6 Thoughts
1) So I went to the game tonight, and had a great time. First, though, let's talk about my driving. I don't know if I have mentioned it in this blog before, but I am a rock-solid driver. I am steady, I get my hands right to 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on the wheel, I don't go too fast, or get too crazy, but I keep a good pace going. I picked up Great Friend of the Blog AH at his office, and he was like, "are you going to drive," and I was like "absolutely - I'm rock-solid behind the wheel, and you'll be in good hands." Look, don't take my word for it - ask AH. He got there on time, we made a crisp exit back on to the highway and got back home efficiently - basically, I delivered. In between, I got a super-cool tour of the inner workings of The Trip, got to spend a little time courtside ogling a Dos Minutos favorite (not Jax), and the Heat got a satisfying win in a chippy game which, hopefully, will set the tone for a great Eastern Conference Final between these two rivals. It is super-late because I had to revisit the entire game with M.Minutos when I got home, but let's do it, let's go!
2) So GFOB AH has season tickets, and he not only invited me to the game, but he also hooked it up with his season ticket rep to get us down on the floor for warmups. Basically, you go in a side entrance, and a young dude gives you a little tour of the bowels of The Trip, including the lounge down there where the cool dudes hang out, the 2006 championship trophy on the wall which is the last thing the players see before they come out on the court, and then you walk through the players' entrance on to the floor, and get to sit courtside during warmups. I was like 4 feet from James Jones draining triple after triple, getting his pregame work in - it is easy to forget how many shots these guys can make when there is no defense. JJ would make 7 or 8 in a row, miss, then make another 7 or 8 in a row. We shook hands with The Coach, Tony Fiorentino - AH started to explain the concept of the Dos Minutos blog to Tony, while I fled in embarrassment - I gave a thumbs up to Coach Askins when he made a 30 footer while he was seated on the bench, which made him laugh - it was superfun. I was also sitting next to a young man who, one, had the exact same birthday as me (April 24), and two, his parents had somehow tricked him into thinking they were coming to watch the game on the big screen, and then broke the news that they wouldn't be watching the game on the overhead scoreboard, as they had led him to believe, but that the game was actually going to be played right here, on this floor, and that they were staying for it, which sent the kid into a certain spasmodic ecstasy. That was a hard one to pull off, by the way - I mean we were sitting in an eighteen thousand seat arena with a huge Miami Heat logo 10 feet away, and Shane Battier practicing hook shots so close to us that we could have stripped the ball from him. You might have thought something was up. But, no, this kid was totally surprised that a basketball game was going to be played...Anyways, I don't get star-struck often, but towards the end of the session, who came out for some shooting work but Dos Minutos favorite Mario "Emcee" Chalmers, who immediately started shooting from behind the arc right in front of me - I absolutely could have reached out and fouled him, which I was so tempted to do. He spends two-thirds of his time on a basketball court either fouling someone, or trying to foul someone - I felt like he would have appreciated it. Also, I totally prepared myself to duck quickly in case he decided to try to throw a pass to anyone. It was amazing - the only way I could have been more excited was if somehow Mario Chalmers had morphed into Mike Bibby. Still, so awesome - thank you AH for hooking it up!
3) Next, we got tacos for dinner in the arena - AH said that was his go-to meal in The Trip, the taco stand near his seats (which are awesome, by the way, center court, low enough to be up in it, high enough to see the plays develop). He was spot-on, the tacos were good. My favorite part was the kid actually making the tacos, his name was Taequin, or Triquan, or something, whatever it was, I had never seen it before, and it was awesome. So they were like soft tacos, and then he would put chicken or beef in them, and ask you what else you wanted: cheese, jalapenos, etc. And. then. he. would. put. the. stuff. on. it. at. about. this. pace. really. slowly. really. really. slowly. We had plenty of time, it wasn't aggravating, it was totally fascinating - he wasn't some punk kid who didn't care, he did a good job making the tacos, and smiled when you thanked him. But he was just really, really deliberate. And if it were, like, his first day ever making tacos, like if he were totally unfamiliar with the concept of a taco, so that all day he had to keep repeating in his head, "so, like, you put chicken in this floppy shell thing, and then other foods like right on top of it - okay, this is weird, but I think I get it," then his pace would have made total sense, you would be, like, "well, of course he is slow, he's never even heard of tacos before." But this kid's job is to make tacos! That's what he do! It was amazing! Good tacos, though!
4) Okay, the Heat won this game because they controlled the glass, for the most part. The difference between these two teams is that Miami has the superior skill players, and Chicago has the more physical frontline. So on a night like tonight, when Miami wins the rebounding category 45-40, even without new rebounding sensation Chris Bosh (out - still over rebound quota), they are probably going to win. UD had 10, KJ James had 11, Dexter Pittman (surprisingly competent all around tonight) had 7 in 16 minutes, and Shane Battioke had 6 in 23. Battioke also completed the biggest sequence of the game: when Chicago, struggling to keep themselves in it late, tried to post Carlos Boozer (by the way, absolutely their version of Chris Bosh - the dude who is always going to get blamed anytime anything goes wrong) against James. Boozer tried to back James up with the dribble, but couldn't budge him, whereupon he tried to spin in the lane, KJ stripped him, Miami ran out, and Battioke hit a triple to pretty much salt it away. KJ was by far the best player on the court: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, only 1 turnover, absolutely spectacular defense, and...
5) ...one HUGE heavy-heavy-duty knockout screen on the extremely irritating and diminutive John Lucas III. Lucas never saw the screen coming and ran full-speed into KJ's shoulder, flattening him like a pancake. If you recall, earlier this season KJ jumped clear over John Lucas III and dunked on an alley-oop, and tonight he launched him halfway to kingdom come. After gathering himself, Lucas charged at KJ, got in his face, and KJ kind of brushed him away - both guys got technicals, although KJ's was absurd. The game was super-chippy - these teams do not like each other. It included a fairly aggressive double-forearm shiver from the usually mild-mannered James Jones up high on Joakim Noah, which got Jones ejected. I think it is fairly safe to assume, based on Noah's track record in Miami (last year screamed at a fan, calling him a f*cking f*ggot) that he said something inappropriate to Jones, and that the something inappropriate included the n-word. Just a guess. It also featured Rip Hamilton jabbing Dwyane Wade in the stomach with an elbow, and Dwyane responding by belting him to the floor, which earned both of them technicals. And, of course, the usual Joakim Noah histrionics which included him mock-clapping at calls he didn't like, and then getting into an argument with every member of the Heat, the referees, and everyone sitting in the first five rows. Listen, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was the architect of doucheball in Boston - when you play the Bulls, you have to expect a heavy dose of it. Joakim Noah isn't quite the perfect master of the black magic of douchery - that's Kevin Garnett - but he's like a Jedi-douche warrior. I mean, he can douche it up with the best of them. Just makes the win more satisfying. I am rambling. I am exhausted.
6) Been thinking about this a lot lately: it is way easier to see the reasons that you don't like another person than it is to see the reasons that another person might not like you. Wayyy easier.
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Had a great time - Chicago will probably still be the one seed, and that is probably better for Miami, but we'll see how that shakes out over this last week before the playoffs. Four games left for the Heat (wow), and the next one is Saturday against Washington. If you need me before then, I'll be checking the tire pressure on my Prius. Rock-solid.
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