We just got back from the Clippers game down at the Staples Center against the Denver Nuggets. It was a reunion game of last year's altercation between Reggie Evans and Chris Kaman, which you can see here if you really want to (warning, it involves nuts getting grabbed).
One thing that's pretty amazing about NBA games is the amount of advertising involved in a single event. The time outs, the dance team, the halftime show, the game where you shoot a lay-up, free throw and a three pointer are all brought to you by different sponsors. Good thing Union Bank forked over a few thousand dollars, otherwise we wouldn't have had the game ball.
Another thing is that the Clippers have a really annoying on-court announcer that shows up during breaks in the game. When we walked in he was interviewing three Clippers fans that were obviously not prepared for the questions. He asked one of them, "If the Clippers make the playoffs, what do you think of their chances to move on?" The guy seemed almost disgusted with the question, then he responded "I don't know, I wouldn't put any money on it." Probably not the pre-game pump-up-the-crowd response people were hoping for. This announcer also sounded like a voice from a haunted house every time he said "Cuttinooo Moooobley." He was almost spooky enough to do the Monster Mash with these guys.
We had seats 24 and 25 of a row with 26 seats, which left one open seat to my left. We were there a little early, and I was thinking, is it possible somebody bought this seat and is coming to the game alone? Then I thought, if someone does have this ticket, it's probably going to be a pretty interesting person. Shortly after that, a man wearing blue Army fatigue-style pants with a Clipper Nation shirt and a leather jacket comes walking up by himself, looking at his ticket and trying to figure out where his seat was. I almost wanted to point to the seat next to me to let him know where to find it.
He didn't say anything until we heard the announcer say, "Now introducing the visiting Denver Nuggets." We then heard "boooooo" coming loudly from the left of us. I soon realized that this guy is one of those guys who talks as if he's best friends with everyone on the team. Saying things like, "C'mon Cat, you gotta make this technical unlike your last one," or "Q needs to get the ball into Chris in the post," or "Chris, show me that baby hook." When referring to anyone on the Clippers team, he was on a first name/nickname basis. Who he was talking to, I never quite figured out. I was the closest person to him, but I never spoke to him directly. Although sometimes it seemed like he was responding to things I would say. One example, after Corey Maggette made a pretty amazing off-balance shot, I said to Lauren, "Wow, I don't know how he made that shot." To which this guy responded, "Yeah, that shot was Kobe-esque." It seemed that his favorite player was Chris Kaman, because he seemed to say "bad shot (insert another Clippers player's first name here) you need to get that to Chris" a lot.
After watching Tang-tsu-wu at halftime (I don't know if that was really their name), which was about 200 martial arts students acting like they were fighting, we tried to search for some Dippin' Dots. We ended up getting a caramel apple, which was surprisingly good. I guess I didn't have much confidence in the Staples Center concessions.
The game ended with Iverson taking over in the 4th quarter, by scoring 17 of the 30 Nuggets' points and getting the game-clinching steal and free throws. Chris Kaman ended up going 4-13 after starting the game 3-3, which makes me wonder why everyone else had bad shots except for Chris.
Even though I wanted to see Denver win, in the end I felt sad for my new friend, the dedicated Clippers fan who comes to games by himself to cheer on his team.
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