Dearest Kelly,

You have no idea how much I miss you. It hurts inside. There's an ache in my heart I never knew could exist before, and I swear it's pulling me west to you. I'm starting to wish I had passed up this chance so that I could be with you, but I know you'd be telling me that we can survive these few months and be together again in the offseason.

I hope you're okay. I've heard Taylor doesn't take no for an answer, and that she's a mean drunk. If she hurts you, I'll kill her with my bare hands, how does that sound? And Miller scares me, or at least she did when I saw her on TV- is she that weird in real life? What are the rest of your teammates like? I've only heard stories about some of them. Are any of them cute and, you know, actually nice?

I really like it here in San Antonio. The Riverwalk is gorgeous, and when you guys come here, I want to take you along it. Shannon's kids are all over the place- she has two sets of triplets. I don't know how she manages, and I don't think I want to. You should have seen the scene when her younger daughter left a present in Chantelle's locker. I thought Chantelle was going to have an aneurysm, she freaked out so much! Turns out that she's a germophobe. She doesn't shower with us, and the only reason she has a locker is because Coach thinks she absolutely has to. Katie's really cool, but she's just a little aggressive- she's already asked me to show her the Penn State moves twice! I told her to wait until we play you guys. After all, some of our best moves are the double-team, right? I think you might like Shanna better, though. She reminds me a little of you, all sweet and shy and needy. I hear her pocket money at Tennessee came from webcams and her site. I'll e-mail you the link. It's hot.

I don't think Vickie, our team captain, likes me very much, though. She keeps looking at me weird. I don't know why. I haven't done anything. No, really, I haven't. I've been tempted, but I want to wait a little bit. I like to get to know my girls.

I think this offense is going to kill me. Coach plays a really intense offensive set, and after the first day of practice, I thought I was going to die! You're lucky in Phoenix. That slow-paced offense sounds like my kind of game. I don't know if I'll survive training camp. If I do, all I own is yours- but you knew that already, didn't you?

I miss you so much. Call me when you get your phone service straightened out- hee!- okay?

Tamika bit her lip as she carefully brushed out her hair; taking care of her hair was a time-consuming process, and one that could not be interrupted under any circumstances. Her straight, waist-length locks were her pride and joy, if only because they softened her harsh features.

"I hear the new girl's crazy," Anna said without warning, sitting on the stool next to Tamika's mirror.

"Looks like she'll fit in right fine here, then," Tamika drawled. "Hand me that hair clip, if you don't mind? Thanks kindly." The stray strands of hair that had blocked her view were successfully corralled, allowing her to properly see her reflection again.

"She's here," Tan said quietly, but the warning wasn't necessary. The sound of boots hitting the hard floor of the locker room echoed like pistol shots, and there was a creak in the door that hadn't been there before.

Sheri wore black, except for the patch of white at her collar, the long sleeves and cut of the coat giving her the impression of a frontier preacher, or possibly a sheriff. She observed the room coolly, her face serious and unsmiling; it almost seemed like she was scrutinizing the room for threats, so clearly someone had warned her about Catch. She came up to Tamika and declaimed, "Pride is the deadliest of all the sins!"

Tamika shrieked at a pitch high enough to nearly shatter a nearby light bulb, dropping her hairbrush in surprise. "I- I just-"

"Repent ye!" Sheri shrieked again. Tamika stared at her, not quite sure how to react, but it seemed that it was enough to stop with the hairbrushing and other such behavior, because Sheri turned away from her and began to lambaste K.B. and the massive lunch that the point guard had brought in.

Tan and Tamika shared a long look. "Well, I reckon this is gonna be an interesting season," Tamika said. "There'll be fireworks when Catch gets her hands on her. Don't believe Catch is gonna like someone else taking over her job as top screamer in here."

Tan hushed her quickly. "She's coming," the guard said in a barely audible undertone. Tamika understood what she had to do, and shifted position so that she shielded Tan from Catch's view.

Catch stormed into the room in her usual way, eyes narrowed and mouth twisted into a snarl. As usual, her teammates edged away from her, afraid of even accidentally incurring her wrath; it was times like these that several of them envied Kelly and Schuey for the escapes they had engineered. All eyes were on her as she strutted through the room, came up to Tully's locker, and finished the open beer that Tully had left there.

"Oi! I was drinking that!" Tully protested, and instinctively, she brought her dagger-like nails up to thrust, but when she saw the smirk on Catch's face, she decided not to push her luck. She wasn't a scrapper, all bluster and no force, whereas Catch had been known to do drastic things to people she wasn't happy with. Everyone remembered the uniform incident, and none of them had Kelly's unflappable reserve to counter the threat.

"Someone's been making a ruckus in here," Catch snapped. "Better tell me who, or I'll start beating it out of you bitches."

"Vengeance is the Lord's and none other!" Sheri yelled, and that got Catch's attention faster than anything else possibly could. Catch's head whipped around, a sneer already developing on her hardened face. Sheri didn't back down from the hostility that Catch generated, and even took a step towards her. "Who do you think you are? You'll burn for your sins, woman, burn in Hell!"

Catch snickered. "Big talk, newbie. Looks like I'm gonna have to sort out the pecking order around here again, and here I thought everyone in this fucking league had gotten the damn memo. This is my team, bitch. I make the rules. I deliver the punishment. I make whatever trouble needs to be made. If you don't like it… well, your ass got two options: you get the fuck out of here and I don't have to look at your ugly face again, or I make you like it. Better make your choice quick, 'cause it might take a while to learn you."

Sheri met Catch's gaze evenly, fire burning in her tawny eyes. "I fear no man or woman on this earth, for the Lord God is with me and will protect me. Do with me what you will. In the long run, you'll be the one burning for your sins."

"The Lord God better fucking bring it, then, bitch!" Catch declared. She seized Sheri by the collar and slammed her into the nearest locker. "Where's your precious God now?"

Tamika covered her eyes, and Tan buried her face in Tamika's shoulder, but neither they nor the rest of their teammates stepped in. They knew Catch too well, and none of them dared be caught in the crossfire.

Yo.

This training camp thing sucks ASS. It took maybe five seconds to know that much, and then Shameka decked me. You've been in camp before. You take this team. I'll take yours. Holy fuck, these people are insane. How does a nice, smart lady like Coyle handle this bunch? If it isn't Becky complaining that there's nowhere to put her kids, it's Shameka going Incredible Hulk on someone else, and I don’t even want to get into Tari. Lady, I get hurt enough in the paint, and she wants me to get into it for shits and giggles? Hell naw.

AB ain't real bright, but at least I can talk to her, unlike the rest of these bozos. Says Tari's looking for a new friend since her last one left. Didn't get much more detail on that, but I can if you want.

Lessee, what else do you need to know? Well, I've never been on a team with "whose is bigger" contests before, but Becky and Loree were showing off old engagement rings. Crazy shit. Loree's all right, though. She's a smart-ass, and you should hear her telling off the Jesus freaks, but she can't pass for shit, and forget getting her ass in the lane. Makes me miss Lindsay. Well, you know how it is. A lot of things make me miss Lindsay, and not just actually having a point guard knows her ass from her elbow. Schuey's a geek. No, for real, she's even got the glasses in her locker. She spends hours after practice in Coach's office, and they analyze plays and shit. I don't think they're doing anything else. Your Coyle would, which means mine wouldn't. We've learned that much, right?

I'm switching out when I finish this. By the way, I owe Ambrosia ten bucks for the bet we made at lunch. Try not to blush when you pay up.

Me

Washington, D.C., May 5th, 2007- Spectators could be forgiven for mistaking the exhibition game between the WNBA's Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics for a matchup between the Blackhawks and the Capitols. Three separate fights occurred during the game, which the Mystics won 84-75, and five players were ejected as a result.

Chicago's Tammy Sutton-Brown, fresh off a two-year stint as a defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs, was the instigator in the first two fights. At the 6:04 mark of the second quarter, she and Washington center Zane Teilane engaged in a shoving match and exchanged words, but no punches were thrown at that time. Upon Washington's first possession of the third quarter, Sutton-Brown and Mystic guard Alana Beard became entangled. Sutton-Brown elbowed Beard in the head with clear intent, and was ejected.

In the fourth quarter, with the Mystics leading by fifteen, Teilane fouled Sky forward Candice Dupree on an offensive rebound. Dupree threw the ball at Teilane and followed that with a haymaker. Teilane responded in kind. Beard stepped in and attempted to push Dupree to the floor, at which point Sky forward Brooke Wyckoff threw a punch at Beard. The four players continued to scuffle even as Washington center Chasity Melvin and Chicago guards Francesca Zara and Ivory Latta attempted to separate them. Latta was injured in the melee, but returned to the game; she was later revealed to have suffered a sprained ankle and a slight concussion.

WNBA president Donna Orender has not yet announced punishments and suspensions for the ejected players, although all parties are assumed to be in receipt of multiple-game suspensions that will stretch into the regular season.

Washington used offensive runs of 14-3 in the first quarter, 11-6 in the third, and 12-5 in the fourth to keep the Sky from threatening.

Before her ejection, Beard led all scorers with 27 points on 12-15 shooting. Nikki Teasley and Nikki Blue were also in double figures for the Mystics, with 17 and 15 respectively. For the Sky, guard Chelsea Newton had 23 points, while Dupree scored 13 points and added 8 rebounds before her ejection, and Sutton-Brown had 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

The two teams will play again at the United Center on Tuesday.