I wanted to blog about game 7 the night the Spurs beat the Pistons for the championship, but we got home late after the game, Friday was nuts at a client, and Saturday was Chris’ graduation party.
So back to Thursday. I got a call mid-afternoon from my son asking if I had already bought tickets for PalaceVision. He was bummed when I said no because the game was sold out. We were under the impression that tickets went on sale when you arrived at the game. This naturally was a disappointment. Around 4:00 I got the bright idea of driving out to the arena and finding a “ticket broker” who might want to make a couple bucks for his time of purchasing our tickets in advance. We got to the Palace around 7:15 and found out the security people would not let you drive into the Palace grounds without a ticket. We figured this is where most of “ticket brokers” would be hanging out. More disappointment for my daughters who really wanted to go to the game.
So I told them to make a sign asking if anyone had tickets and we would drive through some parking lots of restaurants, gas stations, and the main road around the Palace. We even let the girls wave four five dollar bills along with the sign (the face value of the tickets were five bucks).
People honked horns, and thought the sign was cute, but no tickets were available. Not to give up easy, I had Therese drop me off and I walked into the Palace grounds in search of someone with spare tickets. In the mean time Therese and the girls drove around some more. The three of them were able to get two tickets at face value and I was able to hunt down two more at face value! No premium price, which was sweet.
We had decent seats and watched the game. It was hard to hear Al Micheals and Hubie Brown when there were 22,000 fans screaming. The game was well played by both teams and it was fun listening to Mason (the team announcer) do introductions before the game and announce part of the game as if it were being played at the Palace.
It was great to be in the crowd. They booed loudly when ever ABC stuck Bill Walton’s mug on screen. The only thing I was disappointed in was the reaction and cheering when Tim Duncan, and I think Robert Horry both went down on the floor with what looked like possible injuries. Most of the fans stayed until the end and the crowd was very well behaved. The energy in the arena was the same as if the game was bing played on the floor in front of us.
Naturally we are disappointed in the results, but losing to the Spurs is the best alternative to winning back-to-back championships. They are a great team and have a lot in common with the Pistons. Class players, a deep bench, young players, play fantastic defense, a great coach, and the stigma of being underrated (both as individuals and as a team).
We had a great time and my daughters had a lot of fun trying to get tickets, did some people watching, and learned more about the game of basketball. Nicole, who is now 16 still recalls watching the games back in the early 90′s when we were home together and mom was out working. I think this is one adventure added to the list and will be a story told over and over when they have kids.
I am looking forward to next year and would love if the Pistons could make a third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. I think it would be fantastic to watch another series between these two teams. Now we get to see if either of them have the drive it takes to get back.
