Final score: Storm 68– Starzz 70 (L) (2-1)

Attendance | 9686

Anthem Xtra Notes | None. Thank you Girl Scout singer

Anthem High Note | S'okay

Anthem Style | Normal

Fan Noise | 4000 screaming Girl Scouts, ouch

Signs | Not so many, but all the girls had bandanas they were waving

Fan Psyche | Who called that damn timeout?

Halftime | Not sure, needed food

Let's get to the important thing first - the game losing timeout. LJ hits a jumper from the corner while Jamie Redd is calling a timeout, or at least at the same time that the ref is acknowledging Jamie calling the timeout. By now, we've heard accounts that say Coach Dunn was telling Jamie to do it, then reamed her once it happened. At the moment it happened, it seemed to us that the basket went in first and then the call was made.

More importantly, I think the interesting part of this mini-fiasco was how people reacted to it. Lauren kind of laughed it off as she went to the huddle. Jamie was arguing with the ref and Coach Dunn. The other players seemed to be taking Lauren's no big deal approach. All except Sue Bird. We've all seen the photo of her biting her shirt (my crappy version is at the right). Sue was not happy. After the game ended (Felicia Ragland got past the Utah defense and put up a decent shot from the free throw line that missed), Sue marched off the court and you could almost see the fume lines wafting off of her furrowed brow. The rest of the players left the court like they usually do, smiles, no big deal, etc. I see two possible outcomes from this, if this incident can be seen as a sign of things to come - whether Sue's seeming refusal to accept even a preseason loss will start to rub off on the other players and they all will start to take it personally, or she will get more and more frustrated as the season wears on. I think all of the Seattle fans are desperately hoping Sue can affect the mindset and grit of her fellow players. Yeah, almost all of the Storm have been successful at one time or another - Sonja won a NCAA and WNBA championship, Semeka was a 39-0 NCAA champ, several players have competed in chamionship tournaments overseas. But for many of them success was awhile ago, it isn't fresh. Success for Sue is still fresh - the NCAA championship is still probably a blur for her. For me, if Sue does one thing this year, it will be to reinstill the winning attitude in her fellow players. She's a rookie - so what. She is a champion and can lead this team if she can resist getting too frustrated. I'm not sure which Sue Bird walked off the court - the determined champ who is unwilling to let even a preseason game go easily, or a frustrated young woman who is wondering what she has gotten into.

The other story of this game was the Ragland Bandwagon - how the hell did this amazing all-around player go in the second round of the draft? She is going to be our secret weapon this year. Everyone is going to focus in on Lauren and Sue - Felicia is going to reap the benefits. You have to give it to Coach Dunn, she can pick great players.

Notes:

Semeka was introduced as a forward. Hmmm.

Margo Dydek drove the lane from the 3-pt line and scored a lay-up during a play in the first half. How is it possible that a 7-footer can drive like a guard and do it with no defenders even trying to stop her?

There is a new pregame video of Coach Dunn running the crowd through some "exercises." The Girl Scouts love it and end up screaming for about 5 minutes straight at the end of it when Coach tells everyone to make noise.

All the scoreboards around the rim of the arena have been replaced by a continuous video screen that is very cool. The stat reporting is a lot better than the old boards, but they're still not up to the level of the score and stat boards in the Rose Garden. The ArenaVision screens have also been updated and look very nice. It's good to see all of that latte money being put to good use.