The Capitals, OK. But the Mystics?

The Washington D.C. area was in a collective state of sports shock when the Washington Capitals defied 44 years of incomprehensibly bad luck, heartbreaking losses, playoff collapses, etc. and managed to win the Stanley Cup, led by the finally recognized for what he is (fantastic) Alex Ovechkin.  Probably no one in the region imagined that another professional sports team with a jaded history would suddenly reverse course and make it to the championship round of their sport.

But that's exactly what the Washington Mystics (the Women's National Basketball Association team) have done. And they did it somewhat in the same manner as the Capitals did in the Cup semifinal round.  If you'll remember (if you were paying attention), the Capitals fell behind the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in the series, but rallied to win Games 6 and 7 and go to the Finals. 

The Mystics, partly due to a not-as-bad-as-feared knee injury to nothing-but-a-superstar Elena Delle Donne, fell behind 2-1 in their best of five series with Atlanta.  But Delle Donne came back after missing game 3, some less heralded players stepped up (like Andre Burakovsky did in Game 7 against Tampa) to help, and the Mystics won games 4 and 5 to make the Finals.

Oh, by the way, it doesn't hurt to have former Maryland standout Kristi Toliver on the team backing up Delle Donne.  She can downright play.  (I guess the proper term in basketball is ball. Well, she can.)

So this is somewhat uncanny.  It would be nearly the same level of incomprehensible for the Mystics to win the WNBA championship as it was for the Capitals to win the Cup.  But you can't win it unless you're in it -- the Finals, that is.

And they are.

All aboard the Washington Mystics bandwagon

So they might.