Final score: Storm 83 – Fire 74 (W) (16-14)

Attendance | 12232 (New attendance record!!)

Anthem Xtra Notes | Yeah, and they were weird

Anthem High Note | Couldn't tell

Anthem Style | Atonal, minor key, and couldn't dance to it

Fan Noise | Thunderstix loud!

Signs | Storm win, Fire loss

Fan Psyche | Breathe, got to remember to breathe

Halftime | Girls bball

The Storm has taken the biggest step forward in their short history by winning their first must win game ever. The job is not yet complete, but the fact is that in perhaps the first game the Storm have played in which something was really on the line they came out and took care of bidness. Think about it for a second. This game was the first out of 94 games that the Storm had something to lose. They were able to overcome their own mistakes, keep a determined Fire team at bay and continually find a way to stay in the game.

Some may describe this as a well-played game, but I don't think it was. The key to this win was that the Storm remained composed and poised in the face of the Portland push. It was incredible to watch as the Fire scrapped and clawed their way within 2 or 3 points again and again, or even to tie it on a couple occasions, only to have the Storm (well, Sue and Lauren) come back and hit 2 or 3 shots in a row to go back up by 4 or 6. The Storm never let the Fire get the lead. I think this is extremely important. This game was so close that even a couple baskets in a row constituted momentum. If the Fire had been able to squeeze by even once, the final score could have been very different.

While the team offense was stagnant as a whole (LJ and Sue scored nearly two-thirds of the points), the team defense was on like a laser tonight. The Storm outrebounded the Fire by 18 for crying out loud. When was the last time that happened. Most of the times that the Fire got into a half-court offense and weren't running the court like mad (more about this in a minute), the Storm were able to tip passes, block shots and disrupt the Fire's set plays. The only place the Storm's defense broke down was in transition. The Fire kept themselves in the game by constantly being able to beat the Storm down the court and get easy layups or open jumpers. If you look at the two highest scorers for the Fire (Jackie Stiles and Tamicha Jackson), I would guess that they each scored most of their points in transition. If they didn't, it certainly seemed that way. Why Tamicha Jackson was allowed to run the floor unmolested until she got to the three-point line again and again makes no sense to me. And I think Stiles caught the Storm off-guard. She has had a sub-par season to say the least and here she is jacking threes like she was playing horse. But once you get past those two players, the Storm did a good job of shutting down the rest. Figgs - 0 points. Crawley - 6. Walker - 7. Folkl - 0. In a lot of ways, this game came down to our best two players are better than your best two players, nyah.

Sue, Sue, Sue. I may catch some flack for this, but I don't think she played her best game tonight. Sure, she scored a career high and seemed to will this win into being - but that was the second half. In the first half, she and Simone were the only two players who seemed to be affected by this game's importance. In her case, that is a little surprising given her big game history. The Fire faithful would attribute Sue's lackluster first half performance to the defense of the Portland guards. There may certainly be something to that, but Sue also forced a couple of turnovers herself and seemed a step slow on defense and got burned a few times by the flashing Fire guards. The second half was a different story. She didn't play the 1 spot much at all in the second half and I think that may have taken some of the defensive pressure off because she obviously went to town. As I said above, it was Lauren and Sue who answered the Fire's scores in the second half. When the rest of the Storm weren't scoring or couldn't score, Sue was there with the answer. She is the obvious choice for the Stormfans Player of the Game, but I bet she is at home tonight and is not happy with her performance.

Here's a quick run-down of how the other Storm players fared tonight. Kamila was shut down almost completely. She was 0-11 from the floor and was only able to get a few rebounds. The Fire forwards and centers really concentrated on Kamila and her frustration could be felt in the nose bleeds. Adia needs to work on her free throws (and maybe her jumpers), but then again she could also leave the scoring to others and keep doing what she is doing now - bringing the hard core defense every night. Stiles racked up the points, but Adia was in her mug all the time. She is also the queen of the jump ball, again forcing at least 2 or 3 jump calls tonight. Amanda was quiet but timely tonight. She made up for some of Kamila's missing points and rebounds, and also got a couple of important steals. Michelle played the point a lot tonight and seemed to be off her game a bit. She definitely got frustrated with how she was playing and smacked the scorer's table after one near-broken play. Simone also seemed a bit off and was rushing things. Felicia had the least playing time and was a non-factor tonight. Starbird hit a couple of her trademark runners, but was also quiet. As I said, this game wasn't really well played overall, but the Storm did what they needed to win.

The other main thing I noticed about this game was how Angie and I reacted to the win. When the Storm beat the Sparks, we were both stunned and giddy. We kept saying things like, "I can't believe we just did that." Tonight, we were stunned, but still... I don't know if unsettled is the right word. Maybe it was the fact that until the last 19 seconds or so, we never felt the Storm were in control of this game. Maybe it was the fact that in the LA game, the Storm had nothing to lose while here they did. And, maybe it is because the job isn't done yet and the two games we have left are going to be as tough as this one. Angie said it was like passing a big test to get into a difficult school or something. Yeah, you got past the first hurdle, but the hard work is yet to come. It will be interesting (in as detached a way as I can get) to see if the Storm come off of this game with confidence or if they come out and play tight on Sunday. Since they only need to win 1 of the 2 remaining games, will they relax a little bit and play more freely, or will they relax too much and force the Sacramento game into another must win. We're happy. The first test has been passed. Now the hard work begins.

Oh, by the way - say it with me now:

Win and we're in.

Notes:

Takeisha Lewis showed the pregame crowd what a throw down dunk should look like. Yes, Sylvia Crawley has been dunking regularly during the Fire's pregame warmups, but her dunks look a lot like the Diva's anemic glorified layup dunk. Big Dog showed that she knows how to put some hurt on the ball. After the team had finished stretching, most of the players went into the locker room. Felicia stayed down at the south basket and Michelle and Takeisha came down to the north basket to take a few more shots. Stormrocks and I were sitting in the first row as is our want before the game and as Takeisha slid over in front of us shooting the ball, Stormrocks started telling her to dunk it. Before we knew it, she was running down the lane and clanged the ball off the back of the rim. She got a cheer for that and calls to try again. She did and slam it went. So, the question you are asking yourself is, "Scott, did you get a picture?" I had just turned my stinking camera off when she tried the first. I didn't think she was going to try again so fast and I didn't have time to get the damn thing back on and set up in time. I said many bad words under my breath as I made my way back up to my regular seats.

At the end of the first half, the Storm got the ball with 4 seconds left. Coach Dunn subbed in Kate Starbird. Of course, everyone was thinking, "Half-court shot!" Well, so was the Fire. They covered both Sue and Kate like Vice President Cheney at a press conference answering questions about his Halliburton shenanigans - deny, deny, deny. Kamila ended up with the ball and missed horribly from about two-thirds court. The team gave her a hard time as they headed into the tunnel for the half.

So the Fire fans showed up with about 400 in their bus group. Now, you've got to give them their due for getting that many people to come on the road trip, especially since we could only muster a measly 60 or so when we went down there. But, and this was the fun part - they in no way, and I mean no way, out yelled the Storm fans or made any real noise difference to this game. Wait a minute you say, there were 13,000 of us and 400 of them. FEH! I say to you. They were sitting together, seemed to be organized, brought their own noise sticks and still didn't make a dent in the din. Also, no Spot the mean-spirited Fire Dog. Doppler even went up to their section and used some sort of leaf blower equipped with a massive roll of toilet paper to "spray" t.p. all over them. All I've got to say is they bring 400, next year we bring 500. It's on.

The Aussie guys were in full game regalia again and were trying very hard to get the wave started. They would run up and down in front of the 3 side sections on the west side of the Key. They would go up and down the aisles gesturing for people to get up to no avail. Maybe it was the general sense of unease in the crowd during the game, but no one was following their lead. Nice try mates. We got up and went "woooo" when the wave got to us. We tried.

We almost had another fight tonight. During the loooong timeout when the refs were allowing the Fire bench to reattach Tamicha Jackson's eyebrow, Adia and Sylvia Crawley got into it as they were jockeying for position in anticipation for the tip. The refs had to step in and Coach Dunn eventually had Adia slide over a bit. It was kind of comical actually mainly because the argument boiled down to "I was here first." "No you weren't." "Yes I was" Etc.

Daniel Shapiro's family was sitting in the row in front of us. I leaned in and told his mother that he is a great guy and those of us who have had a chance to talk to him all like him a lot. She seemed a bit surprised at first, but was appreciative in a mom sort of way.

The Thunderstix were a hit, so to speak. I don't have any idea how much those things cost, but I think that if the Storm supplied us with reusable ones at the beginning of the season (I don't think these ones can be deflated and then reinflated easily), we could be making that much noise all season long.

It was so satisfying to see the upper bowl open on both sides tonight. I can't imagine how any of the new fans at tonight's game could have gone away unhappy. True, the Storm needed to win this game for a lot of reasons, but the fact that they did in front of their largest crowd ever can only mean good things in the future. In fact, the upper bowl for Sunday's game against Utah has already been opened because there are already 10,000 tickets sold for that game. Now the goal has to be to sellout the entire Key. I know, small steps - but can you imagine a completely sold-out Key?

There was a pregame rally/party at Jalisco's. A few of the faithful got together to knock back some beverages and talk hoops. Stormrocks was pacing like an expectant parent. We were all so nervous we were vibrating in our seats. Stormfan7 was the only one who got carded - she must have "under 21" written on her forehead because she got bumped from the festivities. Stormrocks and I left early to go stand in line so I don't know if Doppler showed up to lead to fans to the Key or not.