All season long the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks have been the best two teams in the WNBA.Thanks to the new playoff format, the pair of Western Conference teams will meet in the WNBA Finals. Game 1 is Sunday.A year ago these two powerhouses would have played in the conference finals with the winner being a huge favorite to go on and win the championship. The Western Conference champion has won the leagues title in six of the last seven years.Its going to be a great matchup, Minnesota forward Maya Moore said. I think the Sparks and the Lynx have shown that were the best two teams in the league. There have been some really fun games to play in and to watch during the regular season. I think youre going to see the best of the best at their best for a good series.Minnesota is trying to win its second straight title and fourth in the last six year. The Lynx would be the first repeat champion since Los Angeles did it in 2001 and 2002. A win by the Sparks would be their first title since then and the first for Candace Parker.Yeah, it has hit me. I think Ive learned to appreciate it and absorb the moment and to not take it for granted, Parker said. Thats the biggest thing, just realizing that it is an opportunity and while youre here focused on business, you can still understand that youre here and youve worked really hard to get here.Here are some things to look for in the WNBA Finals:STAR POWER: Each team has a plethora of talent. Los Angeles is led by league MVP Nneka Ogwumike and Parker. Ogwumike had an incredible season, shooting a league-best 66.5 percent from the field, the second highest mark ever. She averaged a career-best 19.7 points and 9.1 rebounds to help. Parker had another great year and is in the finals for the first time in her career.On the other side, Minnesota has an Olympic quartet of Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus. The group helped lead the U.S. to a sixth consecutive gold medal and now has a chance to win another title.Both Parker and Moore have excelled when playing each other in the postseason. In five games, four won by Minnesota, Moore averaged 24 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Parker had 25.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists.GOING FOR FOUR: A championship would give Minnesota four, matching the Lynx with Houston for the most titles all-time in league history. The Comets won the first four championships in league history, but never made it back after 2000. The franchise folded after the 2008 season.TIP-INS: The road team won all three games during the regular season. ... Minnesotas coach Cheryl Reeve won the leagues coach of the year award. Los Angeles coach Brian Agler was the AP coach of the year. ... Sylvia Fowles was the consensus defensive player of the year and Jantel Lavender the sixth woman winner.20 AND COUNTING: The leagues 20th season has been stellar with all the metrics trending in the right direction. Attendance was up nearly 5 percent. So were merchandise sales, digital clicks and social media connection.QUOTABLE: Were kind of meeting our match, if you will, Reeve said. How we get things done is a little different. But both teams can score, both can defend. Its going to be a fight. China Shoes Black Friday . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday Free Shipping . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Cheap Shoes Black Friday . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. STARKVILLE, Miss.-John Cohen has been named Mississippi State Universitys 17th director of athletics, MSU President Mark E. Keenum announced today.The current MSU head baseball coach and two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year replaces Scott Stricklin, who was named athletic director at the University of Florida in September.I love Mississippi State University, Cohen said. As a student, later as a coach, and now with this fantastic opportunity to lead MSUs athletics program, this was always where I wanted to be. I am profoundly grateful for the chance to lead the totality of MSU athletics as I have tried to lead MSUs baseball program - in daily and dogged pursuit of championships at the highest level.Cohen, 50, has spent over two decades coaching college baseball and has been the head baseball coach at MSU since 2009. In July, he was given the title of Associate Athletic Director, broadening his role in the MSU Athletic Department. Cohens promotion to athletic director comes after a national search by the university.Cohen will take over an athletic department that has recently achieved new heights in athletic, academic, facility and fundraising accomplishments. As athletic director, Cohen is charged with providing leadership, management and administration for the universitys athletic programs. He will report to the university president.We conducted an exhaustive national search and in that process interviewed some of the nations very top athletic department administrators, Keenum said. But after reviewing those outstanding candidates, it became clear to me that John Cohens undeniable record of aggressively pursuing championships both as an MSU player and head coach positioned him best to continue the dynamic legacy of growth and accomplishment that MSU athletics has enjoyed in recent years. John understands that trajectory and has been an integral part of it - and he can move the Bulldog family forward united.A Tuscaloosa, Ala. native and MSU alumnus, Cohen has been a head coach in the SEC for 12 years. His teams have been successful both on the field and in the classroom. At MSU, he has led the Bulldogs to a College World Series finals appearance, an SEC regular season championship and an SEC Tournament championship. Since 2009, MSU baseball has had 133 players selected to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, including three straight SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year winners from 2013-15.Im fortunate to know our MSU coaches as friends and colleagues, and to know many of our athletes in all sports, said Cohen.dddddddddddd While baseball has been a huge part of my life, my passion for seeing MSU athletics thrive and win extends to all sports. As associate director of athletics, Ive been a significant part of planning the future of MSU Athletics and I believe I can hit the ground running in advancing that agenda. Im grateful to Dr. Keenum and the Bulldog stakeholders who advised him for allowing me to embrace these new and critical responsibilities.As a baseball player at MSU, Cohen was a key player on the Bulldogs 1989 SEC championship team and 1990 College World Series team. He graduated from MSU with a degree in English in 1990 and received a masters degree in sports management from the University of Missouri in 1994. After a six-year stint with Missouri as a graduate assistant and assistant coach, Cohen was the head coach at Northwestern State University from 1998-2001. Cohen spent two seasons as an assistant baseball coach at the University of Florida before becoming the head coach at the University of Kentucky in 2004, a position he held for four seasons before returning to his alma mater.While winning 284 games as a head coach at MSU, Cohen has demonstrated the ability to develop players and coaches. During his tenure, 135 MSU baseball players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Two of his assistant coaches at MSU have gone on to head coaching positions at SEC programs.Cohen has also worked closely with athletic department personnel to promote all facets of the baseball program and raise money for a new state-of-the-art stadium. Eight of the universitys top 10 all-time marks in baseball season ticket sales have come during Cohens tenure, including a school record of 5,874 in 2014. He has been a staunch of supporter of MSUs mens and womens athletic programs and has been a valuable resource for the entire athletic department during his time at MSU, earning him the associate athletic director title in July. Now slated to become athletic director, Cohen said he is excited for the opportunity to oversee the continued success of all of MSUs athletic programs.Cohen and his wife, Nelle, are active members of the Starkville community. The couple has two daughters, Jordan Baker and Avery Lawson. MSU is Mississippis leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu. ' ' '