Christon Calls For A Time-out

Her life, much like that of any other WNBA player, is a continuous cycle year in and year out since graduating from college. At the conclusion of the WNBA season, she jets off overseas to compete and comes back home just in time to report to Training Camp.

Although, this winter she’s shaking things up by giving her body a rest from the court and making the best of her time stateside.

After three months of competition in Poland, Christon traveled back to Arkansas to enjoy some time with her family, rolled up her sleeves to help out at a local daycare and now finds herself in and out of the Liberty office between appearances and events to rally fans for the 14th season. So much for that relaxation plan, huh?

Before setting her sights on the next adventure – NBA All-Star Weekend – NYLiberty.com snuck in a few minutes with its All-Star.

Tell us about your on-court experience in Poland.
I really didn't know what to expect, but the fans in Poland were absolutely amazing. They add me now on Facebook to keep in touch. And my team-mates, I love ’em to death. They were great. They worked hard. We had a lot of fun.

And how was living in Poland?
The city, Gydnia, was beautiful. And the people were nice. It was cold, and it rained a lot. It was right on the coast. It was nice that I was near the beach, but unfortunately I was there when it was cold. It snowed a lot.

The snow wasn’t worse than where you were in Russia (last year), was it?
No, not even close.

How did it work out between you and the language?
It was difficult, and I didn't attempt to learn. I knew I wasn't going to learn it. They have everything in English. Not just signs, but you could go to the movies and it’s in English with Polish subtitles. Movies that came out here, would come out a week later in Poland. I went to the movies a couple of times.  Because of that, people learn English and it’s easier to get around and that made it that much easier to not learn Polish. My team-mates spoke English, but they were shy about it; they didn't want to get things wrong.

So overall it sounds like good experience.
Yes.

Where does it rank in your all-time overseas gigs?
Third, Spain is first, Israel is second. As you can tell, those are the two warm places I've played.

What was the first thing you were craving when you got back to the States?
I went home to Arkansas, and there's this placed called Rod's Pizza Cellar. They have this godfather pizza and I killed it, three times there. I don't eat out at home unless it’s at Rod’s. In Poland, there are all different kinds of restaurants, Chinese, Mexican – they had KFC. Their KFC would blow our KFC out of the water.

You’re calling KFC a restaurant …
Well fast food, whatever. Over in Poland, it’s a restaurant compared to here.

What did you do once you got settled in at home?
Slept. And I slept some more. It felt good to just rest and relax. Spending time with my family was great, because this was the longest I've ever been home. We had family nights of board games, my nephew had games I went to and my brother is coaching now. So I’ve been watching a lot of basketball. I went skating with my sister and nephew. I haven’t skated since high school. I was thinking the whole time, “I'm gonna fall,” but I didn't. My sister did. I went bowling, too. It was just a lot of family gatherings. It was fun.

Was there anything you were craving or looking forward to when you got into New York?
Not really, I was just excited to be back in a city – there’s a lot of stuff to do.

What about that box Krispy Kremes you were walking around with in the office, do they not have those back home?
No, we have Shipley's Donuts. We may have one, just not in my little town. I’ll get a half dozen, if I go, but just like Krispy Kreme,  it’s so much glaze and sugar. If they're not hot, I really don't care for them. I don't crave them every day. My mother cooked for me a lot when I was home. She told me that she’s never cooked so much. Now that I’m here, she's so happy, in that sense that she doesn't have to cook.

What have you been up to around the city?
I went to Dave and Buster's, and literally sat there for three hours with a friend playing games. One game, I couldn't get off of.

Any good prizes?
I didn’t want the prizes, left it for my friend. It was probably 6,000 tickets.

Three hours will do that.
Yeah, so I just gave him the tickets. A majority of the time, we played a trivia game. And it was questions I should know, like, “Who's the lead singer of Matchbox 20?” And so I guessed. I was the only one to get it wrong at the whole table. There were a lot of questions and I was thinking, how could you not know that?

So you’ve been keeping busy here.
I have. And I’ve been in the office calling around to season subscribers to get them to renew their tickets. They need to answer their phones!

You heard the lady, renew your tickets for the Liberty’s ride through the 2010 WNBA season at Madison Square Garden now by calling 212-465-6766.