Joseph of Shoreline asked if the Storm opener on Saturday would be televised (and a couple of others have been asking about a TV announcement) and the answer is no, the debut against Chicago will not be televised. The Storm also isn't prepared to release any information about whether it will have a local deal at all.

The opener not being aired isn't a slight. Last season's wasn't, either. But the team didn't have a problem securing a TV deal because it was always part of the Sonics' Fox Sports Northwest deal in the past. Now under new ownership, the Storm has to get its own deal and I know in the past the cost was around $35,000 per game.

Fans can check the WNBA's site to see when Storm games will be aired there via a broadband pass. And there are still the national games and radio broadcasts. Plus, I'll be streaming a live game thread.

Checked in on that other rookie who will be making her WNBA debut at KeyArena on Saturday and I'm so excited to share that Sylvia Fowles, the No. 2 overall draft pick from LSU, plans to dunk -- often -- this season. Fowles, a 6-foot-6 center, said she may even throw one down at the Key. And for all of you who think it'll be some weak tip-jam stuff like Lisa Leslie or even that one by Candace Parker, checkout this clip of Fowles dunking for a Chicago Sky commercial.

"It's a second-nature thing for me to dunk," said Fowles, who dunked in college. "Nobody taught me how to dunk. But now I have [assistant] coach Mike [Mitchell] on my hands and just to have the opportunity to work with him, I can see the difference."

Sweet! But if that goodie doesn't come Saturday, know that the Storm plans to give the first 10,000 fans a commemorative program and the first 5,000 will also receive a Storm schedule magnet. The team is expected to have more than 13,000 people for opening night, opening up three sections on two sides of the upper deck.

We haven't been let into practice, which is being held at the Key while the Sonics summer league tryouts (saw Washington alum Will Conroy giving interviews) at the training facility. The deadline for final rosters has already passed, and I've only spotted Florina Pascalau, Kimberly Beck, and Kelly Santos on the court. I'm told we'll have an official release soon.

Before we get started, wanted to let you know this will be the final "Live from training camp" edition because training camp is over today and if you think a sistah is doing this all season from practice you're nuts (smile). There will be a new feature in live threads for games I cover.

BARNES IS BACK: Former Storm forward Adia Barnes, who is the team's color analyst, has arrived from Italy and is watching practice with us. She's quickly catching up on all the players, knowing Pascalau from play overseas. Barnes is wondering how the Romanian will adjust to the league but still likes her game.

SANTOS ON THE RUN: Santos just made a nice layin in transition off a steal she collected from a Yolanda Griffith pass. Us media types were commenting that often big posts aren't motivated in this league, but Santos is an aggressive hard worker, so look for her to make an impact.

IT'S OFFICIAL: The Storm cut G Doneeka Lewis. For those keeping track, the media guide was off by two. Three if you count Pascalau, but who knew that? (Aside from the coaching staff) For the record, too, G Tanisha Wright was born in Brooklyn. But everywhere West Mifflin, PA is listed and she just found out. All her family is from Brooklyn, however, and I guess they want to be properly represented.

THAT'S A WRAP: The Storm has wrapped up a long, approxiaxmate three-hour practice. Next up? The regular season. G Sue Bird said things are coming along smoothly and she's excited about the season. She wants to get off to a good start, but noted that it is a long season.

CROSSLEY EFFECT: Storm coach Brian Agler was upset at the news G Shanna Crossley would be out the entire season due to tearing her left ACL. Crossley was the San Antonio Silver Star's third, active, leading scorer as a reserve. "I haven't see their final roster yet, but she could just shoot the basketball," Agler said. "They're well-enough coached and have enough depth that they'll absorb it. But from from the standpoint of having somebody like that, who could help them in terms of their depth...they'll absorb it and do well."

Storm coach Brian Agler liked Washington standout Kristen O'Neill's work-ethic, but she ultimately didn't fit into his system. He announced her being cut this morning. The roster now stands at 13 players with one more cut expected to keep the Storm under their $772,000 max salary cap. Here's the release:

SEATTLE STORM MAKES ROSTER MOVE

"Making some of the final cuts is always difficult, but letting Kristen go was an incredibly tough decision," Storm Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Brian Agler said. "Kristen is very competitive. She is a great defender, shoots the ball well and her work ethic is unmatched. I've encouraged her to continue to work hard and to stay prepared to capitalize if the opportunity arises."

The Storm cut Roneeka Hodges tonight. Hodges, a 5-foot-11 shooting guard, played the past three seasons in Houston with F Sheryl Swoopes, averaging 4.3 points in 13.8 minutes.

A graduate of Florida State, Hodges is the twin of G Doneeka Lewis, who is still vying for a roster spot. They played together briefly at LSU and hoped to play in the pros together. Lewis was in Italy playing when Hodges called her to tell her about her impending trade.

"She called me in the middle of the night," said Lewis, who's sister was traded to Seattle, along with the fourth pick in the draft, from the expansion Atlanta in exchange for Iziane Castro Marques and the eighth overall pick. The Storm later traded the fourth pick [Alexis Hornbuckle] to Detroit for Swin Cash.

"Actually she called me the day before and was trying to figure out what's going, she was going to Atlanta," said Lewis of Hodges not being protected by the Comets in the expansion draft. "Then she [Roneeka] said, 'I'm going to be traded.' We was trying to figure out 'which team, which team?' We were so off. We never thought Seattle and bam, it was like that. I just stood there like, 'you're joking!' I had to read it on the Internet to believe."

Both were realistic about the challenge in both making the team, although they play different positions. Lewis is a natural PG. But coach Brian Agler runs a system the easily fits three natural PGs.

"I don't see us as competing against each other," said Hodges earlier in camp.

Storm players will take over the McDonald's in the shadow of the Space Needle on Thursday, helping the fast food chain promote its new Southern-style meals. The promo is part of McDonald's extended partnership with the WNBA and will include players wearing the golden arches logo on their jersey for opening day on Saturday and the May 20 matchup against Sacramento.

F Sheryl Swoopes is elated. One of her jobs in high school was working at McDonald's. She did everything from "dropping" the fries to working the drive-thru for about $4 an hour. She gave her entire paycheck to her mother to help with bills around the house. Mom always gave a few back for Swoopes to "waste."

"I loved my McDonald's job," she said. "I've always loved McDonald's, but I also worked at KFC and the public library.

"I remember I was so worried that I was going to cook the fries too long, not understanding they're on a timer so, when the timer goes off, you pick the fries up. And I just took the salt and poured it because I love salty fries. Tomorrow I've got to remember it's not about me, not everybody likes salt. I'll just do a little bit and be done."

Plans are still in the works, but organizers are trying to work it so Swoopes handles the drive-thru again. More details below.

SEATTLE STORM STARS TO SERVE NEW SANDWICH, SIGN AUTOGRAPHS AT LOCAL MCDONALD'S

Where: McDonald's and 222 5th Avenue N; Seattle, WA 98109

Spotted Lauren Jackson's Jeep in the parking lot and her on the court, so the Storm is officially complete. Jackson arrived on Tuesday evening, according to coach Brian Agler, and passed a physcial this morning to be able to practice this afternoon. Agler specifically pushed the session back for Jackson.

We haven't been let in, so I'll continue with parking lot observations. In past years, the lot was loaded with bad rentals. Another payoff for playing overseas is getting a nice ride. Sue Bird drives a Range Rover, Shyra Ely is hopeful to ship her Yukon Denali to Seattle, and Yolanda Griffith sports a convertible Benz.

And one last observation before we go in, my guess is that Jackson is the most popular media draw. There are three cameras and three papers for her arrival today. Bird drew a big crowd, but only two TV stations.

STORMS SIGNS ROMANIAN: The Storm signed C Florina Pascalau today. The roster is back at 15 players with the need to trim to a maximum 13, including two inactive, by Friday afternoon. I'll have more on why Pascalau, who's 6-foot-4, was added in tomorrow's newspaper. As for now, Agler did mention having difficulty communicating with post Kelly Santos during games, but liked her play. With C Janell Burse (foot) being out for the season, it's understandable that Agler would want to find solid backup inside since Griffith isn't going to be able to give 35 minutes a night and C Ashley Robinson is still developing her game.

LEWIS A LOCK?: Agler has the black team huddled up and it looks like the apparent first-teamers. Among the group is Doneeka Lewis, who was picked up by the Storm last July. On the court now is the anticipated starting lineup up in Jackson, Swin Cash, Sheryl Swoopes, Sue Bird, and Griffith. Jackson just made a smooth play on defense to get the ball, but was blocked by one of the male players when driving to the hoop on offense. (Tanisha Wright is also in black, everyone else, including Pascalau, is in white)

MOVING BETTER: Agler is running a three-guard lineup with Bird, Wright, and Lewis and it looks good. Lot of movement with Griffith and Robinson anchoring the inside. Agler is on the court giving pointers and showing players where the need to be. Jackson is seated on the sideline.

OWNERS IN THE HOUSE: Force 10 Hoops chairwoman Anne Levinson and member Ginny Gilder are seated among the media baseline. They joked that they can't hide from all of the cameras here. Storm CEO Karen Bryant is also looking on.

NICE D: Katie Gearlds, yes, Katie Gearlds just caused one of the male practice players to show a lot of frustration because of her defense. In transition she shadowed him and forced a travel.

BREAKING IT DOWN: The expected starting unit is walking through an in-bounds play. Jackson just teased to Bird that she needs to "practice" the play. On the other end of the court, new assistant coach Nancy Darsch is running through the play with Kimberly Beck, Kelly Santos, Kristen O'Neill, Roneeka Hodges, Shyra Ely, KG, and Pascalau.

WRAPPING UP: That's a wrap for practice and Jackson looks as if she wants to get the media part over, but she's greeting the owners and gave a big huge to KB first. It's her first time meeting part of the group. Bird also walked over and said "Hello." The others have met the owners at various events throughout training camp.

I'm in the midst of pulling together our Storm preview, which should be in Friday's paper (pray for me). But you know I couldn't let this season's GM survey slide by and not have a comment.

Los Angeles as the 2008 champs? With 46 percent of the vote? Are you kidding me?

Don't you dare bring up how Sheryl Swoopes returned from pregnancy and helped lead Houston to a title as defense for how Lisa Leslie can do the same. First, Swoopes was 26 when she became the poster-woman for springing back after giving birth. Leslie is 35! And did anyone watch her during the friendlies in China? I've never been a Leslie promoter, I do work in Seattle, but I've always respected her game and it's not there yet.

Plus, all this hype for Candace Parker when she's playing year-round for basically the first time on a shoulder that's been dislocated twice is crazy. Not particularly worried about that because I've seen the rookie over-hype before in Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Chamique Holdsclaw, and Seimone Augustus. All were No. 1 overall draft picks. All had to fall in line, learn the ropes and in the case of Bird and Taurasi, scrap to win their first "expected" title.

Which brings me to what is really bothersome. The total dis of Phoenix. Yes, Penny Taylor opting to train with her national team for the Olympics hurts, but not enough for the Mercury not to be heavily favored this summer. Even the loss of coach Paul Westhead to the Sonics shouldn't be a factor since Corey Gaines was groomed to take over and -- hello -- played and worked with Westhead. Gaines was the player's pick to take the position, according to general manager Ann Meyers Drysdale. And everybody has players arriving late to camp, so you can't knock Finals MVP Cappie Pondexter and Kelly Miller's anticipated Thursday arrival from overseas play as a reason to not believe they'll repeat.

Since predictions won't be part of our preview package, I'll go ahead and state that I think the championship goes East with San Antonio being a strong contender in the West. But I wouldn't snub Phoenix. LA and Seattle would have to come in after that.

Of course all this confusion was dampened when I got some insider information that said the GMs, crunched for time to kick-off a pivotal season, didn't really do all of the voting. Apparently some was delegated to employees. But they should know better, too.

The Storm cut rookie Daphanie Kennedy today. This is somber news because the kid can play and has a fighter's mentality, plus she reminded me of Betty Lennox. The league could use more flashy players like her that can create their own shot. But Kennedy wasn't versatile and that's a downside in the WNBA. The Storm has enough scorers and needs a solid back-up PG along with a versatile player that can be thrown in anywhere.

Kennedy, like Allie Quigley, could pop up elsewhere this season and make an impact at her more comfortable SG role. She should definitely be back next season after hopefully playing overseas.

Washington standout Kristen O'Neill, Roneeka Hodges, Doneeka Lewis, and Kimberly Beck are still alive in the fight to make the roster. My prediction still stands, I'd keep Kelly Santos, Beck, and O'Neill. I'd sneak in Lewis, if possible, but the numbers don't fit. Hodges is playing well in training camp, but she lacks versatility, too.