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 Storm’s 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 70’s and 80’s 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 (that’s got to be frustrating). During the Storm Blitz on Tuesday, Angie had talked to Katrina who said that she hadn’t 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. It’s 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 haven’t overly offended the basketball gods.

Well, they aren’t 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 isn’t 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 scorer’s 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 Storm’s chances this season. She smiled and said that we are going to win.

And then she said the “P” word…

Playoffs.