Some really great coverage of the Storm with the season starting, both at the local and national level. In the latter category, Martin Kaste put together a segment on the Storm’s popularity in Seattle for NPR. Here’s Sue Bird on the team’s fan support after Opening Night:

“If you ask players from opposing teams, they do not like coming here to play. It’s loud, it’s rowdy, even when we’re not sold out the way we were tonight,” Bird says.

I hope you saw the Seattle Times‘ 2010 Storm preview section, published on Sunday and anchored by Jayda Evans comparing the Storm’s dynamic duo of Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson to their NBA counterparts with the Utah Jazz, John Stockton and Karl Malone.

“You look at it as a gift that you have the opportunity to play with this great player,” Stockton said of starring with Malone in Utah for 18 seasons. “I have seen Sue play and I am a fan of hers. She’s a tough player and clever.

“She’s unselfish, yet she’s not afraid to take the lead when necessary.”

Now that’s a pretty cool compliment.

Times columnist Steve Kelley highlighted a healthy Jackson on Monday.

In the first game of the year, Jackson looked playoff-ready. The best player in the league for the most of the first decade of the century, Jackson remains one of the hardest working.

She doesn’t take possessions off. She doesn’t back away from contact. She is a warrior-forward.

“I’m pretty excited about what I can do this year,” Jackson said. “I think we have the team that can win the championship, no doubt about it. I’ve just got to make sure I stay healthy and just keep plugging along.”

And Dave Boling at The News Tribune also wrote about Jackson and her commitment to the Storm.

“I’ve been here since the (franchise’s) second year, was a first-round draft pick, and I feel a responsibility to this team and this city,” she said. “I have a sense of loyalty. This team has been very loyal to me, and they deserve to have that back.”

Wait a second, Lauren, you’re an all-star level professional athlete, you’re not supposed to say things like that.

Lastly, Q McCall takes a look at Storm Opening Night over at SwishAppeal.com.

When the WNBA novice sitting next to me last night asked for me to identify some of the game’s key players, it was difficult not to get excited.

Not only did the game showcase the All-Star forward matchup of the Storm’s Lauren Jackson and Los Angeles Sparks’ superstar Candace Parker that would end up defining the outcome of this game, but it also showcased an All-Star point guard battle between Sue Bird and Ticha Penicheiro. Looking around the court some more, there were also five Olympic gold medalists on the floor, three on the Sparks and two on the Storm, in addition to three other Storm players with Olympic experience. It was a game that truly featured the best of the best.

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