1. I could lie around the house all day, watching basketball and for all intents and purposes do nothing.
2. I could attend some girls’ high school basketball championships in Connecticut and then stay in Foxwoods for the evening.
3. I could go to the Celtics game and then drive to Worcester (my home town) for the NEPSAC Class A finals between Brewster and Bridgton. NEPSAC Class A basketball has some players.
I chose option 3.
8 A.M – 9:30 A.M.
Somehow it took me an hour and a half to get on the road. This is mainly due to time spent messing around with my fantasy basketball squad. I was led to believe Ray Allen would miss his second consecutive game and did not play him. Allen went on to score 34 points, with 5 three pointers. I care far more about this than I should.
9:30 A.M.
I was on the road, almost. I still needed money, gas, and breakfast. I handled the first two easily and then settle on Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. A sausage egg and cheese sandwich and a bagel and cream cheese as insurance provided a solid base for my endeavors.
9:45 A.M. – 11:45 A.M.
I spent the 2 hour drive from New Hampshire listening parts of Celtics Stuff Live and Bill Walton podcasts. At the very least it was an interesting 2 hours.
11:45 A.M. – 12:10 P.M
I had a George Costanza, “no way I’m paying for parking” moment, especially since i
t was Sunday. I turned down several parking garages and slowly drove further and further away from the Garden. Eventually I almost ran down a guy wearing a Larry Bird jersey and his buddy who was sporting one of those classic shiny, green Celtics jackets. Losing my license and spending some time in jail for vehicular homicide would clearly be terrible. But the karma for killing people dressed in that attire would be far too much to take. Thankfully I missed them. At this point I was frazzled and simply pulled into a car garage. I should note that I was a good 10 minute walk/run from the Garden and this was the most expensive option I had seen. As I took my ticket I already felt violated.12:10 P.M. – 4:15ish P.M.
It was kind of a wacky day at the TD Banknorth Garden. All sorts of groups were in attendance – boy scouts, girl scouts, the Navy, and numerous others. In fact there was one group of people whose ages ranged from roughly 8 to 40. They wore shirts of various colors that looked like football practice jerseys. All of them had D-Nat written on the front. Meanwhile, the backs were individualized with a number and a nickname such as Ms. Attitude, Dancing Queen, Lil K, and so on. They did not sit in one organized group and I’m asha
med to admit that I spent an inordinate amount of time wondering what the hell D-Nat meant. Finally, it was mascot day as well. Mascots in attendance included Wally “Jerry Remy has made me hate him” the Green Monster, Pat “I should really change my nickname because the original mascot would destroy me” the Patriot, the Boston Cannon (lacrosse), the UMass Minuteman, the Vermont Catamount (strangely his real team played and won a game elsewhere), Blades from the Bruins (whose simmering feud with Lucky could actually be real), the Boston College Eagle, and Blitz from Manchester who apparently represents an Arena football team and the devastation of World War II England at the same time. Needless to say the mascots did a lot of stupid things. I won’t criticize it because I’m sure it was aimed at the younger fans. This family atmosphere approach meshes extraordinarily well with the classy Celtics dance team. Yes that’s sarcasm. Two points about the Celtics dance team:1. Did the inspire Ricky Davis?
2. Do they have rules against short haircuts?
And now on to the game.
- I sat in the second to last row of the nose bleeds. I’d love to sit closer to hear the swearing and the trash talking and truly appreciate how freaking huge those guys are. And I did think $30 was a bit steep for my seat. But I enjoyed the game just fine.
- Ryan Gomes is impressive to see live. I realize that it was one of his better game (21 points, 17 rebounds) but it’s the way he accumulated those stats that blew me away. All he does is hit open jumpers and tap in offensive rebounds. I can only remember him driving to the hoop once and they definitely were not running plays for him. Until yesterday Gomes had been lost in the shuffle for a while. That’s not a good thing.
- I can admit that Brian Scalabrine did play some good physical defense on Garnett yesterday. But at times it’s difficult to justify his playing time even if he only got 17 minutes yesterday.
- It was a very exciting game. But throughout it, particularly the last 3 minutes of regulation and both overtimes, I could not shake the feeling that it was very poorly coached. For example as regulation wore down the Celtics ran back to back possessions where a single player, first Pierce and then Delonte West, dribbled around and shot from deep. In both cases they missed.
- Gerald Green can hit the mid ranger jumper. He obviously can shoot 3s. If the NBA had the type of writers that MLB has had over the years someone would wax poetically about his jump shot. He needs consistent minutes. Also if Gerald had thrown down that put back dunk attempt over Mark Blount I would have paid $200 for the poster.
- Heading into yesterday Big Al was 7th in the NBA in rebounds per game. Keep in mind that he did not play big minutes at the start of the season and during his first few games back after the appendectomy. One point on Jefferson. I’m really tired of people saying he’s finally living up to his potential. It’s his third season! He’s 21! The jump from Mississippi high school basketball to the NBA is not an easy one.
- In the first quarter the C’s ran Pierce off a double pick and he nailed an open three. It was a radical idea to try and make things easier for the Truth.
- Pierce just does not look right. Every time he dribbles it’s an adventure. The decision to let him shoot a fade away jumper over Garnett at the end of the first OT was a poor one. I’m not sure playing him 50 minutes yesterday was the best decision either, particularly in the second day of back-to-back overtime games.
Timberwolves notes:
- I knew Kevin Garnett way really good. But it’s something to see him live for the first time. Everythi
ng he does – defense in the post, passes, post ups, everything – is intense. It’s even more shocking to me now that the Bulls haven’t killed themselves to get him. Strangely most of Garnett’s points came on open jumpers and turn around, fade aways. He did not take it to the rack as many times as I thought he would. Finally his game tying 3 at the end of the first OT was a money shot.- I can sum up Minnesota’s decision to trade for Marko Jaric in two words: bad decisions.
- Mark Blount had 3 rebounds. That’s everything you need to know about him.
- Troy Hudson – impressive. Rashad McCants – not impressive.
- Love him or hate Ricky Davis is an interesting guy. I’d love to know what Pierce said to him as the referees were meeting in the second OT to reverse Violet Palmer’s initial judgment that had awarded Davis 3 free throws. One important point – you can’t evaluate the Davis/Szczerbiak swap without taking into account the fact that Mark “Jefferson and Perkins despise me” Blount was involved. It’s a watered down version when the Chicago Bulls traded Ron Artest because they feared for the Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler’s safety. Although in this case it was Jefferson and Perkins’ development and not their health that was in jeopardy.
4:15 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
- I walked/ran to my car, paid the ludicrous fee, and jumped on the pike by way of 93 South to get to Worcester. I was happy to see the C’s win and it was an exciting game. However, the 2 overtimes threw off my plans big time. I still tried to catch the end of the Brewster/Bridgton game.
5:30 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
- I parked the car and immediately stuffed any valuables – iPod, wallet, and cell phone - into my jeans. I even considered bringing my cell phone charger as well. And if I could have brought my car in with me I would have. It was good to be back home in Worcester.
- I arrived with 10 minutes left on the clock and Brewster trailing by 18. Bridgeton had already won the two regular season games. Brewster battled back but just could not get over the hump. They got it with in 10, maybe 9 but that was it. Even though I only caught ten minutes I still loved the atmosphere. And I was impressed by the fact that Bridgton, a school comprised solely of post-graduate students, was legitimately excited by the win. They did the whole circle jump thing and grabbed the trophy with glee. Speaking of Bridgton. If you ever get a chance to see them play a home game you owe it to yourself to go. It’s a cramped gym and their student body is rabid. Bonus points because taunting occurs uninterrupted. It’s as if the whole sportsmanship movement had not made its way there yet. Also there is a very subtle vibe that a riot could break out and the adults present would be powerless to stop it. It’s fun for everyone!
6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
- I headed over to WPI because the girls’ team from my mom’s high school had a playoff game and she was in attendance. I made the mistake of saying I might be in Worcester. Going and not dropping in on her would be unforgivable. On the bright side my dad was there. Some highlights:
1. Despite the fact that we were in the midst of a group of people who were clearly enjoying the game my dad said rather loudly, “This is like watching paint dry.” He then went on to engage me in conversation about the problems with girls’ basketball.
2. My dad works at a public school in Worcester. Now despite the fact that my mom works at a parochial school in Worcester and that I went to another parochial school my dad hates them. This has only increased since I graduated from high school.
3. My dad was outraged to learn that I had paid the $10 entrance fee. Even though there were three games on the docket he had a point, especially since I would only stay for 10 minutes of action. For the record the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association charged more for this game than the Brewster/Bridgton game which was free and significantly better. Factor in that through his job my dad has a pass to MIAA events and that a friend of his was working I could have gotten in for free. This continued to bother him throughout the rest of the game.
7:00 – 7:10 – Warning: All basketball talk is over.
I went to my parents for dinner because my mom had a casserole in the oven. However, if you’re scoring at home, outside of some peanuts at the Celtics game, I had not eaten since the Dunkin Donuts stop in the morning. I was afraid that the casserole would not quite be ready and my head was pounding. So I stopped off for a candy bar and settled for a Kit Kat. This proved to be a veteran move as the casserole did take an extra 15 minutes. But more
importantly what’s up with the candy bar makers of this country? They haven’t shown much innovation lately. Releasing bite sized versions, a king sized option or switching from chocolate to white chocolate, dark chocolate, or peanut butter of an established candy bar is getting old. Outside of the Fast Break (2001), which features the holy trinity of chocolate, soft nougat, and peanut butter, and the highly controversial (some people despise the pretzels) Take 5 (2004) the candy companies have been pretty quiet. I’m just throwing that out there.7:10 – 8:00
I hung out, ate, and watched some TV. I was too wired to rest and ended up driving home to New Hampshire. Listened to some podcasts. All in all it was a good day.
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