At a game last week my wife, Lyn, needed something to satisfy her sweet tooth, so she purchased a large hot fudge brownie sundae. Within a couple of minutes, several of the Bankers Life Fieldhouse staff, including a police officer, showed up with plastic spoons, but Lyn stood her ground and polished off the sundae without any assistance.
With the camaraderie that we have developed between the Fever staff, coaches and players, I thought it would be a great idea to arrange a visit (the proper journalism term is interview) with a couple of the players.
I arrived at the appointed time, was greeted and escorted to the court, where within a few minutes several television station crews arrived and started taping the practice.
As the activity on the court came to a close, Sydney Carter, whom I had written about in an earlier column, sat down with me. She and Maggie Lucas were who I had asked to interview.
Sydney, an outgoing person, and I talked and laughed as we exchanged stories. She told me how much she has enjoyed becoming a part of the Fever organization but stated that it has been a difficult season because of injuries that have sidelined teammates. Sydney, whose enthusiasm for the game is contagious, told me that she hasn’t yet signed a contract to play in an overseas league. She played collegiately for Texas A&M and won an NCAA title while there.
I did let her know that when she was out of the game and standing on the sidelines, I couldn’t see any of the action.
When Sydney strolled off to do some promotional videos, Maggie sat down. Maggie, who played basketball at Penn State, told me about everything she learned in her first year of pro ball. She scored a season-high 17 points against the New York Liberty in an away game Aug. 17.
I watched that contest on television as Chris Denari and former Fever player Tully Bevilaqua worked the game. It was so cool to hear Tully say she gets excited when Maggie enters the game; I think a lot of fans feel that way. Maggie is going to France to play in a basketball league shortly after the WNBA season comes to a close.
Sydney and Maggie have become good friends and enjoy working with the entire Fever organization.
This was a wonderful experience for me. It was so much fun to watch all the media activities going on that afternoon. I even saw Freddy Fever wandering around on Delaware Street.
Sydney sprained her ankle during the first game of the playoffs and didn’t get to play in the second, but the Fever won both contests and have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, which begin later this week. I hope she is recovering and will get to play.
Thank you No. 4 and No. 8. Thank you Fever staff. GO FEVER!
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools.