Game Won

A couple of days ago, I had a weird thought: what if i went to the game instead of watching it on television? It hadn't even crossed my mind until I thought about a bet I had just lost with a friend that had to do with the Mavs.

I'm ashamed to say it, but I didn't agree with my friend at the beginning of the season when he bet me that the Mavericks would be a top 5 team in the league. TOP 5 in the league? I thought it was easy money at the time, and I continued to think of my friend as an idiot who didn't know what he was talking about. The week leading up to the end of the season was somewhat bittersweet. I was excited about the Mavs being better than I anticipated, but I was mad that my friend knew what he was talking about. He's one of those obnoxious guys who thinks he knows everything about sports, and I'm the guy who has to prove that guy wrong. Anyways, i'm ashamed to say that I was looking at the standings closely the last week, but the Mavs didn't lose any ground, and they finished top 5. Great.

Which brings me to paying the guy. I really didn't want to. I imagine that he would have taken the Cartman from South Park route, and converted my money into quarters so he could swim around in them. I couldn't have that. So, I suggested that we attend game one in order to square our wager. he accepted, and I was elated. Elated! Who uses that word when talking about basketball?! But I was, so suck it, working man.

I ended up leaving for the game about two hours early with Bruce because we had to meet up with LJ or else Bruce wouldn't have been able to get in to the arena. We couldn't have that. So we meet up, and LJ is hesitant to talk to me. It's because I give off an aura of indifference, and we're two people who might be too cool for school. Same with Bruce, kind of, but he had a cute little backpack that might have discounted anyone from thinking that aside from me. Anyways, the time came when we parted ways, and they took their seats, and I climbed the mountain to my own.

Having never been to a playoff game of any kind, I was not disappointed by the atmosphere. The American Airlines Center was electric, and I had really mediocre seats in one of the nosebleed sections of the arena. I can imagine that it was just as loud, if not louder, in the lower parts of the building. From the opening tip, everyone booed and cheered with such vigor that I had never experienced during a Mavs game; granted I had attended only a handful of regular season games, previously.

I mentioned to my friend that, at times, it seemed a little quiet, but that was only because of the absence of the sound effects made during every game I had gotten used to. Not hearing Lil Jon say "okay," every 5 seconds was different, and not being told when to cheer was really different. It led to many sections breaking out the always appropriate "defense" chant when the Spurs had the ball. We weren't even told when to boo Tim Duncan, and his "who, me?" face, yet plenty of people did. Every time Dirk touched the ball, we knew something good was going to happen, and he didn't disappoint. Dirk was amazing. That's the only adjective that I would use to describe the guy. Some insane shots that he took went in, and he was all over the place in this game. The place got loud after a couple of Butler shots went in. Several people even moaned when JJ came in, knowing that he wouldn't be effective, and our moans were vindicated when that fucking idiot didn't do anything worth talking about.

I groaned every time Erick Dampier was intentionally fouled as I wondered why Haywood wasn't put into the game during the bout of craziness from Greg Popovich. Needless to say, Rick Carlisle's decisions are just as maddening in the arena as they are when I'm watching the game at home.

As the game clock wound down, and the streamers came from the sky, I was glad that I decided to come, and experience a playoff game first hand. Yesterday was the culmination of a failed bet, but it was a memorable experience that I'll always remember because it was the first time I got to see the Mavs beat the Spurs in person. I imagine that it'll be the first of many.