Archives for July 2022

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The Phoenix Mercury start the 2022 WNBA season in a few weeks and, while the game-planning will be centered around the Las Vegas Aces, Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia will weigh heavily on the players’ minds.

Sophie Cunningham, who along with Griner helped the Mercury get to the WNBA Finals last season, was among those who talked about the star center being absent from the team.

Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is shown during the first half of Game 2 of basketball’s WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky, Oct. 13, 2021, in Phoenix.
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

“We’ve just got to keep praying for her,” Cunningham said Monday. “We hope she’s well. That’s all we know, you guys know as much as we do. No one wants to be in her situation. We miss her like crazy.”

Cunningham emphasized she was worried for Griner as a human being, not about how her absence will affect the team going forward.

“It’s BG, there’s no one like her in the whole world. We definitely miss her, but it’s not even about basketball anymore. We just want her to be well as a human being. She has a big stage, a lot of people know her, so we want her to be on the court,” she added. “Everyone who loves her just wants her to be home safe.”

“BG” is the nickname given to Griner by her teammates and those around the WNBA.

Griner was arrested in February after Russian officials said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis.

Griner could face up to a decade in prison if she’s convicted.

Diana Taurasi, Brianna Turner, Sophie Cunningham, Brittney Griner and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Phoenix Mercury in Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Finals at Footprint Center on Oct. 13, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona.
(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

“I definitely wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, worrying about BG,” first-year Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said.

Players also have been worried about saying the wrong thing and escalating the situation even further.

“I spent 10 years there, so I know the way things work,” Diana Taurasi said. “It’s delicate.”

Griner’s arrest also sparked calls for a change in salaries to keep players from leaving the country during the winter months to play basketball overseas.

A supermax salary in the WNBA could earn a player just over $221,000 for the regular season. Players have the option to stay in the U.S. and do other media work in the offseason, but some choose to go to other countries, like Russia, where they could earn around $1 million or more.

Nygard hoped the financial discrepancies would come to an end.

“I see people all the time, they’re like ‘Man, I can’t believe they don’t pay those WNBA players. I can’t believe they’re underpaid.’ Well, when was the last time you bought season tickets? When is the last time you bought gear for WNBA?” Nygaard said.

Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner, left, watches practice with teammate Diana Taurasi on Thursday, May 10, 2018, in Phoenix.
(AP Photo/Matt York, File)

“If people seriously care about keeping our athletes over here and making sure female athletes are paid at a higher rate, then they need to put their dollars behind our league. Support us.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Athletic Bilbao striker, Inaki Williams, has stated that he wants to make Ghanaians smile by playing football in Black Stars colours. The 28-year-old announced his switch to Ghana from Spain on Tuesday, making him available for Black Stars selection in the upcoming friendly games and the 2022 FI …

Hilarious reactions have trailed a recent post by singer Wizkid’s pregnant baby mama, Jada, hinting at a craving for bread and ice cubes.

The expectant mother of one shared her cravings on Twitter after recently revealing her baby bump in a photo with her father and was seen sporting a noticeable baby bulge at the singer’s recent birthday dinner.

Pregnant women frequently experience strange cravings, and over time, husbands have spoken up about their experiences with their wives’ pregnancy cravings.

Well, on Thursday, pregnant Jada posted a picture of two slices of bread with ice cubes in between them and said she was thinking about trying that combination.

This stirred humorous responses from netizens especially fans of her baby daddy, Wizkid.

Reacting @Darmson2 wrote, “Anything you want just make sure our girl is kicking”.

@Hoversy, “When you’re extremely rich, to eat rubbish food go dey hungry you. I get.”

@Betalife09, “As baba wizzy be bread 🍞 winner of the house… You wan be the ice wey dey cool am down.”

According to reports the Nigerian iconic musician, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, known better as Wizkid and his manager/baby mama, Jada Pollock are expecting their second child.

IG blogger, The Tattle Room in a recent update on their page disclosed how the singer and his third baby mama, Jada P who live together in London were spotted on Sunday night, May 29th at an event.

Jada was said to have been spotted with a visible baby bump which cause her to stay away from cameras. Meanwhile, a photo which was shared by Jada on her IG story a while back, showing a possible baby bump also sorts of solidify the report.

Saturday, 23 July 2022, will be a historic day in South African football as Banyana Banyana edged Morocco 2-1 to win their maiden Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

It was Banyana’s sixth attempt, as they have been denied in five previous Women’s Afcon finals – 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018.

“This is for everyone in women’s football that has tirelessly worked towards this goal. We finally did it. It was a good performance,” star Banyana forward Jermaine Seoposenwe told SuperSport TV during a post-match interview.

“This was our goal. We as a team decided this is where we want to be, and we want to win it for South Africa. I am so proud of my team. We love you. We’re so proud to be South African.

“We are so proud that we can go out there and make the country proud and put smiles on the faces of the people of South Africa. That was our goal coming into this tournament, and we did it.

“We always play with our hearts on our sleeves. We hope that they are ecstatic and that the streets are going crazy right now, and we can’t wait to come home with the cup.”

The South African ladies have been in camp for over forty days but arrived in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday, 22 June and will touchdown back in the country on Tuesday, 26 July with the trophy, gold medals and without tasting defeat at the tournament.

Desiree Ellis’s charges beat tournament favourites Nigeria before nudging aside Burundi and Botswana to lay claim to Group C.

Next, Banyana edged Tunisia and Zambia in the quarters and semis to set up the final against the host nation, who knocked out the Super Falcons to ensure a first-time winner will be crowned.

“It means so much,” expressed an emotional Ellis.

“Not just to us as a group but to the whole of South Africa, to the coaches that have come before, to the players that have come before.

“This is for everyone connected to women’s football. A big thank you to SAFA, a big thank you to Sasol, and to the fans as well.

“But most importantly, to the players, they were absolutely magnificent today, to the staff, they have done the tireless work behind the scenes.”

The score was goalless at half-time despite Banyana creating at least two goal-scoring chances.

However, Ellis revealed that she made necessary tactical tweaks to ensure they broke the deadlock, with Hildah Magaia’s brace coming after 15 minutes into the second half.

The tail-end of the match finished with nerves after Rosella Ayane netted in the 80th minute and the Moroccan crowd became more hostile, cheering on their side to find the equaliser.  

“We said we must continue playing, we could have scored before half-time, but we said continue rotating the ball, hit them down the channels because they push their full-backs up.

“We played one ball diagonally, and we got a goal, and we played another ball, and we got a goal.

“We gave a goal away poorly, but I thought defensively, and all round, our plan worked. We said to the players; we’ve got to help each other on the pitch because we might be able to get a word across (because of the noise).

“I take my hat off to the whole team; they were absolutely magnificent. They stuck to the game plan; they did not allow them (Morocco) to play.”