Sixth Woman Syndrome

Yeah, that's kind of the problem.

From the floor at Key Arena, I am endlessly impressed by the few, the proud, the Storm fans. Many of the seats go unfilled, but if you close your eyes you'd never know it. And these aren't people showing up for a game because it seems like a fun thing to do once or twice: they're devout. As girl-from-Down Undah Lauren Jackson was introduced, the announcer yelled out: "Auzzie, Auzzie, Auzzie."

"Oi! Oi! Oi!" the crowd roared back without hesitation or a prompt from the jumbotron. The stoic cop next to me guarding the visitors' locker room entrance let slip with a "get it in there" as Sheryl Swoopes drove for a lay-in. She did, the crowd went nuts.

Watching the Storm obliterate the Washington Mystics 64 - 49 at home, it's easy to think you're witnessing some of the greatest women's basketball ever played--sure the perimeter shooting is a little weak and new acquisition Camille Little's 2-point Key Arena debut was something of a non-event. But the girls in green play an aggressive game, keeping ahead of the rebounds and forcing the ball to the hoop where the towering Jackson is ready to sink it.

But this is something it appears they can only do with their frenetic fans. Overall the Storm are 9 - 7, good enough for third in the seven-team Western Conference. But most of those wins come on the court at Key Arena, where they've lost only once. That means they've only won once on the road. It's great to have at least one team that will perform for the fans, but if they're going to have a shot at a title, the Storm need to be able to post wins without a chorus of "Oi! Oi! Oi!"