.html) but Wikipedia is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNBA_Coach_of_the_Year_Award). Voting takes place at "the end of the regular season" so maybe she will get her trophy on Wednesday night at the game!!
OMG!! You guys rule! I LOVE your site! Keep up the good work! :)
Sorry to have missed this, but we didn't get back from Atlanta until this evening. We would like to think our Mystics flag and Fan Appreciation Night noise-makers helped the ladies a little. And BCs, we were fully prepared to deploy the flashing bracelet if things had gotten any tighter at the end. GO MYSTICS!
Dear Anonymous,
...sorry you missed it too!
Whew! Thank goodness none of us had to resort to the "flashing bracelet"! LOL!
GREAT that you were done in ATL supporting the TEAM!!!
GO MYSTICS!
--BC
BC's,
Does anyone have contact info so I can confirm I have my tickets? I was dealing with one person, but, i didn't get confirmation of my playoff tickets. When I call the DC hoop1 number, no one ever answers. Anyone else have a contact email for someone in the ticket office?
After taking down the attendance banners, sounds like Leonsis is going to have put one up again
I don't think Leonsis is going to mind putting this one up! In fact, I think he'll rather enjoy it!
I don't think "Regular Season" championships are recognized by the WNBA. We will be Eastern Conference Champions if we win two playoff series.
Check out the Post's coverage! There seems to be a Mystics media blitz going on right now. Finally!!
It's going to be an awesome game tonight. Go Mystics!!!
I am hoping for a big crowd tonight! The ladies deserve it. I am also hoping the day goes fast....I am excited! We need to rebound tonight and have minimal turnovers. We do that and we should be in good shape. Will be a tough one. Go mystics!
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