This past fall, I celebrated my 10th anniversary with the Sonics & Storm organization. Ten seasons is a lot of games, a lot of players and a lot of stories and blog posts. There’s a nice symmetry in that, as 2012 also turned out to be my last season. After a decade with the organization going back to the Sonics & Storm days, I’m moving on to join ESPN Insider as an NBA columnist.

My first Storm game at KeyArena was actually the year before, during Sue Bird’s rookie season, when I had a press pass to track defensive statistics for a project that ended up in the book Basketball on Paper. It took me approximately two games to get hooked. During the Storm’s second game of 2002, Bird led a comeback to beat the Minnesota Lynx (with Brian Agler and Katie Smith) and that was all it took. I soon had an account on StormFans.org, was calculating WNBA ratings and listening to David Locke and Elise Woodward on the radio.

When I was hired by the Sonics & Storm as a web intern that fall, I was ready to make covering the Storm a priority. Ten years later, I’m proud of our track record of bringing you as much content and analysis as possible here on StormBasketball.com. It’s exciting to see other teams follow our lead by investing in their websites.

The past decade has brought a lot of highlights. It’s easy to take the Storm’s success with Bird and Lauren Jackson for granted, but I’ve gotten to cover nine playoff teams in 10 years (the other missed on a tiebreaker), three MVP campaigns from Jackson and, of course, two championship teams. Thanks to the hard work of players and coaches, I’m the proud owner of two WNBA championship rings, and I was thrilled to share in those special nights at KeyArena and Philips Arena in Atlanta.

I have so many people to thank for helping make my job easier. Without exception, the players and coaches have been great. Bird and Jackson deserve special credit for patiently answering so many of my questions over the years, and both Anne Donovan and Coach Agler and their coaching staffs made me feel like part of the family as opposed to an outsider. I’ve learned a great deal about basketball from all of the coaches that I will take with me throughout my career.

I wouldn’t have lasted 10 years without the support of Karen Bryant, who made web content a priority, which is no small thing for an independent franchise. The same applies to the members of Force 10 Hoops, without whom none of us would be following the Storm. Dick Fain and Adia Barnes welcomed me to the broadcast doing stats, as did David, Elise and Alan Horton before them. Fans might not know the names of everyone else within the organization, but I could not have asked for a better group of coworkers, many of whom have become lifelong friends.

Most of all, thanks to all the fans and readers. Your interest in Storm news and analysis justified my salary, and your feedback was a key reason why my work was always so rewarding. The KeyArena stands are truly a community, and I hope I was successful in trying to serve as the eyes and ears of fans behind the scenes at practices and games.

While the NBA will be now be my sole professional focus, I will still be watching and analyzing the Storm and the rest of the W. You can follow me on Twitter @kpeltonWBB, and I’m sure I’ll find someplace to share my thoughts and advanced statistics by the time the upcoming season tips off.

The Storm organization is hard at work finding a replacement to provide the level of coverage you’ve come to expect from StormBasketball.com. Stay tuned for more on that. I hope you’ll treat whoever comes next as well as you’ve treated me.

… from the Storm and Edna Campbell, Belinda Snell and Ann Wauters. (Apologies to Tonya Massaline, the other No. 12 in franchise history.)

Credits: Otto Greule/Getty Images Sport (L), Terrence Vaccaro/NBAE/Getty Images (C/R)

With training camp less than a week away, the Storm’s newcomers have chosen jersey numbers for the upcoming season:

• Ann Wauters will wear her familiar No. 12, as you might have guessed when she posed with a No. 12 Storm jersey in Spain after signing with the team. She inherits the jersey from Belinda Snell. It was previously worn by two players, including Edna Campbell.
• After wearing the No. 32 in Los Angeles to honor Magic Johnson, Tina Thompson is returning to the No. 7 jersey she made famous with the Houston Comets. She’s the fifth player to wear No. 7 for the Storm. Oddly, all her predecessors were international players, including Kamila Vodichkova and Jana Vesela.
• Shekinna Stricklen is sticking with the No. 40 she wore at Tennessee. She joins Alison Lacey as the second draft pick in three years to pick the number. I asked Stricklen about No. 40, and she said she picked it over 50 in AAU basketball because her family number has always been 20, which she doubled. Of course, the No. 40 has a great track record at KeyArena with Sonics All-Star Shawn Kemp. Stricklen was excited to hear about the connection as a fan of Kemp’s.
• Victoria Dunlap will wear No. 34, as she did at Kentucky and with the Washington Mystics, taking it from departed Le’coe Willingham.
• Silvia Dominguez is the first Storm player to wear No. 6 since Doneeka Lewis in 2007. Previously, international players Sandy Brondello and Natalia Vodopyanova wore 6 for the Storm.
• Camp invitees Rachel Allison and Alysha Clark chose No. 3 and No. 32, respectively.

The Storm announced today a pair of preseason games. On Friday, May 11 the Storm will play at Tulsa. Two days later, the Storm hosts the rival Los Angeles Sparks at KeyArena on Sunday, May 13. That game will be a preview of the season opener five days later, when the Storm will also play L.A., though the two rosters will have a different feel to them by that point.

One intriguing note about the Storm-Sparks game: It will likely mark the first matchup between this year’s top two draft picks. Los Angeles holds the No. 1 overall pick in the April 16 Draft, while the Storm will pick second.

So far, you can’t beat women from the state of Washington in postseason hoops. Gonzaga, Seattle U and UW are a combined 6-0 in their respective tournaments.

Last night, the Gonzaga women booked their third consecutive trip to the Sweet 16, knocking off third-seeded Miami in front of a sold-out Kennel. Behind a combined 49 points from seniors Kayla Standish (19) and Katelan Redmon (16) and sophomore Haiden Palmer (15), all of whom grabbed eight boards, the Zags pulled away down the stretch. With fellow WNBA prospect Riquna Williams suspended, Shenise Johnson could not carry the Hurricanes by herself, despite 20 points and 13 rebounds. Gonzaga now moves on to face third-seeded Kentucky on Sunday in Kingston, R.I., looking to advance to a possible meeting with UConn in the regional final.

The Husky women will play in Corvallis tonight, looking to reach the quarterfinals of the NIT. Washington knocked off Cal Poly and Utah last week at home and now faces Oregon State for the third time this season. The Beavers won both previous matchups by five points, but the Huskies traveled down I-5 with the momentum of six wins in their last eight games. Tipoff tonight is at 7 p.m. on 1150 AM KKNW.

Seattle University has reached the semifinals of the WBI with wins over North Dakota and Wright State. The Redhawks will host Northern Iowa on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to the finals. Tickets will be available at the door starting at $8. Sunday’s win was Seattle U’s 20th of the season, which ties for fourth place in school history and is the most by the Redhawks since moving to Division I.

In response to today’s announcement that the city of Seattle has received a proposal from a group led by Christopher Hansen to build a basketball/hockey arena in the Sodo area, Storm CEO and President Karen Bryant released the following statement:

“All of us here at the Seattle Storm enthusiastically support the return of the NBA to Seattle. This is a basketball-loving town. What a fantastic opportunity for the city and sports lovers throughout the region and the state.

“Today’s announcement is just the beginning of a very long process, but we will support the effort in any way we can.”

The 2012 schedule is here! Let’s take a look at what stood out to me looking over this year’s slate of games.

- The Storm will have three sets of back-to-back games: June 30 at New York and July 1 at Connecticut; June 7 at Los Angeles and June 8 at home vs. Phoenix; and Aug. 11 at Atlanta and Aug. 12 at Indiana. The New York-Connecticut trip isn’t so bad because the first game is at 4:00 p.m. local time, meaning the Storm should be to the Nutmeg State in time to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

- Here’s how the schedule breaks down by month:

May: 3 games (1 home/2 road)
June: 11 games (4 home/7 road)
July: 5 games (2 home/3 road)
August: 6 games (6 home)
September: 9 games (4 home/5 road)

Even more so than last year, the Storm will want to stay in the playoff hunt through midseason (in this case, the Olympic break) before a friendly schedule and the return of Lauren Jackson afford the opportunity to make up ground in a hurry in August.

- The busiest portion of the schedule will come from Sept. 6 through the end of the season, when the Storm plays nine games in 18 days.

- 13 of the Storm’s 17 road games will be played during three extended trips: June 3-15 (five games), June 26-July 7 (four, although it’s really a three-game trip with a game in L.A. tacked on) and Sept. 8-14 (four). The Storm hasn’t had a four-game road trip since the last Olympic season (2008)  and you have to go all the way back to 2006 to find a five-game trip. During 2000, the Storm had a six-game trip, but the seven-game homestand in August and September is unprecedented in franchise history; the Storm has never been home for more than five consecutive games before.

KEY DATES

May 18 – As if Opening Night wasn’t enough, as if the rival Los Angeles Sparks coming to town wasn’t enough, if both teams keep their picks this will also be a meeting of the top two selections in the WNBA Draft.

June 17 - The Minnesota Lynx visit KeyArena for a meeting between the last two WNBA champions.

July 8 – The first of three visits by the Phoenix Mercury, who will be at KeyArena more than any other team.

July 11 – A rematch of the 2010 WNBA Finals against the Atlanta Dream is the Storm’s last home game prior to the Olympic break.

July 13 – The Storm wraps up pre-Olympic play in Phoenix.

Aug. 16 – After the break, the Storm will open back up against the Mercury. Both sides should be loaded down by a little extra hardware from London.

Aug. 21 – The Storm’s lone nationally televised home game will be against the Lynx.

Sept. 18 – Swin Cash and Le’coe Willingham return to KeyArena for the first time as members of the Chicago Sky.

Sept. 21 – The Storm closes out the regular-season home schedule with San Antonio.

Sept. 23 – The last game of the regular season will be at Phoenix, and could have playoff implications like last year’s thriller between the Storm and the Mercury during the final weekend of the schedule.

Remember, there’s only one way to ensure you’ll be there for all of these home games and more – Storm season tickets.

In what has become a holiday tradition, members of the Storm business staff spent yesterday volunteering at the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County. Founded in 1977, the EFP works to help individuals and families make ends meet by providing food to the hungry. One of EFP’s core principles is the importance of providing nutritionally balanced meals that fit the various needs of the people they are serving. The EFP prepares 14 different varieties of food bags.  Along with students from the Epiphany School, Storm employees helped fill hundreds of bags with donations to be delivered to local community groups.

Visit the Emergency Feeding Program website to find out more about how you can help their mission this holiday season and beyond.

Check out a few photos from the day.

Storm CEO Karen Bryant and other members of the staff present a donation to EFP Executive Director Arthur R. Lee.

Epiphany School students go down the line to pack bags full of non-perishable items.

Storm employees Matt Heuer and Sarah Scott store a completed bag to be given away.

Storm employees work to fill more bags with canned goods.

Don’t miss your chance to bid on unique Storm items during this week’s Tickets 4 Kids online auction. The pink jerseys worn by the team on Breast Health Awareness Night are being auctioned off on auctions.wnba.com. All 11 jerseys are signed by the player.

All proceeds will be donated to the Storm Foundation and go to the Tickets 4 Kids program to bring local youth to Storm games.

The auctions will close on Dec. 5, so get your bids in now!

DBL players and coaches pose with Storm employees Matt Heuer and Shannon Burley (center).

For the second consecutive year, the DBL Indonesia All-Star team made Seattle one of the stops on its tour of the United States in order to visit the Storm offices. The Development Basketball League is Indonesia’s premier league for youth basketball, featuring nearly 20,000 players. Each year, standouts are chosen to come to the U.S. to learn more about American professional basketball and compete against local teams.

The group of 42 players, coaches and other administrators visited the Storm offices, where they watched the 2010 highlight DVD and heard from Storm marketing employees Shannon Burley and Matt Heuer about their jobs and career paths. The DBL players received Storm prizes for answering trivia questions, and each went home with a WNBA basketball and a copy of the DVD. The Storm presented the DBL All-Star general manager with a Sue Bird jersey, while Heuer was given a traditional Indonesian shirt.

The visit was written up on the DBL website as a highlight of the All-Star team’s trip.

Heuer speaks to the players before showing the highlight DVD.