ATLANTA – As I looked around the Seattle Storm’s locker room after the champagne had settled and the reality that the Storm had won the 2010 championship set in, I couldn’t help but think of all the great stories throughout the room.
- Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, champions in 2004 who had to deal with five consecutive first-round exits following that initial triumph. As Bird said tonight, she was so sick of talking about those losses year after year. Never again. Now, both players have continued to cement their places as the great winners in WNBA history.
- Swin Cash, who won her third championship, each of them in a different role. Cash was the young star in 2003. By 2006, her time in Detroit had begun to sour. This is a story of redemption, of how Cash remade herself a better player after back surgery and an invaluable member of the Storm.
- Le’coe Willingham, who won back-to-back championships with two different teams. Yes, Coe, you’re going to see Obama again.
- Tanisha Wright and Camille Little, the new Storm stalwarts who had never tasted this level of success before and might have been more excited than anyone. Add Ashley Robinson in that group too as a Storm veteran.
- Svetlana Abrosimova, who chose the Storm in large part because she wanted to enjoy the same success in the WNBA she did at UConn. That choice looks pretty good now.
- The rookies: Jana Vesela, Alison Lacey and Abby Bishop, who are – as Jackson pointed out to Bishop in the hotel – one-for-one on winning WNBA championships.
- Brian Agler, who has two titles from the ABL but put together a WNBA team to match or even surpass those great Columbus Quest squads.
- Nancy Darsch, who has been here before (she coached the New York Liberty to the very first WNBA Finals in 1997) but come up empty.
- Jenny Boucek, who is as crucial as any member of the coaching staff even if she wasn’t allowed to be a part of road games.
There are so many things to say about this team, which takes its place among the great teams in WNBA history. Those will have to wait until after the party. For now, we celebrate.
Share your thoughts below.
EDIT: And this is why I don’t normally post while I’m in a hurry to attend championship parties. I forgot the closer! Of course, the best story of all is Force 10 Hoops LLC and the four local businesswomen who bought the Storm to keep the team in Seattle. Force 10 is the first all-female ownership group to win a championship in any sport, as well as the first independent ownership group to win a WNBA title. If that isn’t worth celebrating, I don’t know what is. Kudos to Dawn Trudeau, Ginny Gilder, Lisa Brummel and Anne Levinson. Thanks to the commenters who pointed out my gaffe.
E-mail feedback
RSS Feed
I. Love. This. Team. Thank you Storm for an amazing year!!!!!!
Congrats, Storm! You deserve this. Soak it all in! :)
Gosh, as a loyal Storm Fan for years its really hard to express me & my family’s emotions as we watched our team win the title tonight. We have been season ticket holders for sometime now and travel from Yakima, WA. to every single home game and just really want the Storm to know they are supported outside the city of Seattle as well. Congratulations girls! You did it! SHOUT OUT TO SWIN! MY 10YR OLD ABSOLUTELY IDOLIZES U! We love you Storm!
Don’t forget to honor the owners! They are believers.
What a season what a championship, what a team. Swin is back, everyone can stop talking about those first round knock outs, fans can celebrate and enjoy this as well. Congrats to all of the Storm organization and thank you for keeping the Storm here in Seattle.
Nice
How about Force 10, who ensured this team did not leave for Tulsa, and the entire Storm orgnaization who make the experience great for fans from all walks of life. And even…the WNBA who support the idea that local teams are tied to their local community so that these local heros are REAL people to the fans who buy tickets.
From the front office to LJ, this organization is an example of how a business dedicated to delivering a good product with integrity and value is an asset to the community.
You ladies brought tears to my eyes tonite. The focus you all had, and Sue, WOW, you are the General! I get so upset over the media never giving credit to any Seattle team. Tonight, you shut them up. I will be at the gates wishing you a warm welcome!
My partner and I have had the best time ever this season watching the best Storm team win game after game. I’ve cried a few times last night and this am while reading and watching the highlights and reading the stories from the media and fans. Thanks to the players, Force10, and our fellow fans for making this the best season ever.
Brian, bring the whole team back so we can repeat next year, so no one has to run off to the worlds or Olympics. We have been spoiled this year, going to expect even greater next year! I can’t wait for the the opening game next season to see them get their bling and our SECOND banner raised!
GO STORM!!
Thanks to the entire Storm organization for making this season possible. I love this team! You guys are spectacular! And you know what, I’d feel the same whether you’d won or lost last night – I’ve felt it all season long. It’s the spirit with which this team plays, it’s the beauty of your game even when it’s not “pretty,” it’s the fight in your eyes. You are champs.
Congrats to Cyclone Alison Lacey and the Storm on an incredible year! We are SO PROUD of her – our entire community was pulling for the Storm all season! Great job and thanks for the great coverage!
i´m from colombia, but I always see the wnba, and I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE THE BEST TEAM OF WNBA TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSCHIP BUT ESPECIALLY TO SUE BIRD THAT IS A SUCH GREAT PLAYER
kevin pelton
thank you for recognizing the great accomplishment of our seattle storm team. i would like to add that they are so wonderful to the community and the children that honor them. On one of the few sunny hot days in seattle – the women took their time to honor the children of season ticket holders at the Woodland Park Zoo. Those are the characteristics that will make me a storm contributor for life. They are truly solid citizens making our city special !!!
Every single member of the organization from top to bottom shares in this triumph. Everything this group has gone through from start to finish has been amazing. Once again, Seattle has championship caliber basketball…role model caliber athletes/people to look up to and they did it all on their own. Congratulations to all of you!
Too bad the entire team could not be named MVP…. No disrespect to LJ ( who is the best player in the world)- but Cash & company stepped up BIG. It is great to see how egos can be put aside for a common goal. Some of the girls who regularly came off the bench would be starters on most other teams.All the Storm members are MVP for their selflessness.
Thanks to Force 10 for keeping such a great and classy sports team in this city. They’re a gem. At the last game, I walked by a guy saying to his friend, “I’d never been to a game before: I had no idea how great it would be.”
It’s an amazing team with an amazing atmosphere, and the fan-friendly atmosphere makes it outstanding. Nice work, and congratulations on a well-earned championship. =)
As a long, long time Seattle sports fan and 8 year Storm season ticket holder, congratualtions to a team and an organization that has given all of us great joy, especially in an era where the Seattle sports scene has been drab. I tell anyone who will listen that this is the best ticket in town. Thanks for a great season and some lasting memories!
Wow Storm-what a year! I saw the potential from the first tip this year! Thanks for the fun times and hope you can all come back and repeat next year!
I am so proud, I too have shed more than a few tears of Joy and PRIDE in this incredible team. From Force 10 ( Thank you a million times over) to the phenomenal players and coaching staff ( Mr. Agler, I have so much respect for your methods, style and vision) KAren, everyone in the office, reps. Wow, you are all very much appreciated.
This one meant so much more to me too.
I was a season ticket holder in 2004, it was my second or 3rd year of being a season ticket holder ( shout out to the AWESOME fans in 101!!!) and it seemed easy as the time.
So much has happened to me personally and my team and the core of Sue and Lauren, their friendship and concept of excellence, team and work ethic set the stage for Coach to build the rest of the team. You women are such an asset to out community (and I live in the San Juan Islands so I agree with the people from Yakima, this goes way beyond Seattle). As a basketball coach in High School I will use this seasons chemistry and unselfishness as a model for TEAM excellence. As a lover of this franchiese, I will bask in this moment for a long time. I wish more than anything I could be a Season Ticket Holder again, but I will continue to follow all things Storm from Lopez ISland for a long time to come.
Thank you!!!!
God Bless you all and enjoy this. You have earned every good thing that will come from it.
This year has been unreal for me. I’ve been a season ticket holder since 2007, and have always been proud of each team at the end of a season. This season has ended and I am equally proud and thrilled with the result. I’m sad though. I feel like my school year is over and I’m going to miss all my friends! This team has brought so much joy to my life and always gives me something to look forward to. It’s hard to believe that it’s over. I have overwhelming gratitude for the players, coaches, staff, and owners. I can’t wait for the parade and celebrations tonight!!! GO STORM!!!!!
i was fortunate enough last week to run into lauren at the local market..i don’t know that it was her good fortune to see this 63 year old woman standing in front of her with her mouth and eyes wide open…saying…”LAUREN????”…i think she would have chosen to run from this dingey-looking lady…but…she didn’t….so i was able to thank her and the entire team for all the joy and happiness they bring to so many…great athletes each one….all STARS….but…a force united and an exemplary example of what it means to work as a TEAM…wouldn’t it be so nice if others…especially those we call our leaders…would follow their lead??…work together as a team???..what a concept!!!….everyone at the STORM is a leader…the team, owners, coaches, staff…FANS…all just loving what they do and wanting to do their best to bring some light into this sometimes dark and dreary world…and always taking the high road…look at our coach compared to atlanta’s last evening..i don’t believe brian would ever behave that way….i also told lauren that i love the storm more then the beatles…yes, i was one of those crazy girls standing in front of the plaza hotel that cold february day to greet the beatles on their first trip to the states…to appear on the ed sullivan show…i was…a beatlemaniac….but the STORM has far surpassed the beatles in my heart…..they have earned my respect..such amazing role models…especially for our girls and young women…real heros that can be looked up to….and..lastly…in parting i told lauren that i live with a health challenge…and i really believe that when i go to the games and yell and scream and feel all the joy and love in that arena….that energy just blasts away any bad “joo joo” that might be swimming around inside me…and guess what?….just got my monthly tumor marker report…markers went down 30 points this last month…have not gone down at all in a year..and i have made every home game and watched on TV…coincidence??…don’t think so….i’m a believer in love and light….and that’s what fills me up at the games….so…GOOOOOOOOO STOOOOOOOOORM!!!!!….love bbxoxoxox
Congrats Storm… As a fan I couldn’t be prouder. Coach Agler. Point guards always get overlooked when the big awards are being given out. You are lucky to have the BEST !! !Basketball teams usually do not have captains but damn, no one deserves it more than Sue. That would be so cool and well it would show what the team, fans and organization thinks of her.
It goes way beyond Seattle all the way to New Hampshire. Daughters Beth and Lynda and all of my extended family in Washington keep me in the fan box with shirts, banners, pictures, hats and autographed everything. The team and fan spirit of the storm bring tears when I get to go to games out there and last night tears came again as the whole team from management to players, coaches and players received all the joy of knowing what it is like to hang in there and fight to be a winner. Watching from out here on my dial up computer and only seeing box stats. and seconds tick down on play by play words was still enough to make this 68 year old fan be thankful to all of you for the joy of knowing who and what the Storm is about and sharing all that you are with people who see my shirts and jackets and ask what is that? What and who are the storm?Have a great celebration! I am there in spirt.You all give me so many reasons to be happy.
I am so proud of the Storm. Congrats to Alison Lacey and the rest of the squad. We are so proud of them. Our whole state (Iowa) was wishing them the best of luck. You had so many fans from this state, it was unbelievable. Congrats! I really have grown fond of this team. :)
what a fantastic season! congrats to everyone on the storm organization for making this happen :)
I’m so happy! I’m a Storm fan from Kingston Jamaica. I became a fan when our Jamaican player Simone Edwards started playing for the team. Since the days of us losing and losing big, to the first championship, all through the first round exits the past few years, to now that we’re champs once again. Man! What else can I say? YEAH!!!!
Go STOOOOORRRRRRRMMMMM!!! Thanks for an unforgettable season! 2010 WNBA Champions! Undefeated at home!
My deepest thanks to the wonderful Force 10 Hoops LLC women! I attended my first WNBA game in 2007 and it was love at first wight…. a season ticket holder since then. It is absolutely the best ticket in town. I had no idea that I could attend 22 games (pre-season included) to watch my team win EVERY SINGLE TIME!
Wow… Cash, Little, Wright, Bird, Jackson, Willingham, Vesela, Abrosimova, Robinson, Lacey & Bishop… you made us enjoy the time of our lives this summer. Let’s do it all over again next year.
Mil gracias de corazon!
My family have been Storm fans since my kids were in elementary school. We love our STORM and though being from Port Angeles makes it a bit tough to actually see games in person, believe me when I say we are die hard fans. The players have been so accessible to their us and them taking the time to sign autographs after their games is HUGE. I don’t know if they truly realize the impact that has on kids. You guys are heroes in every sense of the word and we send our love and thanks from the peninsula!
THANK YOU for being YOU.
What a really great team!!! My wife and I only missed two home games all year,and what fun we had watching such a very fine team. All great players!!! T. Wright you are the best!!!!
All I can say is that anybody who attempt to top or even match this 2010 season will be hard pressed to do so…wow, what a year for our STORM! We have been season ticket holders for seven years now and every year we upgraded and moved closer to our team. About 3 years ago we were finally able to get the ideal seats…right behind our bench!! With the economy the way it is and cut backs all around it wasn’t easy to hold on to our seats, but we did. We had to make some compromises, but they were small compared to what we got in return!! It was all so worth it….we both work fulltime, we live in Lacey/Tacoma and throughout the years we arranged a lot of schedules to make every home game, we had to sit through slow (crawling) traffic & construction (OMG), but we never, ever missed a game! This year we even made it to a away game (LA) and we already looking forward to the next season…Thank you STORM (players, owners, coaches, staff/reps) for a unforgettable season…we will be right there with you come 2011!! Go STORM!!!
I am a longtime season ticket holder. I was there in 2004, and even though I couldn’t personally be there for game 3, it was still such an incredible feeling. I am so proud to be a Storm fan! We have the very Best team in the league. Thanks to the team, coaches, owners and all who made this season possible. It was absolutely the Best! Every season just gets more and more exciting and fun. Way to go ladies! You did it! Congrats!
My city does not have a WNBA franchise and I have always been and will remain a Storm fan. I was a fan even when they lost in the first round during the last six years. Of all the plays they made, there is one moment in the entire play-offs that stand out in my mind. In game 3, Tanisha was called for a foul, and she was upset about the call. She was probably about to get a T for her outburst. I saw Sue move immediately to Tanisha and ask her to settle down. The was the end of Tanisha’s outburst. This vindicated my decision to be a Storm fan for over a decade. These women have tremendous character and look out for one another – the true definition of a team. Their character showed on the court and in the countless interviews the players gave during the season. They always respected their opponents. They were not easily rattled and always rose to the occasion. A lesser team would have folded when down by 19 points in Phoenix. You always had the feeling that no matter what the adversity was, they would overcome. Congratulations to all the players. Force 10 you are the greatest and we love you!!!!!!! Go Storm! In victory or defeat always class-act individuals and I shall always be a fan.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SEATTLE STORMS.THEY ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD.JUST SAD TO KNOW THAT THE ESPN CHANNEL NOT SO MUCH GIVE ANY CREDIT FOR THE WOMENS BASKETBALL AND THAT IS SO BAD.BECAUSE A MILLIONS OF WOMENS IN THE WORLD LIKE WNBA.I DECIDE TO STOP WATCHING ESPN BECAUSE IS SO UNFAIR FOR THE WOMEN LIKE ME AND THE WOMENS BASKETBALL. I ALWAYS WATCH ESPN BEFORE JUST TO KNOW THE SPORTS SCORES AND MORE HIGHLIGHTS BUT NOT ANYMORE.
I just wanted to give a belated congratulations to everyone involved in this amazing success. I’m a high-school level coach in the UK and getting girls interested in ANY sport is hard and basketball here is… pretty far down the pecking order if I’m honest. I’ve been using the Storm as an example to my girls and they’ve been cheering and screaming through every highlight we could find. Three of them managed to tap into a live feed somewhere online to watch the finals and were literally jumping up and down when I saw them after game 3. You’ve inspired us from almost 5000 miles away! Can’t wait until the 2011 title makes it 3!
Daz
Love you, Love you, Love you!
I lucked into a game in 2003 when someone gave me a ticket, have been an avid fan and season ticket holder ever since. Storm Season has come to mean a buzz of excitement, a swell of pride, a happiness that warms my spring and summers with anticipation and fun.
It isn’t just great basketball, it is the positive beam of energy that bounces around that arena. I’ve never felt anything like that energy!
The 2004 Championship was amazing and wonderful. All the years between have also been exciting and filled with their own kind of winning spirit, but I have to say, This team, this year, this AMAZING group of players, coaching staff, owners, fans, is the ABSOLUTE BEST In the world.
Yes, it feels like we are all part of the team. Amazing!
Seattle Storm, you have my heart and loyalty forever. Laurie
From Alaska: Well done everyone! What a phenomenal season, thanks Force 10 Hoops, hope to head down for a few games next season.