Final score: Storm 43 – Fire 58 (L) (5-5)

Attendance | 8151

Anthem Xtra Notes | Yes, but in a good way

Anthem High Note | Got it in one

Anthem Style | Brass Quintet

Fan Noise | Annoyingly loud

Signs | More for 3M than the Fire

Fan Psyche | Confident

Halftime | Val Ackerman

This game brings us to the realization of what being a .500 team is all about – being on the edge of greatness. We as fans can see that the Storm have it in them to beat just about every opponent they face. Each game, including this one, has flashes of brilliance. When the team strings a few of these flashes together in one game they are amazing to watch. But, when they go 9 minutes and only score 2 points as they do at the beginning of the second half of tonight’s game, it is extremely hard for them to win games. Back in the dark days of last season, losing was disappointing but not unexpected. Now, losing is frustrating because we know they are better than they are playing. This is what being a .500 team is all about.

The first thing we notice during the warmups is that Alessandra is suited up and that Quacy is not present. We find out that Quacy is on the injured list and did not travel to the game. We are hoping that Coach plays Alessandra tonight since we haven’t gotten to see what she can do. As we sit down (our seats are a few rows behind the Storm bench, but right next to the tunnel entrance, not the best seats), Angie lets the person next to her know that we are Storm fans and will be quite vocal. He says that is okay and then, through the course of the game, continues to wave his sign in our faces, block our sign with his and generally acts like a jerk. At the preseason game we attended on May 10th in Portland, the fans around us were pleasant, neighborly and joked around with us. This guy is not one of the good ones.

Before the game, the announcer informs the crowd that Val Ackerman, WNBA President, would be answering questions during a halftime meeting for season ticket holders. We figure since we’re season ticket holders (in Seattle of course) and since we didn’t get any “face time” with Val in Seattle the night before during her visit to KeyArena, that we’d attend. More on this later.

One more thing before we get to the game – everything in the Rose Garden is sponsored by someone, even Spot the mascot. He is sponsored by Blue Paws.com, a pet insurance company. Does Paul Allen pay for anything in this place, except for the building and the team, that is? They do show a very funny spoof of the current Nike basketball dribbling commercial staring Spot on the big screen. We have to give this one to Spot, he is arguably a better mascot than Doppler. The Spot “suit” allows him to be a lot more mobile and acrobatic, including doing some of the springboard circus dunks that really fire up the crowd (pun intended). Sorry Doppler, but the day you do a somersault jam is the day that you regain the title as the best mascot.

Have we started the game yet? No. During the pregame shoot around, Sylvia Crawley (Fire #00) jams the ball on several occasions. Most WNBA fans agree that one of the things that has become a turnoff about the MNBA is the overemphasis on show-boating and flashy personal play which is exemplified by the dunk. But, if a WNBA player is able to dunk as Sylvia obviously is (or the Starzz’s Margo Dydek, she’s 7’2” for crying out loud), she should do it during a game and get it over with already. People will quit focusing on the fact that it hasn’t happened during a game yet and we can all move on.

Okay, finally, the game. Here are the high points – Sonja takes on a more aggressive scoring attitude and drives to the basket on two or three occasions. It seems to surprise the Fire defenders almost as much as it does us. Maybe she has just been lulling everyone into a false sense that she doesn’t want to score. Jamie Redd continues her determined play off of the bench. Even though she picks up a couple quick and cheap fouls, she is out there driving the lane, slapping at the ball and draping herself all over whomever she is guarding. Kamila is finally coming alive. She is fighting for rebounds and it seems her jumping abilities have returned. Alessandra does go in at the end of the first half. It seems to us that her defensive presence intimidated a couple of Fire players into altering their shots. She gets pulled after just a few plays, but we see that she might be an impact player once she gets more minutes. And finally, the Storm start the game fairly well. The team jumps out to a good lead and holds off the Fire for most of the first half, losing the lead with just a couple minutes left in the first half.

Now, the low points. The dreaded first half of the second half lull rears it ugly head and the Storm score only 2 points in the first 9 minutes. The Fire never look back. Tuly Bevilaqua (Fire #4) is somehow able to get 4 charges called against the Storm offense. Doesn’t it seem odd that one player is able to draw that many charges in one game? Apparently, our players are consistently out of control, and Tuly is always in a perfect defensive spot. She is truly a gifted defensive player, and her Oscar is in the mail. On a more serious note, Sylvia Crawley (Fire #00), jams or not, is a scoring machine. She has the whole package, inside and outside. Jackie Stiles is a non-factor. Since she scores 21 against the Sting in the next Fire game, we like to think her 4 point game tonight is due to the smothering defense of Sonja, Semeka and Jamie. Overall, the second half is all Fire and zero Storm. We didn’t even play this poorly against the Sparks. It is a long drive home.

As was stated earlier, Val Ackerman speaks to some fans at halftime and takes some questions from Fire season ticket holders (we “sneak” in). The key points she makes is that even though some teams are struggling with attendance (she thankfully doesn’t name us specifically), the league is in good shape overall. It took the MNBA (she calls it the NBA) 29 seasons before it reached a league attendance average of 10,000. The WNBA did it in 2. She says that there are no immediate plans to expand beyond the current 16 teams, which should help the current teams consolidate and grow their fanbase while taking optimum advantage of the upcoming drafts. One former ABL fan comments about her nervousness concerning the league’s staying power after having been burned by the ABL’s overnight demise. Val assures the crowd that the WNBA is in a completely different place than the ABL. Because of the MNBA’s backing, Commissioner David Stern’s solid support, and the growing fan support, the WNBA is here to stay. Another fan asks her about the lack of national media coverage, such as on ESPN Sportcenter. Val acknowledges with a resigned sigh that the league is pushing for more coverage on a continual basis. She encourages all of us to contact the national media outlets and demand more WNBA news. It would have been nice to hear from Val up in Seattle, but apparently she didn’t give the Storm front office enough notice about her visit for them to schedule an fan meeting.

Notes:

There are a lot of signs for Michelle Marciniak. She gets a huge round of applause when she enters the game. If we keep picking up former Portland players (Katy and now Michelle), the Fire fans won’t know who to cheer for.

There are some other Storm fans in attendance complete with signs and the Linn Dunn heads on a stick from last season. Unfortunately, they, like us, are believers in the wilderness and get easily out cheered. Hopefully, with two (or more?!) buses going down to Portland on the Fourth, that will change. There is still space available on the second bus. Let’s fill those bad boys up!