Without any kind of transition, I went to my first NBA playoff game last week to see Game 3 between the Wizards and Cavaliers, and Austin graciously came with to watch 20,000 people cheer somewhat animatedly about grown men throwing a ball into a hoop. I figured it was a win-win situation no matter who won the game because if the Wizards prevailed, it would be really loud in the arena and the atmosphere would be great, and if the Wizards lost then that probably meant King James put on a clinic and that would be cool to see as well.
So the Wizards went for the “white out” look, where everyone in the stands is supposed to wear white and create a cool illusion. I was very impressed with the Wizards marketing department, as they did not take this white out lightly. Every person that walked into the arena was handed a white towel to wave and there was a white t-shirt sitting on every seat in the whole stadium. Thus even the people that didn’t wear white had something to use. The result was astonishingly cool. Midway through the first quarter the stands were completely packed, and the sight of 20,173 (the official attendance) all in white was very, very cool.
Random Note of Hilarity: During two separate timeouts, the Wizards marketing team handed out free t-shirts…after everyone in the stands already had already received a free t-shirt. During one break they dropped t-shirts on parachutes from the arena catwalks and during another they did a traditional t-shirt toss. Again, everyone who went to the game already had a free t-shirt. I find that hilarious.
The Wizards ended up winning by 36, but it was a gradual blowout, so the arena was not that loud for most of the game. But I would say between 5-10 times the entire stadium was on its feet screaming and waving their towels, and it was freaking awesome to be a part of. An awesome spectacle as well as feeling to be part of a crowd like that. The crowd was incredibly passive when the Wizards were on defense, so that was disappointing. But it was great because every time LeBron touched the ball, the entire crowd starting booing mercilessly. In effect it got the crowd going on defense, which was great, especially when King James missed a shot.
Random Note of Hilarity 2: There were two timeouts during the game where free food was handed out and thrown to the audience. The first was Chipotle burritos and the second was Papa John’s pizzas. It would be the highlight of my year to be at a sporting event and receive a free burrito or personal pan pizza. But alas…
Random Note of Hilarity 2a: …we were sitting in the very last row of the arena, so Austin and I didn’t even come close to getting a free dank burrito or pizza.
Another unexpected highlight of the game was seeing Roger Mason Jr. play well for the Wizards. Mason Jr. is the only UVA player in the League right now, and he poured in 18 points off the bench in 28 minutes. Cool stuff.
Random Note of Hilarity 3: During yet another eventful break from the game, the arena DJ started playing "Crank That” and the jumbotron zoomed in on two young black guys sitting in the front row, who went on to perform the Superman dance. I thought to myself, “Wow, those random black guys can really do that dance well, they must have practiced it a lot”. It was not until the next day when reading the recap did I realize that it was Soulja Boy himself doing his own dance in the front row (he was a guest of Deshawn Stevenson). I felt a little stupid about not recognizing Mr. Boy until eminent roommate Schlingbaum made a good point: in that Soulja Boy is in fact, just some random black guy. And in case any of you needed clarification, this is Soulja Boy (and another random black guy).
Well, that’s it for the coherent part of this week’s post. Now onto random thoughts of the week.
Quick Coffee Thought: I was in Starbucks the other day and heard an order that almost knocked me out. Some guy behind me ordered a “grande half caf no whip skim mocha with room”. Geez, I would have to take a nap after hearing that, much less make it. Also, the Bucks gave me a 15” receipt (yes I measured it) for my order of a medium coffee and a bagel with cream cheese. I thought those bitches claimed they were gong green.
Quick NFL Draft Thought: The Panthers taking Jonathan Stewart in the first round tells me they have no faith in DeAngleo Williams, or he just in fact sucks at football. They took the former Memphis stud with their first round pick (27th overall) just 2 years ago and Williams is only 25. It would make sense if they wanted to make him their main running back, which is what it looked like when they let Deshaun “First Aid Kit” Foster go. But drafting Stewart with the 13th! overall pick obviously shows they don’t have faith in Williams to take all of the carries next year. I don’t understand this move at all, especially when they have decent backups in Nick Goings and LeBrandon Toefield. I thought Williams was going to be a stud in the NFL. This makes me think otherwise.
Quick Beer Thought: It saddens me to see that Bud Light is lowering themselves to Miller Lite's level by coming out with Bud Light Lime to counter Miller Chill. This whole “trend” is dumbfounding to me. I was given a free Miller Chill at a bar one night and almost vomited it up immediately. It tasted like limey dog piss. I was hoping that this was just going to be another way in which the Bud family completely whuuuured Miller. But Bud is so paranoid that Miller is doing well with this that they copied each other again. This is the only reason, because Miller Chill tasted sooo bad, and I can’t imagine Bud Light Lime could taste any better.
Quick Beer Thought 2: Bud Light has had a good run, but they need to fire their marketing people. Bud Light Lime? That’s the least creative name. Ever. Even though Miller Chill is a horrible name (can you imagine ordering a Chill at a bar? Immediate ass beating) they at least had the balls to be “creative”. Bud Light Lime? Pffft, more like Bud Light Lame. Heyoooooo!
Quick Draft Thought 2: The Oceanliner’s high school alma mater had a player selected in the Draft, which was pretty sweet. Tim Hightower out of Richmond went to Arizona in the 5th round. He was a year below me and a stud on the football team obviously. But he was not a guy you would say “man this guy is definitely NFL material". But I’ll take it. This is especially impressive since Episcopal only has like 300 males in the whole school, and now one grad got drafted into the NFL.
Quick Downfall of ESPN Thought: I turned on NFL Live two nights ago and there were 5, count em 5 people in the studio ready to lend their expert analysis. This would be fine for the entire NFL Draft but NFL Live is a 30-minute show! Add in commercials and that’s about 22 minutes for 5 talking heads. I turned it off immediately. Less than 4 ½ minutes per person. I don’t know why ESPN thinks more is better with this, but it’s ruining everything. Because all these want to do is talk over each other, and with 5 people it becomes chaos. You only need 2 people for a half hour show. Add this to growing list of reasons why ESPN is going down the crapper.
Well, that’s it for this week folks. Man, its like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. A weight of shallow, fairly obvious observations. Anyway, hopefully I will get back in the habit of posting every week. Hope everyone out there is doing well. Until next time, stay safe, keep it real and let it ride.
4 comments:
you know that guy that writes the last page of sports illustrated? the one that is funny? you should be that guy.
bud light chelada. Saw it in a sheetz, didn't buy it, but it's likely the most vile beer on the market.
I bought a chelada a few weeks back, think it rivals warm beast ice in the taste category
I wish I could be that guy L-Dub. He actually just left Sports Illustrated after being there forever and these two jokers have taken over his spot and writing every other week. I don't know how SI would react though if I applied and half my material was written in slang only understood by the 50 people in the world on the inside of a joke...
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