Submitted by | eclair

*Sigh.* The verklempt began with the video they show before player intros. I looked at the faces, the shots, I thought about how different the Storm has looked every year, and wondered how many of those girls we won't see again. *Sniff.*
 
We went 2-1/2 minutes without a single score in the game. (And then the score was one measley FT.) A very frenetic and icky display. Sacto began the game swarming on defense, and it was clear that every time Simone got the ball, the plan was to smother her and count on her making a mistake. After a time it stopped working--Sacto just stated to look tired, like they were wishing their season was over tonight.
 
Yoyo was pretty expressive tonight. She and Tully tangled. Yo got the foul, and hit the floor hard. She laid on the floor motionless and spread out, which would have been worrisome, except that she was winking at the fans courtside by her head. Later, she fouled under the north basket, and did a little skippy dance saying something--Scott you were right there, what did the girl say? The Storm bench lost it--hell, I lost it, and I was sitting way far away. She talked to herself, she grinned, she gestured. She was wonderful to watch.
 
Alisa worked through the pain tonight--she had a little extra spring in her step, and did a servicable job in the paint, God love her.
 
Chantelle Anderson, honey? Please don't do that crap to Lauren anymore. I don't know how the refs didn't see it. Thankfully LJ just swatted her away like an annoying little bug. A little bug with a big wingspan.
 
Two great threes: When Tonya hit hers, her husband Michael was so happy and proud he just about jumped into the row behind him. And when Tully nailed hers, the bench went WILD!!! Sandy, Rita, Kamila, and Amanda were just plain silly with laughter.
 
You ever notice that Ruthie Bolton has an enormous head?  
 
They flashed on the Jumbotron that LJ won the scoring title. I wish you could have seen Amanda's face. That girl was so happy and so proud for her teammate. She pumped her fist as she sat down.  
 
Lauren came out with about four minutes left, after jamming her finger while going up for a rebound. Her leaving the game was hardly noticed--I guess we all expected her to come back in. Seems like we never really got to say goodbye.
 
Sign of the night: LJ 4 Governor of California. But Brrring It and the Little Bringy got lots of face time on the big screen with their classic signs, too. The good ones never go out of style.
 
After the game the girls stayed out, threw t-shirts, and just plain acted silly. Lauren had a turn, saying that she loved the Seattle fans, Sandy had a turn, Sue had a turn--at the end of Sue's turn, she put the mic into Sun's face, saying, "Sun has something she wants to say to you guys." Poor kid looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. She grunted out something that made everybody laugh. I, of course, was talking to my seatmate, and missed it.  
 
When they handed the mic to Kamila, she began to cry. And cry and cry and cry. "I never cry" my ass. The sweet thing was that her teammates huddled around her, until she was ready to speak. So much love.
 
While one of the players was speaking, Sue launched a balled-up t-shirt at Doppler at extremely close range. (See? She harasses big red fuzzy lovable pretend characters. *Tsk.*) Doppler hit the dirt hard, and rolled around for several minutes as if he had been mortally wounded. It was very funny. Later, Simone tried to remove Doppler's pants. I don't see what the challenge was there, I mean, he pretty much takes off his pants every game. I'm sure I've been scarred permanently from looking at all those acres (hectares for my Aussie friends) of red acetate.
 
Anybody know if that was Lauren's Mom and Dad?
 
I watched the last two games,and I hardly recognized our team. Those reserves that could hardly tie their shoelaces last week were getting the job done liked seasoned pros. Damn. Damndamndamn.
 
I'm not as sad as I was the night after the SASS game when Kamila was hurt, but I am indeed sad. Val Ackerman, are you listening? We need another month. I need another month.

Submitted by | stormrocks

The best word for the night is emotional. It started with Edna Campbell coming out to give an award to a cancer/anemia survivor. Being the class act that Seattle fans are, the uniform didn't matter (she was ours first anyway) there was much, much love given to her. She broke down crying and I seriously doubt I was the only one in the crowd that had tears in their eyes as well.

Then the emotion became stunned anger over the "quality" officiating we were seeing. Someone needs to buy Val Ackerman a serious clue.  
Then there came the point in the second half when the emotion became joy over watching our Stormies take control. Everyone heard appreciation from the crowd and they were one big happy family on the court again. THAT'S what made the season-ender special. They walked off with their heads high and smiling.

Then the talk after the game - they gave the love right back to us. And then, then the mic got handed to Kamila - face it girl we like you, we really, really like you. She finally lost it and had tears streaming down her face. I think she finally understands that even though her name doesn't get mentioned as often as Sue or LJ's we appreciate that she's (what I like to call) the hardest working woman in the WNBA.  
 
Funniest thing of the night for me was Tully driving and getting her lay-up blocked. Walker blocked it and after the foul call they were hugging and laughing. Then Walker's shooting foul shots and Tully's back at halfcourt with Sue. Sue was laughing and making an underhand motion - you just know it was "Umm, Tully, when you go play with the big girls you gotta shoot like this."

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