A surprisingly sunny day at Green Lake brought out really decent crowds, as others have mentioned. The court there at the Community Center is newly-cleaned (thanks to Storm staffers), and sporting the Storm logo (formerly a Sonics logo). Dick Fain and Shelley Hart were our MCs. I wondered if Adia was unable to appear as a Storm representative, now that she's an assistant coach in the NCAA, but she was out of town attending a wedding, so that could be the explanation there.
After welcoming us out, they introduced the coaches then the players. The newbies all got applause. Katie came out with her dog (part of the fun of the Green Lake event is the dogs everyone has). It was funny to see a lot of the players with scarves and jackets on. I thought it was quite warm in the sun, though a lot of them are returning from warmer climates, I guess. I thought Tanisha in particular was quite bundled up.
L'Coe had a little black dog (doesn't Ashley have one too?), but she must have let it go, because when LJ was introduced she almost stepped on it as it ran around people's feet, until L'Coe's son picked it up. The players looked fairly relaxed and happy. Coach Agler was interviewed briefly, and he said that he hopes to have a full roster available on opening day, that most of the injuries are day-to-day type affairs. I've heard various things about Katie's injury, but they said the A word (Achilles) today, so I hope they don't rush that one like they did with Wendy several seasons ago.
The Storm Dance Troupe came out and performed, and it was pretty hilarious to watch the team standing behind them. L'Coe knew all the moves and was doing the dance right along with the kids. 8-)
After those brief remarks it was straight to the balloon toss. Coach Agler was talking trash about how he's won the past two years, and he did end up being one of the last 10 or so teams, but didn't make the cut. I think it's really funny to watch the players in these instances because they all get so competitive. It was really chaotic at first, with balloons being tossed everywhere. Perhaps next year they should explain the rules while everyone is still gathered around the stage? Anyway, LJ was paired up with Doppler, so you wondered if that was fair, but they ended up winning the whole thing! Towards the end it was Sue's team, LJ's team, and one other, but Sue's team busted out. Then both the final teams busted out, leading to overtime. LJ and Doppler won, which surprised me. Can you really see well from within the Doppler suit?
After that everyone kind of milled around, talking to the players and getting autographs. Some of the players went to certain "stations" spread around, and some mingled in the crowd. I know that Snell and Katie Smith were both chatting with fans. There was the normal face-painting station, and ticket reps and staffers were also wondering around to answer questions. All-in-all this is a pretty relaxed event, and with the weather cooperating it was a great way to kick off the summer season. :)
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