Final score: Storm 62 – Sparks 76 (L) (8-7)

Submitted by BrrringIt

Got to the Stables and paid $15 to park. I heard there was cheaper parking to be had, but traffic was bad and we were meeting the Socks. A nice surprise when SiC-ko joined us. Went to Fox Sports Grill for a bite. Not good, too expensive, the one in Seattle is 1000 times better. Sass stopped by our table, and the California chapter of Stormfans was complete.

We got inside and were surprised no one heckled us for our jerseys. In the past, we endured all manner of verbal abuse. Socks told me the atmosphere at the games has changed drastically since the new owners took over. We were to find that to be true during the game, as well.

Anthem: Nice harmonies by a choir from The Buckley School.

Attendance: 8032. Much more than in years past. Sass told me earlier that Candace Parker has single-handedly brought back women's basketball to LA. Good for them.

Our seats were about 10 rows behind the bench. As I have mentioned before, the stairs are not as steep in the Stables as they are in the Key, so you are a lot farther away. Sue's dad was a few rows behind us. 04WNBAChamps and her dad were in the next section over. Jayda came up to say 'hi' and that her wifi wasn't working so she couldn't blog during the game. We yelled for our team during their quiet intros. Then the Sporks came out and they set off actual fireworks in the arena. Loud.

We stood for the first basket and no one yelled at us. New Socks said she wanted to get a t-shirt that said, "Rebound, dammit."

We were playing pretty well in the first quarter, passing well and playing good defense. We were up by one at the end of it.

1st Q: 19-18 Seattle

The dance team is the Sparkids. No hoochie in sight. They were good. They did a routine with the mascot, Sparky the dog, that began with, "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" and morphed into "Who Let the Dogs Out." Cute.

The second quarter was much like the first, we were staying with them, nothing spectacular. There is not really anyone left on the Sporks to hate on anymore. LL and DM-J maybe. Murriel Page is a thug, but she didn't do too much this game.

Halftime: 35-33 LA

Entertainment was the Sparks Fitness Challenge. Two contestants compete in a drill involving pushups, situps, running and layups.

The Sporks came out gunning in the 3rd. It was horrible. The next thing we knew, they were up by 10. The PA guy in the Stables used to encourage the fans to act like jerks during the opposing team's free throws ("Shake your keys!"). Now he doesn't do anything and they act like fans act everywhere. A refreshing change.

Sue came out with a bloody knee that the trainer patched up in a hurry. That guy can move fast if he needs to.

Our shooting went to hell in the 3rd. We were 2 of 18 from the field.

3rd Q: 57-43 LA

The bench came in and Beck's 3 cut the lead to 11. Then Katie cut it to 8. Glad her shot is finally falling. Santos finally got some minutes. She also got four fouls in four minutes. Agler put the starters back in and they couldn't do anything. He gave up at the 3 minute mark and put the bench back in. The story of this game was Candace Parker. OMG, what an amazing skill set this girl has. We had no answer for her. Her dunk in the last minute was the icing on this crappy cake. I didn't even see it because when she stole the ball and broke away, the entire crowd stood up in expectation. They only stand up if someone's throwing t-shirts, so they must have known what was coming. I will be impressed when she dunks while being guarded. I suspect because it is such a crowd pleaser, she has been told to do it at least once a game if she gets the chance. I wouldn't call her 'unsportsmanlike' for it.

Final: 76-62 LA

It hurt to watch T Wright try to make something happen in the 4th. Memo: you weren't Sue Bird when you played PG, you're not Betty Lennox at SG, either. Fighting your way inside to try a circus shot that doesn't go in is embarassing to watch. I guess I have to give her credit for at least trying.

Perfect Storm, my Aunt Fanny. We have some veteran talent, yes. But we don't do what we know works. Remember Sue Bird to Lauren Jackson? How that was once compared to Stockton-to-Malone? It is now a distant memory. Didn't Agler ever see the Storm play? Didn't he scout them to figure out how to defend against that? He doesn't seem to know who Lauren Jackson is. Reminder: She's the MVP. Compare her numbers to last year and see what is wrong with this picture.

Yolanda Griffith had better start hitting her free throws or she will be a giant waste of a veteran's salary.

They outrebounded us and killed us on second-chance points.

We are going out to Santa Monica Pier this morning then heading to the airport and home. Sorry we couldn't bring the KeyArena mojo. This team is going to need a lot more than that to compete in the Western Conference, not to mention this league.

Submitted by 04wnbachamps

So, since Brrringy was at the game too, there will be MANY things that I write here that are the same. Sorry if I sound like a broken record. I'll just tell it from my point of view

Staples wasn't hard to find at all. You can see it while driving on "The 10" as they call in in LA. We parked in the parking lot next to the LA Convention Center, paid $12. More expensive than around Seattle, but hey, it's LA!

We were a bit early for the game, so when my dad and I were waiting in line for the doors to open, there were some looks from the Sporks fans of, "Woah, Seattle fans" but no heckling or anything. Brrringy was right, there were no rude people or foul language towards us. I was expecting the worst!

Pregame: We saw the Storm practicing, and Nancy was helping out, which was cool. I didn't see Agler anywhere. Brrringy and Mini came up to us and started talking a little, and I saw NewSocks too. 10 minutes before the game, Jayda came up and said hello, and talked to us for a while.

I saw Ashley and yelled her name, she saw me and signed my old "Bring It" Storm car flag from a few years back. Izi's signature was on it, and Ashley said "Aww, Izi!". I guess everyone misses her.

National Anthem was from the Buckley School choir. Not bad, there was a guy solo, but the only thing that bothered me was that they sang "Gleaming" and "Streaming" more like "Gleeeeeeaming" and "Streeeeeaming".

Fireworks surprised me. Kinda cool, but it must have surprised the little toddlers or babies there

1st quarter
LJ and LL started the tipoff. Didn't see who tipped it, but LA scored first. 2 minutes into the game there was a sweet pass to Yo who scored. A nice 3 pointer from Sue, too.

During the timeout, the Sparkids performed. IMO, I think they have about the same talent as our Dance Troupe, but our Dance Troupe may have more complex moves than the Sparkids for some songs. Not bad though.

Back from the timeout, the Diva tried to show off and make a fancy layup. Missed. Some Storm fans sitting in front of us yelled "Lisa, showing off doesn't give you a bigger paycheck!" Tanisha's shot got stuck between the backboard and the rim, like Izi's free throw last year(?) which turned into a jump ball.

2nd quarter
There were some lousy calls this quarter.
Around 6:36, Yo and others all started falling. I don't remember but I think they called a charge or a traveling call on somebody.

Major turnover by T at 5:14. Not surprised.

3:33 MONSTER rebound my Ash, just flew out of nowhere and grabbed the rebound. She IS a rebounding monster!

Shot clock violation at 2:41 on the Sparks, I believe. Good defense by Seattle.

35-33 Sparks

Halftime
It was a "Fit Challenge".
Contestants had to run half court, do 5 push-ups, go the rest of the way, do 5 sit-ups (looked more like crunches to me) then grab a basketball, dribble between cones, then make a layup. The team who finished first won something.

3rd quarter
Swin made 2 FT's to start it off.
A charging call on LJ...didn't look like one. Downside about the Staples is that they don't show any replays. You don't get to see if it really was a charge, foul, etc. There was a definite charge on LL, but of course the refs didn't call it.

5:47 Sue called a "timeout". She must have been bleeding, though, because everyone stayed on the court.

Another monster rebound by Ash, 4:05.

There was a "everybody clap your hands" thing too. Sure shows you the originality.

With 9.8 seconds left, you could tell that Candace wanted to dunk. She was about to, but didn't at the last moment and layed it up.

57-43 Sparks.

4th quarter
Two back-to-back 3 pointers from Beck and KG. Nice to see Beck starting to hit those shots!

The bench players seemed to have a LOT of turnovers. Weird line-ups started to come in.

Jump ball between Swin and LL. Swin tipped it, but LA got the ball

With seconds remaining in the game, there was that dunk that CP3 wanted to do earlier. My dad mumbled, "At least we got to see history". True, but I thought it was pretty cool. I can barely touch the NET! She's definitely going to be a role model for many kids.

Tanisha ended the game with 2 FT's for a 76-62 loss.

I was expecting to see the Storm play better, but they are NOT effective on the road. Hope to see a W on Sunday.