This weekend, the best of the WNBA gathers in New York, which reminds me ... my keenest memory of an All-Star Game is one I didn't get to watch.

	Sheryl Swoopes, left, and Tamika Catchings will square off again in this year's All-Star Game.

I spent many summer days of childhood lying underneath the dining-room table, pretending to be in a cave, reading books and listening to the TV in the next room.

As the hours went on from the "Price is Right'' to "As the World Turns'' to "Match Game,'' and I was going through the "Little House'' books or the adventures of Henry Huggins, Beezus, Ramona and Ribsy the dog ... well, as if in a blink, the day was gone.

And an assigned chore -- washing the dishes -- still wouldn't be done.

At last, my mother was so fed up reminding me that she used shock therapy: There would be no television for three days. (She couldn't bring herself to halt my reading for that long, perhaps fearful of damaging my chances at Oxford.)

The sentence was handed down Monday. The major-league baseball All-Star Game was Tuesday. This was 1976, long before 18,000 games a week were televised.

I felt I'd been given the electric chair.

There was retroactive plea-bargaining, including my offer of no TV for a WEEK if I could start Wednesday. I had tipped my hand, though; she realized that she had fired an arrow right at the bullseye.

Apparently, the governor intervened in my behalf -- or maybe it was my dad -- and I was instead severely wounded and not executed, being allowed to listen to the game on the radio in the backyard.

Baseball's All-Star Game, of course, has declined in popularity since then, so much that a new twist was added this year. The winner earns home-field advantage for the World Series.

I think to WNBA fans, though, that league's gathering of stars has some of the old charm of the baseball version. Sure, there are WNBA games on every week. But the chance to see the best players all together is still very appealing.

It helps that the WNBA players take the game so seriously. Remember how hard Tamika Catchings played last year? It mattered to her. It seems that way with every WNBA player who takes part.

East coach Richie Adubato, of the New York Liberty, said earlier this week, "There is a certain amount of pride factor, just like in the NBA. It's almost identical. The powerhouses are in the West for the most part, but when you are playing against the other conference, I think you have to have pride.''

Yes, Adubato didn't avoid the obvious: Again this season, the West is dominating. The East hasn't won an All-Star Game, and its only claim to a league title is that Houston was in the East for the WNBA's first year. In other words, it really doesn't count.

All-Star break is always the time to take stock of what has happened so far in a season. We've had the Sparks pick up where they left off last summer. Guard Tamecka Dixon has been a big part of that, which West coach Michael Cooper of the Sparks attributes to her being fully healthy this year.

"When she's on her game, she is one of the better guards in this league,'' he said. "She virtually can take over a game.''

Detroit has turned itself around, and the Shock's Cheryl Ford has emerged as the best rookie and earned an All-Star reserve spot. (Remember, she didn't make the Kodak All-America team last spring while at Louisiana Tech.)

The Ligament of Evil raised its wretched head, felling New York's Becky Hammon when she was having a breakout season and would have appeared in the All-Star Game. Adubato said, "The way she was playing, she was worth the price of admission, making shots from everywhere.'' (Surely, upon hearing the awful confirmation that the ultra-popular Hammon had a season-ending ACL injury, some Liberty fans probably crawled under their dining-room tables.)

Also out for the year with the cursed ACL is Seattle's Adia Barnes, who had started every game for the Storm. Barnes explained she had "never missed a practice or game in her career,'' that she was someone who "doesn't get injured.''

We know, kid. That slimeball ligament is always on the lookout for another unlikely victim.

Meanwhile, an injury more familiarly known as affecting pitchers in baseball -- a rotator cuff -- ended the comeback season of Houston's Cynthia Cooper. Injuries have ganged up on the Comets, with Sheryl Swoopes missing some time with an ankle injury and Tina Thompson currently out for a week or so with an ankle sprain.

Charlotte is atop the East with about the most balanced scoring you could get; Allison Feaster leads the way at 13.1 points per game. The ageless duo, Andrea Stinson and Dawn Staley, are still starting and setting the tone for this team.

Minnesota's Katie Smith is tied with Seattle's Lauren Jackson for the league lead in scoring (19.7), but the Lynx are still just above the .500 mark. Maybe they could petition for a move to the Eastern Conference.

Sacramento's struggles couldn't be attributed to injuries this year. It's pretty difficult to say what they could be attributed to, so coach Maura McHugh was fired this week.

The WNBA season is so short, there's really little opportunity to recover from slumps, the way an NBA or major-league baseball team might. Thus desperation is reached more quickly and management's trigger finger is all the itchier.

Which is one of the reasons the WNBA isn't going to get any top-notch college women's coaches -- unless they're specifically looking for a lifestyle change.

One college coach who's involved in the WNBA -- Tennessee's Pat Summitt -- is in some ways seeing how the other half lives through the Washington Mystics' problems.

Tennessee's version of failure is not winning the national championship. The Mystics have won two games this year. Summitt, who took over as a player personnel consultant for the Mystics in April 2002, is bound to take some criticism for the team's relative lack of talent, or at least performance.

Combining this year's dispersal and regular drafts, the Mystics got only one player who's contibuting anything: Aiysha Smith out of LSU, who's averaging 4.8 points and 2.9 rebounds.

The Mystics' selection of Jenny Mowe in the dispersal draft seemed particularly puzzling. She didn't make the team, and players picked after her -- such as New York's Elena Baranova, Seattle's Alisa Burras, San Antonio's LaQuanda (Barksdale) Quick and Houston's Ukari Figgs -- all are doing something for their WNBA teams.

Neutral WNBA observers cringe at Washington's record simply because they'd love to see the D.C. fans be better rewarded for their support. However, Mystics fans -- along with the Phoenix faithful -- are pretty much in the perverse position of hoping it doesn't get any better this summer.

That's because of draft position. The draft goes from lackluster this year to blockbuster next year. And some of those players, including Duke's Alana Beard, Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde, Georgia's Christi Thomas and Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen, will be at the All-Star Game.

They're on the USA Basketball team that will play in the World Championships for Young Women later this month in Croatia; the team is training in New York for a few days. (UConn's Diana Taurasi, who had ankle surgery after her national-championship season, isn't on that team.)

If those kids are paying attention at Madison Square Garden, they'll get a very good look at what it takes to play in the WNBA. This All-Star Game will show that. Maybe there will be a dunk, maybe not. What's certain is that there will be hustle and physical play. There's something at stake.

"We are here to compete and win,'' Michael Cooper said. "The fans want to see a high-scoring, exciting, scintillating basketball game. And that's how we are going to do it.''

Mechelle Voepel of the Kansas City Star is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. She can be reached at mvoepel@kcstar.com.