Guest columnist Linda Frohlich: Playoffs still in sight as final week nears

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003 | 9:14 a.m.

Linda Frohlich, an All-American at UNLV, is in her second season with the WNBA's New York Liberty. She writes every Thursday in the Sun. Find out what she's up to by checking out her Web site at www.LindaFrohlich.com

Just when you think that it is over and you start packing your bags, here comes your boyfriend and he tells you that he is sorry for everything and promises that he is going to change for the better. He tells you that he loves you and doesn't want you to leave.

Well, this is how the WNBA season has treated my teammates and me!

This year is just like a relationship. In the beginning, everything is going great. You are just so happy to see him, and then, slowly things change for good and bad times.

About a week ago it looked like my team, the New York Liberty, was not going to make it to the playoffs. Boy, have things changed. We are currently right in the middle of an exciting playoff push. As a result of us winning our past two games we find ourselves right in the midst of things.

It sounds so crazy, but there is a chance that we could get second place in the Eastern Conference.

We cannot get complacent, though, with less than a week left in the regular season. Tonight we face a tough opponent, the Washington Mystics. They have about the best player in the league in Chamique Holdsclaw. The Mystics do not have a mathematical chance of entering the playoffs, so they are going to try and play the role of the spoiler and gain some momentum for next season.

These are always the most dangerous types of teams to play because they play with reckless abandon.

One thing that I have learned in my second season of the WNBA is that going to the championship is a privilege and is not guaranteed. Last year, my team went to the championship and I thought that this was how it was going to be every year, New York representing the East. Now I see the incredible journey it takes to get there, so when I get there next time I am really going to try and seize the moment.

Last but not least, I just want to clarify that my boyfriend and I do not fight like that. I was just trying to give an example that everyone can relate to. He is a great guy -- a real calm fellow -- not very emotional like me.