Final score: Storm 79 – Fire 69 (W) (2-1)

Attendance | 4415

Anthem Xtra Notes | Not too many

Anthem High Note | Okay

Anthem Style | Operatic

Fan Noise | Loud, then none

Signs | All for Katy

Fan Psyche | Confused

Halftime | Being interviewed by an Australian reporter

Okay, so we drive 3 hours (actually a little over 2, but then who needs speed limits?) to see the Storm play the Fire. When we get to Portland, it’s 96 degrees. It’s May for crying out loud! This is the Northwest! Was it a bad sign that we were “burning up” and going to a Fire game? Sorry, had to do that.

On the elevator in the parking garage up to the box office, we are riding with two teenage boys. They notice that we have on WNBA stuff (Angie is wearing a Storm shirt and hat). One says the league should be the WSNPB league. I ask what that means. He says “Women Should Not Play Basketball.” Sigh. The really stupid thing about this is that we see them go into the game. Why, if you think that, would you bother going to a game, especially a preseason game? Again, sigh.

We buy our tickets before the game and get seats four rows behind the Storm bench! We also go ahead and buy our tickets for the next Portland game just so we can sit behind the bench for that game too.

You have to give Paul Allen credit. The Rose Garden is a nice arena. I especially like the score boards. Not only does the Arenavision have a better television system, but the auxiliary boards around the rim of the arena are excellent. They keep track of all the game stats all the way down to missed free throws. The Storm and Sonics ownership could take some pointers from this arena.

We also have to say that the Portland fans that we sat with were very tolerant. They didn’t mind us screaming and yelling. They jabbed us a bit about the first preseason game, and we jabbed back by winning this game. HA! I did have to resist the urge to say, “Our first round draft pick is doing better than your first round draft pick.” But, being the good sportsman that I am (and because Angie kicked me pretty hard when I leaned over and whispered it to her), I refrained.

Luckily, no one is sitting in front of us, so we put out our fluorescent yellow “Go Storm” sign for the entire game. This is very important later on. Throughout the game, the Storm players can’t help but notice us. Not only are we literally screaming ourselves hoarse, but you can see our sign from across the arena.

And they are giving us a lot to scream about. The Storm are in a groove. They lead from the opening bucket until :45 left in the second half when the Fire tie it. Even when the Fire are slowly creeping back into the game (the Storm led by as much as 13), the Storm didn’t act desperate or confused or play tightly. All of the attributes common to last year’s team were clearly absent. Into overtime we go, and it is all Storm the rest of the way. Both Lauren and Semeka score double doubles. Semeka is right, we are going to win more than 6 games this year. All in all, a great game, a great win.

So the coolest thing about this game happens at halftime. A woman comes up to us and asks if she can talk to us for a few minutes. She introduces herself as a reporter for the Sydney Sun-Herald and that she is here doing a story on Lauren. She has been looking for Storm fans and noticed our sign. For the next ten minutes or so, she asks us questions about Lauren, why we are fans, what we think about the league and the influx of international players. We tell her that the Seattle fans have taken to Lauren and that we read one bulletin board poster (beancounter on the Seattle PI Storm board) who suggested we hold a bbq for her. The story came out a few days later. She drastically reduced our statements, naturally. But still, we were quoted in Sydney’s largest newspaper! How cool is that?