July 5th, 2008: Minnesota at Seattle

NB: To the anonymous who keeps trying to shill that gods-awful idea of the "Outdoor Classic" on my blog- STOP IT. I will keep rejecting your comments, and if you're with the Liberty, Amy is going to hear it.

Seattle Storm 96, Minnesota Lynx 71

Lauren Jackson is a golden goddess, Katie Gearlds has cojones, and awesome Stormfans are awesome.


Sorry for the delay on these- I have been out of town, you know.

I still love Key Arena, although it occurs to me that the other thing it needs is some way of keeping one posted on the out-of-town scores; I had to rely on text messages and a friendly Storm fan to keep me posted on the Liberty (thanks, Awase!)

Anthem was less impressive tonight- the other night, on the clarinet, was quite lovely, but this gentleman seemed to have issues with finding his key. Ironic, in *the* Key, no?

Did Nicole Ohlde actually… you know… play? Because I think I remember seeing her for something like ten seconds, and that was the end of it, so either she didn't play all that much, or she was completely unforgettable when she was in. Seimone is Seimone. There really isn't much more to it than that. She'll get her shots, and most of the time she'll get her makes. She's so smooth and so good at finding her shot. DeForge was another one, I got the sense she was there but I don't remember her doing much- this might have had to do with the bench playing most of the game for Minnesota as the lead got so rapidly out of hand. Quinn seems to be slipping this season, but she's still a better option than Harding, who seems to have lost any speed she once had- there was one play where she was so frozen she looked like a statue, and I always had the impression that she had decent speed before the knee injury. Anosike played tough, and I thought she played well. (The woman behind me, who was giving Anosike and Hayden hell all night, might disagree with me, but that's fine with me. Hard for Queens to agree with the Bronx.) Wiggins did not have a very good game at all, and once that happened, she started whining. I try to like her, I really do, but on the court she comes off like she has a chip on her shoulder the size of a redwood, and she plays like she's entitled to any call she wants. Hayden got a little rough, and she too has lost her edge- before the game, though, we had a great conversation about "Shot Clocks", so if accommodatingly notes an order from the Twin Cities in the near future, he's quite welcome. Confused as to why she's hyphenated on the jersey but not in the PA announcements.

LaurenfreakingJackson. LaurenfreakingJackson from eight rows back of the Storm bench. I traveled with two Storm fans, and I think they thought they died and went to heaven. She's in fine form. But you don't need me to tell you that. Or that Bird ran one of the smoothest games I've ever seen from a PG- I think the worst tangle she ever got herself into was when she wasn't happy with her ponytail and Swoopes reassured her that it was just fine. Yo… she's a nice solid presence, but she can't do all that much anymore other than hit people. The fast break she attempted to run was not something I really wanted to see. Swin was really getting lost on defense, and I think that's why Agler kept pulling her. He had a good grip on the rhythm and flow of the game, I felt- something I've felt sorely lacking in New York's coaching, and something I am therefore more attentive to when watching other teams. I don't remember much of what Swoopes did, although I know she was in on a couple of pretty plays, because I remember hearing "from Sheryl Swoopes" over the PA. Katie Gearlds was on fire, and I was so glad to see that- she seems like such a sweet kid, and she had a career night. Beautiful. She's got cojones, too! How many times was she guarding 4s and 5s? Tanisha Wright had some unbelievable plays- for good or for ill in some cases. Little and Ely both struck me as there and getting things done. Kelly Santos seems to like to hit people. Kristin O'Neill got in the game for extended minutes, and everyone was screaming for her teammates to get her the ball so she could score, and I do believe the roof would have come flying off the building if she'd done that. But T wanted to get to double figures and I think they knew KG was going for a career-high, so. It is what it is, and I think O'Neill's proven herself worthy of a second seven-day deal.

Ashley Robinson sprained her ankle in the game against New York, and thus was in street clothes. Hot DAMN. I'm surprised people don't try to cause her mild strains just to make sure she dresses in street clothes for every game- yes, I know, I know, she's also an excellent shot blocker and a key piece of the Storm's bench, especially given Yo's age.

I was surprised the mayor showed up, too, but I admit being rather neutral about that. Y'all still have the Storm, so I'm happy about that.

Favorite curse word of the game- Yo after either her first or second foul, in which she ended up on the floor and with the foul. A very loud F-bomb escaped her as she stalked back towards her bench. I wouldn't want to get Yo Griffith mad enough to start cussing at me, would you?

The crew wasn't too horrible, although there were a couple of sketchy calls- but a couple, not an entire game's worth. I was worried, since Scott Twhat-the-hell's-his-name was part of that crew, but the female ref and the other dude seemed to have control of it.

I'm still on cloud nine. Everything was just so cool!