It's the greatest feeling, to make a big play at the end of the game and just hear the crowd errupt.

- Lauren Jackson, in a post game, center court, quick interview that almost the entire crowd stayed to watch.

I went to two professional sporting events today, and they offered a great dichotomy.

First I went to the Chelsea vs. Celtic Soccer Game at Seahawk stadium. These are two English professional teams that came to Seattle to play an exhibition game. They were very talented, but because it was an exhibition game, it didn't have that much intensity. Plus, to make it worse it was super hot; it must have been 100 degrees on the field. So the players were just kind of out having a good time. This was fun to watch from a "hey those guys are talented" point of view, but it was kind of expensive for it to be just that. Also, Seahawk stadium is huge and was only about half full. There wasn't all that much energy around.

Then I went to the Seattle Storm game. What a contrast. Admittedly the skill level within the sport wasn't the same. The players were good, but they're not good like they are when you watch European Pro soccer players, or a good NBA team - things like that. That said, some of the best women basketball players in the world were on that court, and they were fun to watch.

It's more then that though. They play at Key Arena, where the Sonics play, but they close off the upper section of the arena and actually put up a barrier. All the fans are down in the lower section (where even the back row seats are pretty good) and the place feels packed. Even though it's less then half full if they didn't have the upper section closed. The fans were engaged. They really liked being there, they liked watching the team. Late in the game when the officials made a call that was bad for the storm (even though I'm pretty sure it was the right call) the boo's from the crowd were deafening, and lasted for a long time. Being part of that energy is just plain fun.

Also, the whole thing doesn't take itself too seriously. The players take the game seriously, play hard, and are there to win. But it's like the whole environment knows everyone is there because they like basketball, and want to support this women's team. They did lots of fun (and silly) things you'd never see at an NBA game to help the crowd have a good time. My favorite was during a time-out late in the game they had a train dance party (you know, where everyone forms up a train and hops around in a line) and kids just came streaming down from the stands. There were at least 100 kids down there dancing on the floor in the middle of the time-out. I was thinking it was going to cause some problems when the timeout ended and they had to get on with the game. But no, a big horn blew and everyone scattered back into the stands. It was neat.

I think the best way to describe it is it just felt like a wholesome environment. It wasn't tainted by the money or fame you get in other pro sports fields. The player's intensity, and obvious thankfulness for being able to play their sport for a living was great was fun to watch. The crowd's energy was fun to be in. It was about four times cheaper then the soccer game, and for me, a whole lot more entertaining.

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