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July 3, 2008The Storm Are Now Seattle's Official Pro Basketball TeamThe Sonics are officially gone. Clay Bennett and his fellow owners are paying Seattle $45M to immediately break their lease at Key Arena and move the team to Oklahoma City for the 2008 - 2009 season. Seattle keeps the name of the franchise. And, with that, the Storm are now Seattle's official pro basketball team. So long, Sonics. It's not the outcome a lot of people wanted, but it's the one we've all seen coming for a long, long time. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 3, 2008 4:08 AM. June 16, 2008Storm 67, Sun 74Ugh. An ugly loss after an ugly game - we played the sloppiest ball I've seen in years during the 3rd quarter; despite things being within a single point for much of the game, we fell apart in the last minute. You could just feel the oxygen go out of Key Arena around the 0:51 mark. Our shooting was off, our defense was rough, and the Sun handed us our first home-court loss of the season. Phooey. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 16, 2008 9:12 PM. May 22, 2008"Two Distinctly Different Storms at KeyArena"Seattle Weekly's Mike Seely saw the game on Tuesday, and had much the same reaction I did: Down 45-39 at the start of the fourth to the Sacramento Monarchs, a team which has historically owned the Storm, something clicked. That something was reserve sharpshooter Katie Gearlds, whose three 3's in the first few minutes of the quarter pulled the Storm into the lead. Suddenly, LoJack woke up, Griffith and Swin Cash started working a wicked two-woman game in the paint, and Sue Bird morphed into Chris Paul (Bird, Jackson, and Cash led the team with 17 points apiece). By the time the dust cleared, the Storm had outscored the Monarchs 35-17 in the quarter, leading to a decisive 74-62 win that did nothing to diminish Seattle's stature as a favorite to win its second WNBA title. He also "gets" WNBA a bit: I thought the women's game was too slow, too soft, and too gravity-bound. Forced professional exposure to the sport several years ago changed my mind: these gals not only can play, but they play a fundamentally sound, motion-oriented brand of basketball that I'd love to see more guys play. I'll be curious to see what happens to the coverage - and opinion - of the Storm once they're our only professional basketball franchise. I suspect we'll see a lot more people paying attention to the team. (Tip 'o the hat to Jayda Evans' blog.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 22, 2008 8:01 AM. May 20, 2008Storm 74, Monarchs 62Our second home game of the season (actually, our second game of the season, period), and already the Storm are developing a pattern - start slow (we went in to the half 24-34), build a little momentum in the third (we ended the quarter 39-45), and then blow it out in the fourth for a strong win (we were on top by 12 by the time the game was over). Other news: our defense is great, our offense needs work, LJ got her mojo back, and thank God for Swin, Yo, and Katie (who started raining threes in the final quarter and snapped Sacramento). A damn exciting game all 'round. It's a good year to be a Storm fan. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 20, 2008 9:53 PM. May 17, 2008"The Perfect Storm"Elaine and I caught the 2008 Seattle Storm Home Opener tonight; 7 PM, Key Arena, vs. the Chicago Sky. A few notes:
It's going to be a great year - I can feel it. We're vs. Monarchs, Tuesday, 7:30. Be there! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 17, 2008 9:20 PM. May 8, 2008Janelle's Out For 2008Storm Center (and fan favorite) Janelle Burse is out for the 2008 season, sidelined by a foot injury: Days after text-messaging Storm teammate Sue Bird in April, commenting on their team's "crazy and sick" roster, Burse re-aggravated a Jones fracture — a broken bone on the outside of her left foot — while playing overseas that will keep her from playing this WNBA season. In related news, the team roster's been finalized, and we're looking great. Opening night is a week from Saturday! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 8, 2008 5:45 AM. April 22, 2008"New Storm Owners Know How To Make An Entrance"The Times has a terrific piece today by Jerry Brewer on the reconstituted Seattle Storm: Look at the star power on this roster: Griffith, Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, Sheryl Swoopes, Swin Cash. It is a majestic lineup, and we haven't even mentioned accomplished veterans such as Janell Burse. Sure, Swoopes and Griffith are hoping for a little overtime in their careers, but on this team, they just have to be solid role players. ... I've been amazed at the talent that Brian Agler has managed to bring to the team these last two months (Sheryl Swoopes!), and I'm seriously tingling with the possibility that we'll do another championship run this year. The 2008 season is gonna be incredible. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 22, 2008 3:53 PM. February 6, 2008Atlanta Takes Betty & IzzyThe Dream posted their inaugural roster today, along with details of their trades: The list of players selected includes ... Betty Lennox (Seattle Storm) ... Dammit, dammit, dammit. I hope Georgia treats you well, ladies - you'll be missed. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated February 6, 2008 3:29 PM. January 28, 2008WNBA Players & League Have A New AgreementUSA Today is reporting that the WNBA and its players have a new agreement that covers the league through 2013: WNBA players get raises this year — and some get their own hotel rooms — under a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. The per-team salary cap will now grow from $750k/year to $869k/year over the next six years, and a new "flex cap" (eventually as high as $913k/year) has been added to give the owners more discretion to attract and reward talent. Player salaries get a bump, and "core" players (those who can't become free agents) also get more money. Overall, this is good news. I'm still offended that Lauren is as underpaid as she is (relative to the guys) but this is some progress toward paying good wages to these athletes. Now we fans just need to keep stepping up and buying those tickets. (Tip 'o the hat to Womens Hoops Blog.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 28, 2008 4:28 PM. January 25, 2008Welcome To The DreamAtlanta's new-for-2008 WNBA franchise finally has a name - the Dream. Their first home game is Saturday, May 17 vs. Connecticut; they play Seattle for the first time (in Atlanta) on September 2. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 25, 2008 6:54 AM. January 21, 2008LJ Out For 5 Games In '08According to the Daily Telegraph, Lauren Jackson will be out for five games this season so she can prep for the Olympics: Jackson will skip part of the WNBA season to join the world champion Australian Opals in their Olympic preparations. Rumor was that her Australian Olympic commitments might prevent her from playing in Seattle at all in 2008, so this is great news. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 21, 2008 11:06 AM. January 9, 2008Brian Agler Is The New Anne DonovanThe Storm news is on a roll this week; looks like we have a new head coach: San Antonio assistant coach Brian Agler was officially named the Storm's coach and director of player personnel today, replacing Anne Donovan, who resigned Nov. 30. I was incredibly impressed with the Silver Stars last season, and if Agler can bring some of that rejuvenation mojo with him from Texas, it's nothing but good news for us. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 9, 2008 12:55 PM. Meet The Storm's New OwnersThe PI has an article about the four women who came together to buy the Storm: Anne Levinson is a political dynamo, having served as a judge, chairwoman of the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission and deputy mayor of Seattle. Lisa Brummel is our Senior VP of Human Resources here at Microsoft. I'd seen Lisa at a few games, but had no idea she was that big of a fan. Crazy-cool! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 9, 2008 9:31 AM. January 8, 2008Storm Have Been Sold, Are Staying In SeattleWow. The Storm has been sold to local owners, and the team will stay in Seattle, according to sources. WNBA President Donna Orender and Karen Bryant, the Storm's chief operating officer, are scheduled to announce the sale today at an 11 a.m. news conference. What a great way to start the new year! I'm incredibly excited! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 8, 2008 7:07 AM. December 24, 2007Are The Storm Staying?The News Tribune has a bit this morning about the Storm's search for a new coach ("Jackson’s approval key for new coach"): And that person will have WNBA experience, which is considered crucial since the Storm has four players, including reigning league MVP Lauren Jackson, under contract for next season. That means the team will have to make decisions on adding eight players based on last summer’s 12-player roster. But the most interesting piece of news is the second-to-last paragraph: "(Bennett) hasn’t used those exact words, but what he has said is when he files for relocation with the NBA, it’s not going to include the Storm and that in the meantime he is pursuing alternate outcomes for the Storm," Bryant said. Translation: we might be keeping the Storm in Seattle - and, if I'm guessing correctly, Bennett will use the team as a concession to the city during negotiations. (Tip of the hat to Women's Hoops Blog!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 24, 2007 10:58 AM. December 20, 2007Marianne Stanley To Coach The Storm?Storm chief operating officer Karen Bryant hopes to give her short list of potential head coaches to chairman Clay Bennett next week, and Rutgers assistant Marianne Stanley is thought to be at the top of that list. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 20, 2007 7:56 AM. December 14, 20072008 Storm Calendar In .icsAs usual, I've compiled the 2008 Storm game schedule into an .ics file (download here). Home games are marked "Storm vs. [Opponent]", while away games are "Storm @ [Opponent]". If you're an iCal user (or a user of ics-compatible calendar software, such as Outlook), you can simply subscribe to this file to get your calendar populated with all the games. Enjoy! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 14, 2007 6:42 PM. December 13, 20072008 Storm Schedule Is OutThe Storm have published the schedule for their 2008 season - opening day is Saturday, May 17 vs. Chicago. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated December 13, 2007 11:55 AM. November 30, 2007Anne Donovan Resigns As Storm CoachYikes. The Seattle Storm announced today that Anne Donovan has resigned her position as the team's head coach: After five seasons as head coach of the Seattle Storm, Anne Donovan today announced her resignation. Donovan informed Storm Chief Operating Officer Karen Bryant that she will not return for the 2008 season. Donovan has one year remaining on her three-year contract. I'm saddened, but not terribly surprised. The Storm have never really recaptured the magic of 2004's championship run, and the ongoing saga over the team's final home (Seattle? Oklahoma City?) put a dark cloud over the team's future. It's hard to be exited about building a franchise when you don't even know if it'll be around in a year, and Anne's got plenty of options. Thanks for a great few seasons, Ms. Donovan. You'll be missed. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 30, 2007 4:17 PM. November 18, 2007Sydney Morning Herald Compares Jackson And JordanFriday's Sydney Morning Herald has a two-pager that compares Lauren Jackson to Michal Jordan ("Jackson the Jordan of women's game, minus the moolah"): He was, and remains, a multi-million dollar brand. She spends her off-seasons playing in Europe or Asia to supplement her income from the game. In terms of earnings they are worlds apart - but close comparisons between Michael Jordan and Lauren Jackson are legitimate when it comes to the game, according to Andrew Gaze. ... My respect and admiration for Lauren is pretty well established, and it definitely annoys me when people dismiss her simply because there's a "W" in front of her league's initials. The article lists her numerous achievements; take a peek and decide for yourself. (Tip o' the hat to Women's Hoops Blog for the link.) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 18, 2007 12:48 PM. November 3, 2007A Ray Of Light For Storm Fans?Yesterday Clay Bennett and the Professional Basketball Club of Oklahoma announced their intention to move the Sonics to OKC as soon as is feasible: Today we notified Commissioner Stern that we intend to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City if we succeed in the pending litigation with the City, or are able to negotiate an early lease termination, or at the end of the lease term. This is not unexpected; nobody has believed that Bennett or his investors had any intention of keeping the team in Seattle; in fact, one of his money guys, Aubrey McClendon, confirmed it in an interview with a local Oklahoma newspaper back in August. The thing that's got me intrigued, however, is the next paragraph in the release: We have not made a decision regarding the future location of the Seattle Storm. We appreciate the deep local interest and support for the Storm and have begun to evaluate a future course of action for the team. Now that's interesting. Bennett has, thus far, resisted talking about splitting the teams, insisting that Oklahoma City would be a great WNBA market ... which is silly. I wonder if it's finally dawning on him that he might be able to recover some of his costs - and salvage some goodwill - by leaving the Storm here. It's gonna get messy, folks. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 3, 2007 9:12 AM. October 17, 2007WNBA Welcomes AtlantaThe WNBA grew a new team today, welcoming Atlanta to the Eastern Conference and bringing the total number of teams in the league to 14: The WNBA will feature 14 teams in 2008, with the Eastern and Western Conferences comprised of seven teams each. Atlanta will join the Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Detroit Shock, Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Washington Mystics in the Eastern Conference, while the Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, San Antonio Silver Stars and Seattle Storm will continue to comprise the Western Conference. The money factoid, however, is: The Atlanta franchise, which will choose a name, logo, colors and head coach at a later date, is the sixth WNBA team to be independently owned and operated. (Emphasis mine.) The Storm could be the seventh. In the meantime, let's keep "Oklahoma City" off the WNBA franchise list for as long as possible, huh? Welcome, Atlanta! We're looking forward to seeing you in Seattle next year. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated October 17, 2007 11:35 AM. September 5, 2007LJ Gets MVPDespite the Storm's first-round shutout in the finals, Lauren Jackson has earned the league's Most Valuable Player award. She'll receive the award today in Detroit: Storm forward-center Lauren Jackson will be named the WNBA's most valuable player before Game 1 of the league Finals today in Detroit, The Seattle Times has learned. I've said it before, and it bears repeating: Lauren's a force of nature, and amazing to watch on the court. She totally earned this. Way to go, LJ! (Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie!) UPDATE, October 7, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated September 5, 2007 6:37 AM. August 30, 2007"Storm faces offseason of uncertainty for future"Seattle Times' Jayda Evans has a wrap-up piece on the Storm this morning - and the uncertainty around the team's future here in Seattle: "Our last game at the Key and seeing all the fans and seeing how emotional they were made me go, 'Oh, my God, this is really real,' " said Jackson of the standing ovation the team received despite a 17-point Game 1 loss. "Hopefully the team comes back. That's what everyone wants." Fans are on hold until the end of October, when the jousting over the new arena, funding, contracts, and the future home of the teams really starts to boil. Until then, it's all idle speculation and stomach ache. (But I did buy my 2008 season tickets, just in case...) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 30, 2007 9:06 AM. August 29, 2007"Can't Seattle Keep The Storm?"ESPN.com has a column ("Can't Seattle Keep The Storm?") that's worth a read: Frankly, I don't think the Sonics are moving. I've listened to ownership threats for most of my life, and they're rarely more than threats. Clay Bennett is a two-faced carpetbagger of the lowest kind -- in other words, a typical team owner -- but the NBA's ratings are too low for the league to allow him to move the Sonics from the country's 12th-largest market to the 44th. And even if the Sonics were to move, the decision probably would occur too late to move the Storm before next season anyway. Uh, what he said. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 29, 2007 7:38 AM. August 18, 2007Playoffs: August 24, 7 PMThe Storm ended their regular season last night, with a thrilling, high-speed win against Los Angeles, 97 - 77. More importantly, however, the playoff math finally got settled, and Round 1 will be Storm vs. Phoenix; game one is here at Key Arena on Friday, August 24 at 7 o'clock. Should be a hell of a good game (as it usually is with Phoenix) - high-scoring, fluid, fast. Don't miss it. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 18, 2007 7:05 AM. August 11, 2007We're In The PlayoffsTonight was a great night to be a Storm fan for a few different reasons:
The last two regular-season games are Tuesday and Friday. Catch 'em while you can. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 11, 2007 10:01 PM. August 9, 2007The Storm In 2008 ... Sort OfI got an e-mail earlier today that the Storm are selling season tickets for 2008 ... sort of. Since the organization isn't 100% sure they will be back next year, they can't guarantee that there will be a 2008 season, but they're taking 10% deposits against the full ticket price from interested, current season ticket holders. (And if the season fails to materialize, you get your money back.) As you might imagine, I signed right up. Obviously, I'd love to keep the Storm for another year (or longer), but it may not be in the cards (hey, nothing lasts forever). But the mail made me a little sad, because it underscored that these last few games this month might well be ... it. WNBA could be leaving Seattle in very short order (Dammit.) Barring the playoffs, we've got three left this season: Saturday, the 11th (Mystics), Tuesday, the 14th (Lynx) and Friday, the 17th (Sparks). Catch 'em while you can: you won't be sorry. And: fingers crossed for '08! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 9, 2007 7:21 PM. July 28, 2007LJ's 4kLast night, Lauren Jackson scored the 4,000th point of her career, doing so faster than anyone else in the WNBA (209 games), and also becoming the youngest player to do so (26 years old). Elaine and I caught it all from our usual seats in Section 121 of the Key. (Oh, and we also beat the Indiana Fever, 89 to 75.) Earlier this week, I posted a link to an article about Jackson, which talked about her unbelievable skill and raw athletecism: At the All-Star break Jackson was leading the league in scoring (22.4 points a game, the highest average of her career), blocks (2.16) and double doubles (10) and was ranked second in rebounding (9.3). She was also 12th in three-point shooting, hitting at a 40.5% clip. "Lauren Jackson is not a prototype, she's a freak," says Chicago Sky coach Bo Overton. "She's a post player with a guard's body control and skill, who can shoot the three, drive and handle the ball. There's no one like her." Then, on Tuesday, she posted a league-high 47 points (!) in the game versus the Mytics. A lot of people ask me what it is that I love about going to Storm games, and, much as there's a lot to like about the league and the team, watching Lauren Jackson do her thing on the court is just ... incredible. She's an phenomenal player at the absolute top of her game, and there's nobody like her. Jaws drop. The last regular Storm home game of the season is Friday, August 17. If you've yet to see LJ in action, be sure to catch her before the end of '07. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 28, 2007 9:20 AM. July 24, 2007Lauren And Sue In The NewsI wanted to call out a couple of great articles on the Web right now about Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird. The first comes from Sports Illustrated ("How Lauren Got Her Groove Back"), and gives some nice depth to Jackson's personal journey in the WNBA over the last few years: Perhaps that explains why Jackson, 26, continues to defy basketball convention. Now in her seventh year in the WNBA, the 2003 league MVP is playing the most productive and joyful basketball of her career despite stress fractures in her left shin. At the All-Star break Jackson was leading the league in scoring (22.4 points a game, the highest average of her career), blocks (2.16) and double doubles (10) and was ranked second in rebounding (9.3). She was also 12th in three-point shooting, hitting at a 40.5% clip. "Lauren Jackson is not a prototype, she's a freak," says Chicago Sky coach Bo Overton. "She's a post player with a guard's body control and skill, who can shoot the three, drive and handle the ball. There's no one like her." It also confirms that if the Storm move to Oklahoma, she's not going with them: Jackson is signed through the 2008 season but says she won't be heading anywhere. "I want to stay here," she says of Seattle. "The thought of not having a team here, or not being able to end my WNBA career here, is really sad. It definitely weighs on my head because I know this could be my last year in the league." She says there are a few other teams she would consider playing for, "but it's hard to pick and choose where you go in this league." The second article is on ESPN ("Rolling in Rubles"), and it focuses on Sue Bird's experiences playing in Russia before the start of the regular WNBA season. Due to team and player salary caps ($728,000 and $93,000 respectively), many WNBA players spend their WNBA off-season playing around the globe as a way of monetizing their talents. In this case, Sue and Phoenix player Diana Taurasi went to Moscow to make nearly a half-million each playing ball: Bird, 26, and Taurasi, 24, are too young to appreciate the incongruity that the man responsible for the public funding of their team's sparkling new arena is Moscow region governor B.V. Gromov, a former general and the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan in 1989. For that matter, they are too young to fully appreciate the irony of American basketball players traveling to Russia to earn a far better living than possible in the United States. They learned about the Soviet Union in history class, certainly, but they do not personally remember when Reagan first called the U.S.S.R. the "Evil Empire", nor the decades when the threat of nuclear war between the two countries was a constant source of tension and worry. Though they somewhat understand the complexities of those times because they saw "Rocky IV." Both are good, and worth a read. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 24, 2007 9:37 AM. June 15, 2007Storm 84, Comets 71I feel for the Houston Comets, I really do. They're a talented team, full of great players who are aggressive, can shoot the ball, and aren't afraid to give their all. The Comets won the first two WNBA titles in the league, and have proved to be serious contenders every year since. Until this year. The Comets came in to Key Arena tonight with a zero and eight record for the season, and left with zero and nine. They've yet to win a game in 2007, and, for a team that talented, it's gotta sting. The Storm turned in a solid, solid performance tonight, despite some slop midway through and a lot of turnovers and steals. The Comets, on the other hand, were hungry, and it appeared to be their undoing - moving too fast, fouling too often, shooting too prematurely. I think their record is hanging over their heads right now, and it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy. (Of course, some Storm fans claim that we jinxed 'em after our 44 - 9 run upset their imminent victory at the Storm Home Opener; I, however, think it's Just One Of Those Things.) I respect the Comets - they're just having a rough streak. Luck on the next one, I'm sure. In the meantime, it's great to see Seattle stay in the hunt and play such solid ball for four straight quarters. We're vs. the Shock next Wednesday. See you all there! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 15, 2007 10:19 PM. June 9, 2007Storm 90, Lynx 76The Storm handed the Minnesota Lynx a defeat tonight, scoring 90 to 76 at Key Arena. It was a hell of a game. Fast, furious, lots of back-and-forth for the first half, and then the Storm just ... pulled away, and stayed there. (Anne was so confident in the ourcome that she benched the starting lineup halfway through the fourth quarter.) We snapped our losing streak, so we're 3 and 3. Next up at home is Houston, this Friday. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 9, 2007 11:02 PM. June 2, 2007Storm 68, Silver Stars 78The Silver Stars snapped the Storm's winning streak at Key Arena tonight, handing us our first defeat of the season at home, 68 to 78. What can I say? San Antonio just played better. Despite some great work from Betty, Izzi, JB and Wendy, we were matched for speed, shots and defense all the way through the game. It was close at the half - and damn exciting - but as the game went on, the Silver Stars just ground us into powder. (Plus, those Texas girls are terrific at getting up in your face.) Next home game is Saturday, the 9th vs. the Lynx. Be there. UPDATE, August 5, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated June 2, 2007 10:07 PM. May 23, 2007Storm 100, Mercury 87(The post's title just about says it all, donchathink?) The Storm had an amazing game tonight, both handing the Pheonix Mercury a loss and breaking into the triple digits for the first time ever (the previous franchise-high game had stood at 97 points). The team fired on all cylinders for each of the four quarters - strong offense, outstanding defense, and top-notch rebound work by Janelle Burse, who snagged a career-high 19(!) during the evening. And the final score simply doesn't convey the absolute beating we gave the Mercury, because Anne benched the starting lineup with three minutes left in the game to give floor time to the others. It'd been a 20-point loss (or more) if LJ, Sue, Betty and Janelle had stayed in. Incredible, just incredible. I remember watching early-season games last year, and seeing the Storm stumble as they learned to play together. It's a natural thing - basketball is such a team sport that the players need time to find sync their rhythms, trust each other, find their intensity. Well, that learning curve is gone in 2007. The Storm, today, are playing like they did at the tail end of the 2004 Championship season. They're tight, they're working well together, and they're hungry. We're only 2 games in to the season, but ... something feels different. (I'm just saying.) The next home game is June 2, against San Antonio. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 23, 2007 10:28 PM. May 19, 20072007 Storm Home Opener
I'm hoarse as hell, and grinning from ear to ear. It was a hell of a good game. We opened strong, with a some good, old-fashioned horse-trading between us and Houston. As the game progressed into the second quarter, it became clear that Anne Donovan had failed to make the official blood sacrifice to the Gods Of Basketball, or something, because everything - everything - we threw bounced, missed, got intercepted, you name it. And so the Comets pulled ahead (they led 46 - 37 at halftime), and kept pulling ahead, eventually building a 60 - 38 lead with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. (Yes, 60 - 38. It was incredibly demoralizing.) And then ... something changed. We clicked, pulled it together, whatever you want to call it, and suddenly were piling up shot after shot after shot - twos, threes, free throws ... and pulled off a 44 - 9 run over the last bit of the game. It was amazing, exhilarating, incredible - a complete snatch of victory from the jaws of defeat. And the even more amazing, if-you-saw-it-in-a-movie-you-wouldn't-believe-it moment came at the very end. With just 3.2 seconds left in the game, Lauren gets the ball, runs for the Comets basket, and launches a half-court shot. Which, of course, goes in. (Wow.) The game was a sellout, and Elaine and I were stylin' from our new, third-row seats over in section 121. The fans were out in force tonight, holding signs and doing the facepaint thing. I'm really impressed with how the Storm faithful have rallied around the team - this may be our last season, ever, in Seattle, but we're not about to send the team gently into that good night. (Key Arena remains one of the best places in the world to watch WNBA, in my humble opinion.) The Storm blogosphere has opened up in recent weeks, too - in addition to Jayda Evans' blog over at the Seattle Times, I'm also reading the (always-excellent) Chasing The Title, as well as StormTracker (the official team blog) and The Horton Report. It's great to have so much coverage, and so many perspectives. 2007's just getting warmed up, and if this is the Storm's final season here in Seattle, then it looks like it's gonna be one for the books. Game on! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated May 19, 2007 10:26 PM. April 25, 2007Eight Days EarlierScore! The Storm are playing a pre-season game against the Monarchs on Friday, May 11 (a good eight days before the home opener on the 19th), and today it was announced that we, the season-ticket holders, get free tix. Lane and I are so going. (Is April too soon to talk about Christmas coming early?) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 25, 2007 10:13 PM. April 17, 2007End GameAnd, just like that, it was over. The Washington State Legislature has tabled the proposal to build the Sonics and Storm a shiny new half-billion-dollar arena down in Renton. As I've said previously, I agree with this decision - much as I love the Storm, there is precious little public interest to be served by subsidizing the payroll deficits and bad business decisions of a bunch of private team owners. Following the announcement of the Legislature's non-action, Clay Bennett, new owner of the Soncis/Storm, said: "This is a staggering and quite likely a debilitating blow to our efforts to develop a world-class arena facility. Clearly at this time the Sonics and Storm have little hope of remaining in the Puget Sound region." Translation: "We're taking our ball and going home to Oklahoma." Yes, I'm sad. Sad that the economics of the NBA are so broken that they require massive public subsidy. Sad that Seattle is losing a long-time icon (the SuperSonics, whatever you may think of their record this year, have been part of the Seattle cultural landscape for four decades). And sad that the new team owners are so freakin' vindictive that they're taking the Storm with them. WNBA is a distinct market from the NBA - the league tends to do better in "Creative Class" cities like Chicago, New York, or Washington, DC, and fail in places like Orlando or Cleveland. Seattle has one of the best WNBA markets in the country, and I'm willing to bet that the team struggles to find an audience in Oklahoma City. The new owners could easily split the teams, leave the Storm here, and take their NBA prize with 'em to OK. But they won't. That's business, and that's life. Nothing lasts forever. The Storm home opener is Saturday, May 19 - just over a month from now. Catch the action while you can, y'all. I'll be there. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated April 17, 2007 1:34 PM. March 30, 2007Izi's Back!It's official: the Storm have re-signed Iziane Castro Marques for the 2007 season. This is great, great news. The home opener (vs. Houston) is May 18 - seven weeks from tomorrow. Can. Not. Wait. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 30, 2007 5:56 PM. January 6, 20072007 Storm Calendar In .icsAs I (seem to) do every year, I've compiled the 2007 Storm Home calendar into an .ics file (download here). If you're an iCal user (or a user of ics-compatible calendar software, such as Outlook), you can simply subscribe to this file to get your calendar populated with all the games. Enjoy! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 6, 2007 8:18 AM. January 4, 2007Storm 2007 Calendar AnnouncedScore! The Seattle Storm announced their 2007 calendar today. The first game of the season is May 19 (vs. Comets, As per usual, I'll build a downloadable iCal file once the Storm site updates with all the home games. Go Storm! UPDATE, January 6, 2007: The Storm Season Calendar is now up; turns out that the Houston game is at home, not away, which means May 19 is the magic date. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated January 4, 2007 1:28 PM. November 11, 2006The Sonics Are GoneIt's been a jubilant week for me, politically - aside from the overwhelming "blue wave" that put Democrats back in control of both the US House and Senate, most of the local Seattle issues I cared about passed or failed, as appropriate. Our local repeals of the estate tax (I-920) and land-use laws (I-933) went down in flames; conversely, initiatives for better streets, rapid transit, and clean energy passed. Waking up on Wednesday morning felt an awful lot like Christmas. One local Seattle initiative, I-91, prevents tax subsidies for local sports stadiums. Voting yes on 91 effectively prohibits the city from from building a new stadium for the Sonics. I-91 passed by a 3-to-1 margin, 76%. And now, as expected, the Sonics are going to leave: Seattle has been all but mathematically eliminated as a long-term home for the Sonics and Storm, meaning the future of professional basketball in the area is down to two options — the suburbs or so long. In all fairness, (and despite being a Storm season ticket holder) I voted for I-91. I've been on record ("Nothing Lasts Forever") as saying that I don't support taxpayer bailouts for sports franchises that can't get their spending under control: If the price of Sonics basketball in Seattle is a massive, $200M subsidy to the team, then I'm not sure it's worth it to keep them. The Sonics organization has serious cost problems - it's expenses are too high, relative to its income. The team's unwillingness to cut its costs - especially their payroll - to make their operation profitable is the problem. My fellow Seattleites agree with me, it seems. Nickels said the I-91 result, which passed 3-to-1, reflects fan disenchantment with aspects of the NBA, such as high salaries and player turnover. The Sonics lease at KeyArena expires in 2010. So now the new owners will, undoubtedly, shop around in Bellevue or Renton to see about a new facility there. I don't know that they'll be successful. If an arena can be built with private dollars, then they're likely to pull it off. But if the private money were so easily available (I mean, this conversation has undoubtedly been going on in well-appointed Eastside living rooms for years), why dance with the taxpayers for so long? Private ownership means never having politicians in your business, and never dealing with revenue splits. My sense is that the team is going to Oklahoma. There's clear appetite for NBA in Oklahoma, and I've no doubt they will be able to get a new stadium and all other manner of benefits from a pliant legislature. (And, I stand by my belief that WNBA is a bad fit for that market, but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.) So. Public financial sanity won, and that's a good thing. The teams are leaving, and that'll smart. The new owners claim they'll honor their lease at the Key until 2010. By my count, that's another four seasons of the Storm. I'll be there. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated November 11, 2006 9:33 AM. August 22, 2006Season's OverThe 2006 Storm season ended tonight, with a 68 - 63 loss to Los Angeles. The Storm fought their way back from a 13-point deficit with a spectacular 4th quarter, closing the spread to just 2 points with 10 seconds left on the clock. Sue went for a two-pointer ... and missed. And that, effectively, was that. It was a great season, and a great run. Tonight stings, of course, but it's an infinitely better way to go down - swinging - than the air-leaking-from-a-balloon route of last year's loss to the Comets. (sigh) We'll get it next year. Fair play to LA - they really, really earned it. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 22, 2006 9:17 PM. August 21, 2006Bird's Beak May Be Broken ... For The Third TimeElaine and I were driving back from the ocean yesterday, and managed to catch the second round of the WNBA quarterfinals (Storm. vs. Sparks) on KJR. What should have been a smooth victory for Seattle (we were up by 15 points early in the game) turned in to a disaster, with both an eight-point loss (70 - 78) ... and the possible breakage of Sue Bird's nose. Again. Bird left the game with 54.1 seconds to play after the Sparks' Tamara Moore inadvertently elbowed her in the nose while trying to pass. (Dammit!) Obviously, I'm bummed about the score, but more worried about Sue (and her mental state - I mean, can you imagine getting your nose broken three times in as many years?). The final quarterfinals game is Tuesday at 7 PM; KJR and ESPN2 will cover it. I hope she's OK. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 21, 2006 8:39 AM. August 18, 2006Round One, Game A: Storm By 12The Storm extinguished the Los Angeles Sparks, 84 - 72, at a sold-out Key Arena tonight. The game was everything you'd want in the playoffs - fast, exciting, with lots of drama and turnovers. We led going in to the first quarter and first half, and then watched LA erode our lead and finally pull ahead by 5; we then hit a 13 - 2 streak in the fourth quarter, and just kept coming, and coming, and coming. The team is off to Staples Center for Game B on Sunday (2 PM Pacific; also on KJR and ESPN2). I have high hopes that we'll be on our way to Round Two - the battle for the Western Conference title. (The fan energy and noise were insane tonight. I am frickin' hoarse right now!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 18, 2006 10:16 PM. Jackson vs. JacksonTonight (for me at least), the entertainment options available in Seattle are some kind of cruel test, akin to asking a parent which of their children is prettiest. In one corner, we have Samuel L. Jackson, star of "Star Wars" and "Pulp Fiction", whose latest, Web-fueled masterpiece, the sure-to-be-Oscar-nominated (not) "Snakes On A Plane", opens everywhere today. (Kim caught the midnight show in San Francisco last night, and called me from line just to taunt). This is as sure-fire an entertainment bet as one gets in this world: for your $10, you get to see:
In the other corner, we have Lauren Jackson (no relation), who opens the first round of the WNBA playoffs tonight at Key Arena with the Seattle Storm vs. the Los Angeles Sparks. Given the longtime rivalry between Jackson and the Sparks' Lisa Leslie (they play the Imperial March when the Sparks are introduced at the Key), I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear LJ utter some flavor of "I'm tired of these motherf*ck*n'" line, herself. (With an Aussie accent, of course.) So which to choose? C'mon, it's not even a contest. Sam, I love ya, buddy, but I'm goin' with the Storm. See you all at tipoff. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 18, 2006 8:22 AM. August 13, 2006Playoffs On FridayPlayoffs are here! The Storm play the Sparks in the first round of the Western Conference this Friday, 7 PM, at Key Arena. If you've been holding off catching a WNBA game, this is a golden opportunity - tickets start at just $16. (And yes - I'm going, and I'm going with signs.) We can deliver another championship in 2006. See you all there! UPDATE, September 4, 2006: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 13, 2006 10:43 PM. August 8, 2006We're In The Playoffs!!It's official: with tonight's 81 - 79 win over the Shock, the Storm have clinched their position in the playoffs! Right on! Seattle basketball season is now in overtime, folks! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 8, 2006 7:52 PM. August 5, 20062006 Storm Season: Wrap-Up
We've played four home games since last Friday: vs. the Shock (loss, 77-67), the Sparks (loss, 71 - 70 ... a real nail-biter), the Mystics (awesome win, 86-78), and tonight's win against the Sting (who have never, ever won a game against us at Key Arena). (Incidentally, each of these last four games have been sellouts.) It's been a great season. The big breakout players were Janelle (pictured, with yours truly, at the Season Ticket Holder party last weekend) and Izzy, both of whom got some serious fire in their games. JB is turning in fantastic rebound performance; Izzy is great offensively, making shots consistently (and consistently getting the crowd on its feet). Anne chose her newcomers well, too - Tiffani Johnson, Barbara Turner and Edgwie Lawson-Wade have been excellent. The benefit of all this depth is that we finally have some options on the floor. Lauren has been hurting - badly - for the last few weeks, and Anne can keep her on the bench unless she's really needed. Sue and Betty, both reliable rock stars, now have help. And it also means we can get new personalities in play when the other team seems to have figured us out. The playoffs await. We're off on a three-game road show between now and the 12th (playing the Shock, Silver Stars and Comets, respectively); we are still 2.5 games ahead of Phoenix for the fourth slot in the Western Conference. Assuming things go well on the road, we're in. (I'd put our playoff chances at 90%.) 2006 has been a hell of a good year for the team, and Seattle WNBA in general. I'm obviously apprehensive about what might happen with the Storm under its new owners beyond 2008, but we do know - for certain - that the teams are in town for the 2007 season. I, for one, am renewing my season tickets. (Go playoffs!) Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated August 5, 2006 10:29 PM. July 26, 2006Evans: The Storm Should StaySeattle Times reporter (and blogger) Jayda Evans asked Lauren Jackson about her feelings regarding the sale of the Sonics/Storm to Oklahoma. Rather than answer first, Jackson threw the question back at Evans. Evans' response? I told her the same thing I've been spouting all week - I can't believe NBA commissioner David Stern would move the Storm franchise. As I've posted previously, Evans' book, "Game On!" repeatedly makes the point that WNBA markets are distinct from NBA markets. The two audiences are vastly different, and the cities that go for one may not go for the other. Seattle, to put it bluntly, is special: I travel with the team and nowhere in the WNBA do you find what Seattle has cultivated. So, if it's moved just because the NBA side of the deal isn't what the new owners want, then I'll have to give in to the belief that the women were nothing but a second thought to make money off of during the summer months when the real show (the NBA) is done competing. If the Storm relocates to Oklahoma City (or anywhere else in America) then Stern and WNBA president Donna Orender are full of malarkey. I am (cautiously) optimistic that, even if things fall through with the new arena for the Sonics, we might well be able to keep the Storm here. In the meantime, every Storm fan I've talked to is planning to pack Key Arena for the remaining games of the season. (Oh, and LJ said she doesn't want to play in any market other than Seattle.) If you've ever thought about catching a women's pro game here in Seattle, well, now's the time. Tickets are cheap, the games are good, and we're even on a hot streak right now. See you there! Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 26, 2006 8:37 AM. July 24, 2006Westneat On The StormSeattle Times columnist (and Pike Place Politics reader) Danny Westneat had a piece in yesterday's paper ("To Sonics: How to win us over") that does a great job of walking through Seattle's ambivalent feelings toward keeping the Sonics. It closes with this little gem: As a Republican, [New Sonics Owner Clay] Bennett no doubt believes that less is more when it comes to government. Well, as far as tapping the treasury to pay for private sports arenas, that's what liberal Seattle thinks, too! Amen. UPDATE, December 31, 2006: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined. Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated July 24, 2006 3:52 PM. July 19, 2006Nothing Lasts ForeverIn case you missed the news, the Seattle Sonics and Storm were sold yesterday to an investment group in Oklahoma City for $350M. At first, this felt like a sucker-punch to the gut. I got the news while standing in line at the Houston airport, talking to Richard on the phone ("Where have you been? Have you heard the news?"). In a particularly cruel twist, I'd spent the bulk of my flight in to Houston reading (and thoroughly enjoying) Times reporter Jayda Evans' book, "Game On! How Women's Basketball Took Seattle By Storm", and it got me really pumped up about the league, the Storm, and the future of WNBA. The book is all about the history of women's pro ball, as told through the lens of the 2004 WNBA Championship run. I came off the plane with an incredible amount of optimism ... ...and then promptly saw it wash away. So. I've been flooded with e-mail from friends who either a) want to know what the hell is going on, or b) are concerned about my mental state. I'll start with the latter, and say: I'm fine. Here, in no particular order, what I think is going on.
The new owners seem to be playing to this by stressing that they want to stay in Seattle: Howard Schultz, former Sonics owner, sat side-by-side with Clayton Bennett, Sonics owner as of this morning, at a news conference to announce the sale of the Sonics and Storm this afternoon. For the record, I stand by my earlier post on the subject ("Sonics: Let 'Em Go"). If the price of Sonics basketball in Seattle is a massive, $200M subsidy to the team, then I'm not sure it's worth it to keep them. The Sonics organization has serious cost problems - it's expenses are too high, relative to its income. The team's unwillingness to cut its costs - especially their payroll - to make their operation profitable is the problem. That said, I still suspect that we will wind up building a new arena for them (and if we do, can we please build it down next to our other arenas, with the freeway access and light-rail infrastructure?). But what about the Storm? Well, I'm not as bitter/pessimistic as Patrick at Chasing the Title, and I've noticed that some Storm fans have already organized a Web site ("OK Is Not OK.com"). But I do recognize that the team I love is at serious risk of going to Oklahoma. Or are they? Evans' book makes a pretty convincing case that NBA fans are not WNBA fans, and vice versa. The two leagues serve very different markets, and appeal to very different people. Further, the towns that do well with WNBA franchises tend to be "Creative Class" cities like New York and Los Angeles and Seattle - and less so in markets like Orlando (the Miracle are now the Connecticut Sun) or Cleveland (the Rockers are now defunct). |
Tonight was the first Storm home game of 2007, and I'm proud to report that we rocked the house, 
The regular 2006 Storm home season wrapped up tonight, with a