Sue Bird Now A Co-Owner Of WNBA Storm

 The Seattle Times reports that Sue Bird, one of Seattle's most popular athletic figures of all time, is joining the Seattle Storm ownership group.  

Bird helped the team win 4 WNBA championships in her 20 years with the franchise. She is the all-time scoring assist leader for the Storm, where she spent her entire career. 

Good Local Sports Weekend

The Washington State Cougars and Seattle Seahawks both had narrow victories over the weekend. The  Mariners also won a close game yesterday.  Huskies also got a victory.  Sadly, the Seattle Storm was not as lucky, losing to the LA Sparks 92-69 yesterday.

Seattle Storm Honored

In true Seattle fashion, it was a rainy day as the city honored the WNBA champion Seattle Storm with a parade and rally at Key Arena.  Thanks to Crosscut for the story and picture of  Storm veteran Sue Bird with the Championship trophy. (middle picture)
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan declared 1st Ave North outside Key Arena will be renamed Seattle Storm Way. (Bottom picture)  It was the Storm's third WNBA championship. Bird, was a part of all 3 championship runs.  The first in 2004 after Bird was on the US team that won the Gold Medal in Women's basketball in the Summer Olympics in the same year.

Seattle Storm Great Lauren Jackson Retires

Seattle Storm fans may wish it was an April Fool's joke, but Lauren Jackson has announced her retirement from basketball. The 6'5 center and 4 time WNBA MVP winner teamed with Sue Bird to lead the Storm to 2 WNBA championships.  One of the most visable figures on the Seattle sports scene, she perhaps deserves credit for saving WNBA basketball in Seattle.  The Storm was sold along with the Sonics to an ownership group led by Clay Bennett from Oklahoma City.   While Bennett was able to move the Sonics to his hometown, he would sell the Storm to a Seattle ownership group that has kept the team located here.
An Australian, Jackson's team won 3 Olympic Silver Medals and one Bronze, competing ironically 3 times against Storm teammate Sue Bird's U.S. team.  In 2004, Bird's team and Jackson's team won Gold and Silver in the Olympics, then teamed up to win the first WNBA championship for the Storm.
Jackson had been plagued recently with injury problems and had not played for the Storm since 2012.

Seattle Storm's Sue Bird To Start WNBA All Star Game

Sue Bird, who has helped the Seattle Storm win 2 WNBA championships, will start in the league's 2015 All Star Game. From my standpoint, Bird embodies every you would want in a professional athlete, she has played for Seattle her entire career, she is an Olympic Gold Medal winner and when she does get attention, it's for what she does on the court.
Bird has played for the Storm for 14 years.

Storm Star Sue Bird Interviewed

Veteran Seattle Storm Guard Sue Bird appears on New Day Northwest, with teammate Alysha Clark. I did not get to meet her as we were in the Green Room during the interview. The two were standing near us as we were setting up, but I did not want to interrupt their show prep.

Seattle Storm Routs Tulsa--Barers Of Maple Valley There

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I finally attended my first Seattle Storm WNBA game. My Father-In-Law got tickets for our family to watch the game. Because tickets were acquired through a service organization, we were able to watch the players warm up from the team bench (bottom picture).  In the top picture, Sue Bird.  The players move so fast during warm-ups, it was nearly impossible to get a good pictures.  The Storm soundly defeated the Tulsa Shock 101-74.

Seattle Storms The White House

The 2010 WNBA Champion Seattle Storm visited the White House yesterday to receive the congratulations of President Obama.  The President in this picture, is flanked by Sue Bird and Swin Cash.

Seattle Storm Signs Superstar Sheryl Swoopes

If winning the WNBA championship in 2004 did not put the Seattle Storm on the local radar screen, maybe this will. The Storm have signed Sheryl Swoopes, formerly of the Houston Comets. Swoopes has been called the female Michael Jordan according to the Wikkipedia. She has won the WNBA MVP award 3 times and has three Olympic Gold Medals.

NBA Leaving Seattle--Closer Than You Think!

A front page story in the current Puget Sound Business Journal refutes the myth that the NBA may not want to leave the large Seattle market for much smaller Oklahoma City. The article says "two reports about the New Orleans Hornet--who played at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City for two NBA seasons after Hurricane Katrina badly damaged New Orleans Arena--suggest that the city's financial differences with Seattle aren't all that great."
The story suggest that the team, who probably would not be called the "Sonics" , would benefit by being a the one "horse" town. Observe the San Antonio Spurs. Remember a few years ago no one thought the Los Angeles Rams would leave to go to St Louis, and they had already lost an NFL team. They not only moved, but brought the town a Superbowl Trophy. That scenario could easily play out with the Super Sonics who benefit now with what could be the most exciting player to hit the NBA since Jordan in Kevin Durrant.
If you are a Sonics fan, the time to act is now. Write your legislator and ask what he/she could do to keep the Sonics and the Storm in Seattle. If they get a groundswell of support, they will have to act. Last Saturday's Seattle Times had a front page article saying tourist spent upwards 4 billion dollars in the Seattle area. Couldn't some of that money be tapped toward a new arena? Remember, Seattle's only professional sports championships are with the Sonics and Storm. Google the Washington State Legislature, I did. I wrote.

Ray Allen Traded

Clay Bennett has is starting to put his own stamp on the Seattle Super Sonics. He has fired the coach, picked a General manager from his part of the country in Sam Presti, and finally demoted Lenny Wilkens and fired team announcer David Locke. Star guard Ray Allen was traded on draft day to the Boston Celtics. It is clear that Bennett wants a fresh start. It is also clear he is pulling up anchor on any ties to Seattle. If the Sonics are to stay in Seattle, fans are going to have to act fast. We need to remember that at this time the Sonics and the Storm are the only professional teams to have won championships in their respective leagues and now we run the risk of losing both of them.