Storming Ahead

The Storm Win! The Storm Win!

Since we figured there was no better way to anticipate the birth of a child than to attend a professional basketball game and watch a marching band in the same evening, Leigh and I did just that. Our friend and Leigh's former co-worker Thomas is a member of the Rainbow City Band , which performed at halftime of the Seattle Storm/New York Liberty WNBA game last night.

First off, Thomas and the band did a great job - unfortunately, none of my photos of the band came out even reasonably well. That's what happens with a digital point-and-shoot, without a tripod, when shooting a subject that is in constant motion.

Secondly, we didn't see a game so much as we saw a furious parking-lot beatdown in which the defending world champion Storm jumped all over the Liberty until a slight fade towards the end of the game. Storm star Lauren Jackson suffered a sprained ankle and left the game with several minutes left, but a career night from Izzy Castro Marques and late heroics from Suzy Batkovic kept the game out of reach. The Storm won with a final of 87-78.


Prego Leigh at Seattle Center, shortly before she suited up for the Storm and dropped 40 points on the Liberty.

This wasn't our first WNBA game - we'd attended a Charlotte Sting game or two - but even after being jaded by 13 Sonics games and a playoff run, we had an awful lot of fun. Great seats are cheap, there were lots of enthusiastic kids at the game, and the level of play was extremely high. I've never really thought of things this way before, but with a daughter of our own on the way, it's awfully nice to be able to have the Storm around to show her that sports aren't just for boys.

The most difficult challenge of the night was getting Leigh to and from the arena - she'd chug along with arms furiously pumping trying to keep pace with the flow of traffic. Key Arena's comfortably padded seats didn't treat her all that well, either.

There may not be a baby yet, but evidently things are shifting around in there - I would not be surprised if Sophia joined us soon.


Suzy Batkovic shoots free throws late in the second half.