Submitted by | Beancounter

We were the Purple Couch People! And Teddy didn't even have to sing the national anthem to get us there.

I always wondered how you get to go to the couch (way better than those 2nd row courtside buttbreakers). Now I know. And I ain't telling. Tee-hee, J/K, but there's nothing to know. They just pick somebody. That guy has the best job!

Him: "Would you like the opportunity to be the purple couch people?"

Us: "Yes!!! Um, what do we have to do? Pass a quiz? Sing the national anthem?"

Him: "Nope, you just did it. You're the purple couch people."

Meet the guy at 3 minutes into the game, he takes us around to the purple couch entrance to meet Doppler. We're supposed to go in at the next time out, but Doppler's somewhat delayed. He's got a headset in his suit so the handlers can tell him things. Guy tells us, please wear the sponsors' t-shirts while you go down the stairs (WA St Lottery) -- you can take them off when you get there if you want to. Please wear the bag over your shoulder. Some confusion at the top of the stairs, then on down with the whole spilling popcorn routine. (Happened to catch this bit on a late news report -- forgot which channel though.)

Doppler flops on the couch and I snugged up to him -- this was after all the popcorn dumping. High fives and such, then I told him that I love his knee-jacking routine. So he showed me how he did it. It's obvious and all, but it was fun to get the lesson. He handed me the empty bucket, and not knowing what else to do with it, I put it on my head. It fit!!

For the record, the couch is quite comfy! If you're in the market, head on over to Ikea. I wasn't too sure, given its straight up sides and such, but it's very nice. Plus, from that spot, all my beancounter friends were able to find me. Scary, all my friends are accountants.

Okay, here's a few close-ups from the cushy confines:

Sandy is intense on the court. Less Lord of the Rings elf and more Leprechaun waiting to bite your arm off.

Simone looks incredibly agile up close and Sass is right about the shimmying. It's too funny. But that one slippery move to the bucket was amazing. Is it just me or is Simone improving. AD may just be the perfect coach for this team.

We were so close that Teddy could see Kamila's smallpox vaccination mark on her left arm.

LJ is getting more definition in her limbs. A little less smooth, headed to ripply.

There are a lot of men at Storm games. I was looking in the crowd for an older-ish gentleman that I had given my free passes to. I forgot what section the tickets were in. There were SO MANY older-ish gentlemen there. It was really cool. Plus, all around us on the couch a lot of young guys in expensive seats who were really into the game. Hollering at Simone for more shimmies. One guy near by hollered at Indiana after they made one of their not very many baskets, "It's okay, we'll give you one now and then." I'm always amused when people say "we" in talking about their fave team. For some reason, it amused me more coming from this guy. He also hollered out to Tom Mauer (guy ref) after a collision that left Coretta Brown on the floor, "Hey ref, great no call." Mauer gave him a thumbs up.

There was a funny bad call (forgot what it was about) where Sue just started smirking at the ref. They had this whole conversation where the ref was talking and explaining and Sue was just smirking.

You probably saw the "fight" under the basket between Adia and Stephanie White on an inbounds play. They were both determined to stand in the same spot and they kept putting their arms at each others' throats. Both looking righteously P-O'ed. The refs didn't do much but shake their fingers. It was amusing.

One of the camera assistants came to talk to me on a time out. "What did you get in your bag? How's the couch? Can I sit with you? Etc." She was pretty funny.

Kamila was clotheslined by Nat's forearm at one point with no call. She is one tough broad. That charge she took was stunning.

At 2:44 left in the game (score 72/43) Sonya said to team as they came down the court, "It's okay, lotta game left."

It's fun to be on the purple couch, with all the silliness and such. It's fun to see things up close for a change. But I'm not a very good watcher from that level. I get too entranced by details and have a hard time seeing the flow of the game. Of course, that's true no matter where I sit, but I tend to see a little more of the big picture from my regular seats. Anyway, I wouldn't give up the experience. The Storm/arena staff were all quite friendly.

Submitted by | Coach.Gym.Rat

LJ and Kamila: Solid players - both should be all star starters.

You know it's gonna be a good game when Kamila can draw the offensive foul!

Doppler: He was all over the place and doin' some funky new dance moves. He had it going on!

Fever fans sitting behind me "I didn't drive 1500 miles to see you dribble the ball around" were complaining about the team dribbling the ball around wasting shot clock. I know how that feels.

Over all the team played wicked good. Filthy assists and killer three pointers. Saturday will be the litmus test for higher caliber teams though. Bring it!

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