Final score: Storm 67 – Sky 61 (W) (1-0)

Submitted by Norwester

That game was rough. I didn't start coming to games/become a STH until 2002, so I don't know about the early years of expansion, but when was the last time we shot less than 30% in a half? On the one hand, we were taking good shots most of the time, and we were spreading the shots around among our starters, but that brings me to the other hand: everybody was missing. Lauren was clearly frustrated, and spent a lot of time early on out on the perimeter. Swoopes looked a lot better than she did pre-season, but still had some rust to shake off her shot. I was really impressed with the amount of the time Sue looked for her shot. Sadly, what can you do when you're taking the right shots and none of them are going in? Buckle down on D, I guess, and wait for it to come.

Fortunately, we weren't the only ones having a tough night. The refs were pretty inconsistent, and got a little too whistle-happy at times, screwing up the flow of the game. This probably hit Fowles the hardest (or Foales, as the PA Guy kept calling her initially ), as she got hit with numerous fouls as she attempted to adjust to the physicality of the play (I assume), with Yo on her like white on rice, managing to draw some offensive fouls. She ended up fouling out elbowing Sue in the nose! Not the nose! Sue played around with it, wiggling it with her fingers and wrinkling it, but seemed fine.

We saw flashes of what could come out there, and while they were few and far between, they were enough to get a win in front of a pretty good, big crowd that really spent most of the game waiting for something to cheer for. Coach Agler used a ton of different combinations of players, which perhaps contributed to the overall disjointed feel. Some conclusions?

• T is not a point guard; sure she can participate in the offense, but she can't run and offense; let's see Beck earlier next time.
• Keep shooting the ball, Sue.
• Swoopes has fast hands.
• I like Lauren's outside shots, but she needs to live in the post and just visit the perimeter.
• Sheryl seems really happy to be in Seattle; she was interviewed post-game by Dick Fain, and she was chatty, and really free with incisive analysis of what went right and wrong, and giving LJ a pep-talk at half-time. It was fun.

It was really a party at the Key. I couldn't stop smiling over actually having Sue and LJ in the house again, along with everyone else. Brandi Carlile sang the anthem. I thought she did better this time than last time (last year or a couple of years ago?). It could be that I'm more used to her characteristic voice-break, but she mostly sang it right out, if a bit slowly. Force 10 were sitting courtside, and were the first ones introduced during introductions, and were greeted like rock stars. For the Storm players they constructed a stage in the middle of the court, then brought the players out between some screens (we pretended we didn't see them), then amid smoke and green lights they all climbed to the top of the stage individually for intros. I liked this better than having them run down the aisles, as I would always wait for a player to take a tumble, blinded by the flashing lights and smoke.

They played a PSA-like video just before intros that was pretty amusing with various players thanking the fans for being patient with security measures, then telling us what not to do, interspersed with clips from various movies and TV shows illustrating their points (e.g. "don't fight" = Family Guy characters fighting, "don't throw things on the court" = the Hulk throwing something) that segued into some really cool highlights. There were too many distractions to judge how it will do as far as riling us up, but I was impressed with the footage (hey, WNBA, take a look at some of this for your new commercials). The fan instructional video could use some more visual cues, though.

Shyra said some words (they're really pushing the "Perfect Storm" phrasing), we all cheered, it was amusing to have LJ doing the opening tip again, and we were underway...any time now, Storm...still standing. We seemed very tight initially, but Yo was working it underneath and we sat down on 1 of 2 free throws. Sylvia Fowles' name was mispronounced. Swoopes hit a field goal to us up 4-2, Yo drew a charge, Sue looked really fast and energetic out there, and LJ finally hit a field goal with 5 minutes to go. She could not have been more open. . Sue and LJ checked out...and T was left in as point guard? No! It ended up being fine, but really, why?

First ref boo of the season: with 4 seconds to go LJ reached down after a loose ball, Melvin got it first, picked it up and jumped onto a bent-over Lauren. Foul: Lauren Jackson. But some time later Melvin got called for a foul for getting in the way of LJ's elbow, so I guess it all evened out. 1Q: 18-16

Many "dignitaries" were intro'd during game break: Donna Orender, KB, randomly Anne Levinson again (hey, we'll clap for them every day of the week and twice on Sundays). Later Patty Murray got a lot of applause (actually a standing ovation) as well. That was fun, but probably the most exciting thing for the next several minutes was that the scoreboard on the west side of the arena malfunctioned. Other than that it was a boring Foul Fest with no flow. Sigh.

We continued to get great looks, lay-ups, open shots, and miss every one of them. Except for a Katie 3 (which got the crowd going for a time; there are few things we love more than that as a crowd). Coach was giving the refs some intense talks. The refs got confused on a Chicago penalty-foul and tried to have us pass it in from the sideline while Sue waited at the foul line to shoot free throws. PA Guy intoned "penalty" and they all got it sorted out. LJ turned the ball over, then chased the Sky player down on defense and forced a turnover back. We made some defensive plays, but missed others. The lid on the basket didn't go away. Out of a timeout we had a turnover and defensive lapse and though Sue scored, Chicago seemed to be the team making all the good plays. HT: 29-35, Sky.

The 3rd quarter did not start better than the 1st; we were still standing when a time out was called. Sigh. At 8 minutes LJ finally got a put back off a Sue miss. Things started to pick up. Swoopes hit a shot or two; LJ had a 3. Not needing much, and with our team showing signs of life, we stood and clapped them into a time out, and during the ensuing game break the ladies of Force 10 were all on their feet as well, and took some time to point out and wave to the several signs in the arena thanking them.

Sue had a sweet no-look to Yo on a fast break and it got LOUD. Shyra drove to the hoop and tied it at 40 for us.There was very little traditional LJ post-up during this stretch, but we were getting it done anyway. We seemed to buckle down some on defense, or perhaps Swoopes just got busy with her hands. Swin turned it up and got a couple of &1s (one after rebounding a Katie miss from Sheryl off a steal on a fast break with 3 seconds left in the quarter), and suddenly we were up by 7, garnering another standing ovation into the break. 3Q: 54-47

We were in a rhythm for a while, but then we started to just grind it out in the half court, going up by 10. At just under 7 minutes Swin was breaking away for a lay-up, and Price went up with her and knocked her to the court hard. That was actually kind of scary, and LJ nearly went medieval on Price, running up and brushing past her saying (edited) "what the--?!" as she checked on Swin. Price wisely gave her a look then moved past it. And Swin got up and made both free throws. Whew.

We spread the floor perfectly and whipped the ball around to Ely to put us up by 14, followed (after a defensive stop) by an LJ improbable &1 off a little runner. Who doesn't love that? The ref had a talk with Lauren as she waited at the line for the ball. She shook her head and smiled at him, then apologized. Fowles fouled out on Sue's nose. Up 15 with 3:30 to go, the game felt like it was in hand, Sue and LJ both checked out (presumably for good) to applause, though with our offense stalling towards the end with a minute left, only up by like 6, Brian sent Sue and LJ to the scorers table briefly before calling them right back to the bench. And we held on to win.

The team huddled at mid-court after slapping hands with Chicago. Then they all approached Force 10 and drew those women into their mid-court huddle. It was cool! Meanwhile we were all standing around clapping. They they threw t-shirts and Dick Fain interviewed Sheryl.

Sheryl thanked us for our support, and said that she was loving it in Seattle, then said they'd have to keep it short because she had to visit the restroom. Dick asked about the 3rd quarter early timeout, after which the Storm went on their run. She said--giving us the clean version--that we weren't getting it done on defense. She said that we still have a long ways as a team to go. Mentioned that LJ was really frustrated early, so Sheryl told her in the locker room that she was the best because she can get the job done, so she should just shake off the first half. Sheryl gave Sue a shout-out for finding everybody, and said while they didn't finish the game like they wanted, they started to play off of one another, and she's sure it's going to be a fun season.

Run-off:

The Asian war drums were out front as we were entering. Sadly, given the number of fans lined up, there was no dedicated "STH Entrance" as promised in our ticket packets as a perk. Alas. This is a cheap, and I'd think fairly easy perk to execute, but I guess they can have a couple of games to work the kinks out.

Live band playing on the concourse; it was a party atmosphere in there.

Scott's hair looked awesome, all green with yellow tips. I'm curious as to how the lay person reacted to his "look".

Refs: #31 Amy Bonner, #7 Clarke Stevens and #27 Penny Davis

1st quarter contest: Discover card Courtside upgrade. Flip a coin. Whoever wins gets to shoot or watch. If the shooter makes the shot they get the seat, if they miss the watcher gets the upgrade. The shot missed, and they the PA guy confused me by referring to a man when it was two women in the contest.

"One on One" with Ashley interviewing Yo: Yo's first car was an old VW (?); if not basketball, softball; favorite movie: Con Air (heh), or Face Off; at this point there was some teasing about movies, and Ashley (to big laughs) says that after basketball Yo will be working at Blockbuster.

Doppler had a pretty cool t-shirt gun with which to launch t-shirts (one possibly containing a $25 Discover Gift Card).

Half time: A guy in a hamster-wheel, hoop thing. It was kind of cool, though he would often throw in cheesy head nods and such. Good times.

The Dance Troupe is looking tight this season. Did they get a new choreographer?

Dance-off contest in 3rd quarter: three contestants at center court each got 30 seconds to show their moves, then we clapped and cheered to say who would win; their entire row won...sandwiches? I think that was the prize.

No Deo! And only a couple "clap your hands." That worked out very well. Thank you, game production elves, for listening to us! Now bring back "Let's Go Storm!" and I'll be happier.

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