Did you really think I could resist going to opening night at Key Arena?
Absolutely amazing atmosphere.
I have a lot to say about the game itself (update: you can find my reflections on the game here), but in the meantime here are a few initial pics of the game...
Most importantly to the world of Seattle politics... city councilmembers Jan Drago and Bruce Harrell announced that June 7th is now officially Storm Day...
How many pro sports teams can claim to have their own day? My bet is not many.
Key Arena is just a great venue in which to watch basketball, partially because it's so small and intimate...which is exactly what gave the Sonics a convenient excuse to leave (I insist that the truth is that Clay Bennett never intended to stay).
The other day I was talking with a long-time Seattle Sonics fan the other day about the whole Clay Bennett debacle and the hubbub over building a new arena for the Sonics (which a city that is closing schools probably cannot afford) and he made a very simple point about the foolishness of the whole ordeal:
Why would the NBA want to make Seattle fans pay for a worse basketball experience?
Last night's game just drove that point home -- Key Arena is an absolutely amazing place to watch a basketball game.
Or maybe I am just getting sucked into this Storm of basketball madness...hmmm...
Is it just me or is that thing they do where the players come out of the crowd during player introductions super cool?
Jamie Redd, a member of the original Storm team and now coach at Pacific Lutheran University, was in the crowd for the big night and was apparently trying to hide out...but to no avail. As a University of Washington alum herself, she gave a shout out to the National Champion UW softball team as well. Go Dawgs.
The halftime entertainment was Red Panda, who apparently recently performed at the NBA Finals. I watched for about two minutes, then spotted Patrick Sheehy from the Chasing the Title blog and said hi.
I really liked the little documentaries they showed throughout the game, particularly the one with Lin Dunn talking about the team's first season and the one about their Stormin' the Lake event at Green Lake Community Center. Good stuff...will look forward to seeing more of those...
Doppler led a special 10th Anniversary Edition of the traditional train...but it really looked like the same ol' train to me. That's ok...because the kids (and uh...aged kids) looked like they were having fun.
I still can't decide if Doppler is endearing and fun or just flat out annoying...
Regardless, I definitely intend to go to more Storm games this year.
Great basketball. Great atmosphere. And things are always a bit sweeter when you win...
For a write-up of the actual game that occurred, click here.
