Final score: Storm 61 – Monarchs 74 (L) (11-11)

Attendance | 11221

Anthem Watch | Verrrrrrrrrrry slow, but he was only 12 so I'll cut him some slack.

Fan Psyche | Does it really matter anymore?

Game Highlight | Were there any highlights?

Halftime | Something with mascots. I was too depressed to care.

SF.O Keyword of the Game | Oklahoma, NOT OK

Game Photos

Did we have a game today? I'm not sure. Everything is a bit grey and hazy right now. I do know that it feels like I've been kicked in the gut and lied to by multi-millionaires.

The news that the Sonics and Storm had been sold to a group from Oklahoma City started spreading through the stands before the game began like a California wildfire. You could see people checking their cell phones and handhelds, trying to get the latest rumor or quote from the web or their friends. Shock, anger, disbelief — all of it was on the faces of the Storm faithful. The players were reacting the same way.

We heard from someone highly reliable that one of the players asked as she stepped into the arena today whether she still had a job or not. The fans weren't the only ones feeling like they'd been sucker punched.

With LJ on the bench looking very gimpy any time she walked and then the news that the team was being sold to someone from the ass-end of nowhere mid-America, the Storm looked and played like they carrying 50lb packs on their backs. Whatever genius thought it was a good idea to spring this crap on the team right before a game needs to have their damn head examined. What am I saying? This whole arena deal debacle has so utterly ignored the Storm that the new and former owners probably didn't even know the Storm were playing today.

The real unfortunate part of all of this in terms of the game is that the Monarchs came out and were played some of the worst basketball I've ever seen from them. They couldn't score points with a ladder and a 5-foot wide hoop. If the Storm had come out with any kind of real energy, they would have been leading by 15 at the end of the quarter at least. Instead, the Storm couldn't put anything together either. It was only a matter of time before the Monarchs got their heads in the game and started hitting baskets. That started happening right about 2 or 3 minutes into the second quarter. The game was basically over right about then.

The Storm just didn't have anything going in this game. Betty was hitting, but since she was the only one who was the Monarchs started clamping down on her and that was pretty much it. The only other Storm player to hit double figures was Tanisha with 11, and that really only came towards the end of the game when the lead was flirting with 20 and the Monarchs were coasting.

Is this how it ends, on a whimper? The new owner of the team kept saying how much he and his group "desired" to keep both teams in Seattle. He was also quick to add the qualifier that they stay here only if he gets a satisfactory arena deal in the next 12 months. The likelihood of that happening is as close to zero as you can get considering there was a complete stalemate already between the city and ownership, there is an initiative being readied for the next election that would prohibit any public money from being spent on pro sports arenas (and thanks to those dumbasses for picking now to get serious about making a stink over public funds and pro sports arenas — you're about $800 million too late geniuses), and with the overarching fact that this new ownership group is already on record as desperate to have an NBA team in Oklahoma City. Oh yeah, and that 12 month timeline fits nicely into the timeline for when the Hornets leave OKC to go back to New Orleans. I guess we'll get one more Storm season in Seattle. The future is dark and getting darker fast.