Final
score: Storm 83 Mercury 70 (W) (1-0)
Attendance
|
7567
Anthem
Xtra Notes | Lots
Anthem
High Note | Nailed it
Anthem
Style | C. Aguilera
Fan
Noise | 777 Takeoff
Signs
| Plentiful
Fan
Psyche | Unbelieving
Halftime
| 70's & 80's cover band, Hit Explosion
The P
word
Indulge me for
a moment, I need to get this out of my system
WE ARE UNDEFEATED!
We have a WINNING record. We were winning by 30 points at one point
in the game (see picture!). We win by the largest margin in the
Storms short history. This is highest score ever recorded
by a Storm team. The only thing not accomplished by this team is
that no one records the magical double double, something that has
not happened yet for a Storm player during a regular season game.
Okay, back to
Earth, but only a little.
We are happy
to see that all of people we shared our row with last year are
back. We find out that our one of our next seat neighbors
owns and manages Buca di
Beppo on Mercer. Remember Buca di Beppo (we always
plug Storm supporters). Hit
Explosion, the 70s and 80s cover band are playing
during the pregame. We notice that Alessandra is down by the bench
in street clothes. There are a couple of guys in our section with
a Brazilian flag that get her attention. She gestures for them
to come down and talks to them for a bit.
Katrina is also
in street clothes, back on the Injured List to make room for the
roster (thats got to be frustrating). During the Storm Blitz
on Tuesday, Angie had talked to Katrina who said that she hadnt
been able to find vegemite in Seattle and missed it a lot. On a
freak coincidence, as I was walking back to work from the Blitz,
I saw a delivery truck for the Australian Pie Company drive by.
Angie called and sure enough, real vegemite. She emailed the Storm
PR office and asked them to forward the number on to Katrina and
Lauren. Angie goes down to the bench and asks Katrina if she had
gotten the message. She did.
After the anthem
(why do people have to add so many notes to the song?), the Mercury
are introduced. Cynthia Cooper gets a big hand, deservedly so. One
note that someone points out later on Brandy Reed was not
introduced, but participated in the shoot around. Hmm.
Then the Storm
are introduced. They come down the aisles at the corners of the
stadium and through four groups of girls basketball teams. There
are flame pots belching bouts of fire, fireworks exploding off of
the backboards. On the south basket, something catches fire, and
then more fireworks go off prematurely and spill onto the floor
starting a small fire (amazingly, the same thing happens at the
Storm Mystics game on Sunday the 3rd in Washington, D.C.).
The fires are extinguished, the crowd roars and the Storm make their
way to the floor.
Just as the
team stands until the first bucket is scored, Coach Dunn comes on
the Arenavision and proclaims that this is now the tradition and
everyone needs to stand. Coach speaks and we stand. Simone scores
the first bucket of the season, and we sit.
The Storm are
on fire (just like the floor). Lauren, Semeka, Stacey, and Quacy
are offensive and defensive machines. 3-pointers, rebounds, steals,
oh my. Quacy is, for lack of a better word, dominating when she
is in the game. Wow. She and Stacey are really producing. Its
amazing how different they are playing compared to last year.
The Husky basketball
team makes an appearance during the first half and receives a great
reception in honor of their NCAA run this Spring. We may have to
look into Husky tickets next season.
So, we are leading
46 30 at the half. Hit Explosion starts into another set.
I make the bold prediction that hey, we might just win this game.
I am quickly told to be quiet and not jinx it, and reminded that
the first half of the second half has always been the
danger zone. I take back my overly confident statement, hoping that
I havent overly offended the basketball gods.
Well, they arent
too upset because the Storm go up by 30 points 6 minutes into the
second half. Who are these people and what have you done with our
Storm? But, just as soon as the strange feeling of euphoria starts
to take hold, the first half of the second half indeed. Before we
know what has happened (Lauren, Sonja and Semeka are on the bench),
the Mercury are down by only 11!
Not to worry,
this new team isnt about to get flustered. Reestablish control,
pace and tone Dunn hallmarks. They take what the Mercury
bring, and send it back at them.
After the game,
we decide to stick around to see who the interview with David Locke
is. Of course, it is Lauren. Semeka also comes out to do a radio
interview at the other end of the scorers table.
During the interview,
Lauren admits that she was more nervous for this game than the Olympics.
But, after she got going, things calmed down and she got into the
game. At the end of the interview, David asked something about how
she felt about the Storms chances this season. She smiled
and said that we are going to win.
And then she
said the P word
Playoffs.
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