Atlanta vs. New York, Saturday August 1st

Who: The Atlanta Dream (9-10) take on the New York Liberty (6-11) in an Eastern Conference battle. (And not, not an Ashley Battle.)

The Dream have Chamique Holdsclaw (14.8 ppg) as well as All-Star Team members Sancho Lyttle (13.6 ppg) and Erika de Souza (10.9 ppg). Shameka Christon (18.2 ppg) and Janel McCarville (11.8 ppg) are the mainstays of the Liberty.

What: The final game this year against the New York Liberty. The Dream have lost at home 93-81, then on the road 71-69 and 89-86, all losses from this year. The Dream are 0-6 all time against the New Yorkers.

Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta GA

When: Tipoff is 7:00 pm Eastern on Saturday, August 1st. Arena opens one hour before tipoff. For everyone out there who wants to be on TV, this one will be shown on NBA-TV as well. Bring your signs.

Why: Well first, New York and Atlanta traditionally don't get along, so there should be a thematic battle right there - Arrogant Northerners vs. Ignorant Hillbillies. (I think that's the theme of every Mets/Braves game.) Atlanta sports teams hate New York, New York saves its ire for the other New England teams and views Atlanta as an imposition.

Furthermore, the last two matches against the Liberty were very close, coming down to the last minute of play. Cathrine Kraayeveld sank two free throws with 11.5 seconds left for the 71-69 loss and Shameka Christon had a 32-point career high when she sank two free throws with 4.9 seconds left in the second game that put it out of reach for the Powder Blues.

The Dream have never beaten the Liberty, and they know it. A little bird told me after the Phoenix game, there was only one thing written on the Dream's locker room whiteboard: "NY 0-3 LAST CHANCE!!!" Last chance until 2010, anyway....

...or on the rare chance that the Liberty make the post season. The Liberty are suffering, unexpectedly sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference after losing three straight games. They lost 78-75 to the Mystics last night at home last night and get rewarded by going two weeks on the road. They're 12th in the league in scoring and 12th in field goal percentage. If there was any time in the world to put a team on the ropes, this is it.

Unfortunately, the Liberty seem to wake up when they play the Dream. It's time to close the chapter on this bedtime story for good.

UPDATE: The Liberty are trying to beat us again. They just fired head coach Patty Coyle. You know, "best interests of the team", yadda yadda yadda. Surrrrrre. They did this with us in mind to get that "new coach" bounce. I just know it.