Welcome to A Fan’s Notes, a column about the Golden State Valkyries, written by Gazetteer SF managing editor Megan Rose Dickey whose bias for her hometown team is unabashed and unabated.
Game six was cursed from the jump.
The Golden State Valkyries couldn’t get it done in Atlanta on Thursday, but there’s a silver lining. The Valks have a chance to win the championship in front of their home crowd at Ballhalla on one of the holiest nights in San Francisco: Halloween.
Except it won’t be Ballhalla as we know it. It’ll be Boohalla — and not just because of the holiday. We’re gonna be booing the Dream like there’s no tomorrow.
But, even if you don’t want to, let’s talk for a minute about today.
I went to bed Wednesday night feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve. Only instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in my head, I was waiting on the Valkyries to make a nightmare out of the Dream.
My alarm was set for 7 a.m., giving me just enough time to drink coffee and feed and walk my two dogs before my friend picked up me and my wife to head over to Rikki’s on Market Street for a morning watch party.
My body had other plans. With so much at stake, I started my morning routine at 6 a.m., putting on P-Lo and Saweetie’s “Do It for the Bay.” Yes, I realize it’s a Niners song, but it still felt appropriate.
My friend showed up right on time and we were on the road. I’m not usually out-and-about that early but the streets felt tense. Everyone was honking. To be fair, at least one of those horns was for us as we blew through an admittedly short yellow light. But when we rolled up and found a parking spot just one block away from Rikki’s, we took it as a good sign.
It seemed like luck. Too bad it was bad luck.
Doors opened at 8:30 a.m. and tip-off was at 9:30, so we figured that would be enough time to snag a spot in line before the women’s sports bar hit capacity. We did not.
At 8:05, the line was already wrapped around the corner. Thankfully, my friend had already saved us a spot near the front. The people behind us weren’t thrilled by our line savvy, but there we were.
The Rikki’s employee working the door told us they had already let in about 30 people ahead of us, and the bar could only hold a little over 150. All those spots were taken within the next 20 minutes. When another friend got there around 8:50 a.m., they were turned away.
Inside, it felt like a mini Ballhalla. There we were, all decked out in our Valkyries gear, chanting G-S-V on offense and “Defense! Defense!” when the Dream had the ball. Sure, the Valks couldn’t hear us, but maybe, just maybe, they could feel us.
The Valkyries scored the first basket of the game but things started going south quickly. The Dream couldn’t miss and the Valks couldn’t buy a bucket. By the end of the first quarter, the Dream were up 32-15. By halftime, the Dream’s lead grew to 46-26.
I probably should’ve slept in. Kidding.
The once raucous, hopeful crowd slowly deflated like a violet balloon. The Valkyries tried to mount a comeback in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to get the win.
The final score: Dream 80, Valks 69. Me, less than 0.
So now it’s back to Ballhalla, a.k.a. the Valkyries’ sixth player. But starting point guard Veronica Burton doesn’t expect the game to “be handed to us just because we’re at Ballhalla,” she said at a press conference following Thursday’s loss. Good, because I don’t want anything handed to us, either. I want us to grab it with both hands and never let it go.
Valks in seven. Give us our parade. V’s up.
