Part One: Heading into the All-Star Break

Tammy Sutton-Brown strikes a pose at one of the WNBA All-Star photo sessions. Jennifer Pottheiser/ WNBAE/Getty Images

Hello again, Canada (and all the rest of the fans of the WNBA)! Thanks for checking into my column.

We've rebounded pretty well from our 0-4 West Coast road trip, and heading into the All-Star break we're 11-8 and in second place in the Eastern Conference. We all think we should have a few more wins, but we can still make a run at first place. Washington is a couple of games ahead of us, and we play them in the last game of the season. It should be a great stretch run regardless since the East is pretty tightly bunched up right now.

We played five games in seven days in late June and early July, and as tough as it is to get used to the constant travel and games on back-to-back days, it all gets magnified when you play that many games in that short an amount of time. We came through it all right, though. We're pretty excited about the second half of the season.

I found out about my All-Star selection on July 9, just before shootaround for our Miami game. Normally after shootaround, I go home and take a nap before the game, but I couldn't sleep at all – I was so excited.

Being recognized by the coaches as an All-Star is pretty amazing, because they're the ones that see you play game-in and game-out. They watch film. They know your strengths and weaknesses. To be honoured as one of the best in the conference isn't something I ever imagined doing this early in my career. It's something you think about doing, but with the great players that have established themselves in the league over the years . . . I'm still pinching myself to make sure it's real.

And to go with my teammates Dawn Staley and Andrea Stinson, as well as the Sting coaching staff, is going to make this a memorable experience.

We got a late start heading to All-Star because of the weather – it was pouring rain in Charlotte and around the Southeast. That caused our flight to get delayed, and we ended up watching the movie Shallow Hal (which was filmed in Charlotte) on Dawn's portable DVD player. We finally got to our hotel at 2 a.m. and with a full schedule ahead of us the following day, we all packed it in for the night.

As I'm writing this, we just finished our All-Star meeting on Sunday morning where they outlined the next two days for us, and we autographed a bunch of basketballs for charities. Practice is at 1:30 p.m. today, so I'm going to sign off for now.

Part Two: WNBA All-Star Festivities

You may not be aware of it, but All-Star practices are nothing like real practices. First of all, they're only an hour long, and what are you going to accomplish in an hour when many of the players are stepping onto the court with one another for the first time? Add in the fact that you have 3,000 screaming Mystics fans in attendance, along with player introductions prior to the start of practice, and you can see why it probably wasn't the most productive of practice times.

That's not to say we didn't get some work done. Coach Donovan put in a few plays for us, and we got in some stretching and running to keep us loose. Then we had a half-court shooting contest won by our own Andrea Stinson. "Stint" and some of our other players take half-court shots all the time at the end of practices and shootarounds on the road, so it didn't surprise me when she nailed her shot.

Media availability was right after practice, and immediately after media availability we were taken to Summer Jam just outside the MCI Center. Several blocks were roped off with autograph tables, merchandise and a bunch of interactive areas. We all split up and did different things, and I helped Jennifer Azzi at one of the shooting stations.

Download the Sting All-Star wallpaper featuring Sutton-Brown, Staley and Stinson. WNBAE/Getty Images

Following Summer Jam, we returned to the hotel where we got dressed up for photo opportunities in one of the hotel's ballrooms. It's pretty neat seeing everybody dressed up like that. There are some awesome photos of everybody up on the Web at the various team sites, and the Sting's Creative Services Department made some good-looking wallpaper out of a photo of Dawn, Stint and I.

Right after pictures were done, we boarded a bus that took us to the National Museum for Women and the Arts for a reception with staff members, the media, corporate partners and the teams. That lasted until 10 p.m.

Sheryl Swoopes threw a party after the reception that a lot of us went to. My sister and I stayed for a while, but we closed out the evening a little on the early side because I had a busy morning planned.

A car arrived at the hotel the morning of the All-Star Game at 7:45 a.m. and took our PR Director and I to the Washington office of Canada AM, which was just a few blocks away. We got there a little too early, so I stretched out on the couch in the waiting area for about 20 minutes before going into their studios and getting wired for sound.

I was on-air for about five minutes or so (everybody in Canada was watching, though, so you already knew that, right?), and then we had to drive back to the hotel for my NBA Entertainment interview. That lasted about 10 minutes. They ask you about the season, playing in the All-Star game, how you feel about the playoffs and possible opponents, so they have footage on file when the playoffs roll around.

Shootaround was next, so we piled back on the bus and headed to the MCI Center. If you're getting the impression that there's not much of a "break" during the All-Star break, you'd be correct! Shootaround was pretty much the same as practice. A little bit of work – in-bounds plays and stuff like that – and more getting loose.

After that we finally had some time to ourselves, which for me means grabbing a bite to eat, taking a quick nap and knocking out Part Two of this All-Star column. Next time I talk to you will be after the All-Star Game, and hopefully after the East has ended the West's All-Star win streak.

Part Three: The WNBA All-Star Game

Normally for a game, we have to be at the arena an hour and a half before tip to meet with the media, but for an All-Star Game, it's more like three hours before. We had another round of photos (this time in our uniforms) and different media duties – on-line chats, live on-court interviews and locker room stuff.

Waiting for the game to start is always the most difficult part, but I wasn't really nervous before the game like you might think.

I don't know about you, but I thought the Charlotte Sting represented pretty well at All-Star. And how about Stinson's spin move around Sheryl Swoopes? That was big-time highlight reel material. The East almost pulled off the win, and the game was incredibly competitive. Next year is our year!

After the game, I signed autographs for a while at the autograph table, and then I got together with my sister and my college roommate and went to another Swoopes party. The wake-up call was on the early side again, and we landed in Charlotte at around 9 a.m. Now that I'm finished with Part Three of this column, it's rest time until practice this afternoon and back to the grind as we chase the Mystics for the regular season Eastern Conference title.

Thanks again for tuning in! We'll see you in August just before the playoffs start up.

Check out NBA.com/Canada's Tammy Sutton-Brown photo gallery.