In The Seats For Lindsay Whalen's Last Regular-Season Game

Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 9:39 PM

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How to cover what might be a legend’s last home game?

I don’t know the answer to that, and I’m not sure there’s a wrong answer. Well, I suppose the wrong answer would be to not cover it all.

With Julian Andrews on the Lynx beat all season, I thought I’d sit in the stands for Lindsay Whalen’s last-regular season game at the Target Center on Sunday night. A brave and admirable decision on my part, I know.

I went by myself, and I enjoy doing things by myself most of the time. This wasn’t an exception. I was in the middle of a section full of Lynx die-hard fans. To my right was a father and son who kept yelling “travel!” everytime anyone from the Mystics touched the ball. Below me to my left was a dancing couple who have more than a few moves in their arsenal. They have also spent their fair share practicing these moves.

Walking into the arena, about an hour before tipoff, was kind of a surreal feeling. It gave me the chills. You see nearly everyone either wearing a Whalen shirt of some sort, a Golden Gophers shirt or even Hutchinson gear. You could have canceled the game and just played Whalen highlights for two and a half hours and people would have been just fine with that.

That’s actually not a bad marketing idea.

I saw a Lynx Season Ticket member named Julie in the concourse. I’ve known Julie for a few years now. I even planted a tree with her not too long ago at a staff event.

She looks at me and says, “Are you ready for a happy sad night?”

I guess I’ve never thought of it like that. I like to think about things like this as more of a celebration than anything. But at the same time, it was sad. This was the end of the era. And while with endings come new beginnings, it’s still an ending.

I remember watching the 2004 WNBA Draft in Nebraska on a hunting trip with my dad. I was so upset Whalen wasn’t drafted by the Lynx. I remember more from the 2004 Golden Gophers Final Four team than I remember the 2004 Western Conference Finals Wolves team.

I have a signed Whalen baseball. She was working as an usher in college at the Metrodome during a summer Twins game. My dad goes, “That’s Lindsay Whalen! Get her autograph!” Thirteen-year-old Kyle did just that, and ever since, she’s held a special place in my heart.

I sit in my seat, and this is placed on it. I’m a big sports memorabilia guy and this is something that I’ll be keeping.

Walking through the concourse, I see Jon Krawczynski from The Athletic. Jon has like 55,000 Twitter followers, which is about 49,000 more than me. He’s a big deal. He was there with his family.

On the big screen, Jana Shortal from KARE 11 is shown as a fan.

Governor Mark Dayton was also in attendance.

There was a guy sitting courtside who was dancing who was a Mark Dayton look-a-like. However, it was not Mark Dayton.

There were signs are the arena from fans. “Wailin’ For Whalen,” one read.

It was a surreal moment before the game started getting intense. It was emotional and it seemed like everyone was kind of walking on eggshells. Whalen threw a casual behind-the-back pass and the crowd went wild. That’s what you do when it could be the last time you might see a top-15 player of all time who has done more for basketball in Minnesota than anyone else.

The game gets in full swing, and I almost forgot it was Whalen’s last game until a man with a beer yelled, “HAPPY WHAY DAY!” Happy Whay Day to you, good sir!

The Lynx won 88-83. As far as standings go, it was a meaningless game. Win or lose, the Lynx would have still been the seventh seed and the Mystics would have still been the third seed. But it was the most meaningful game of the season if you were there. You could just feel the desire in the crowd for the team to win for Whalen.

Whalen was a big part of it, putting together a vintage game of 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals in 36 minutes.

The post-game ceremony to honor Whalen was fantastic. John Focke did a great job, as always, as a host. Cheryl Reeve didn’t cry (at least, on camera) and Whalen showed us that she might have a side-gig as a stand-up comedian to go along with her head-coaching duties at the University of Minnesota.

Whalen hates attention. It’s obvious when all eyes are on her. She deflects to thanking others, and to jokes. Lots of jokes.

It feels weird, and not real quite yet that Whalen won’t be wearing a Lynx jersey next season. Maybe it’s because we grew up with her and we’ve felt like we’ve been part of this process the whole time. I’m not sure.

And while Lindsay Whalen may be ready to move on from playing professional basketball, Lynx fans aren’t. And that’s when you know you’re going out at the right time.

I’ll miss the stare down at an opponent. The glare after hitting an and-one. The dive on the floor. The slight smile after making a big play down the stretch.

She’ll be fine and she’s proven that time and time again. We should feel so lucky to have been able to watch her grow from her time as a Golden Gopher to her time, well, back as a Golden Gopher.

Lindsay Wins.

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