i've begun watching basketball on tv. i never thought i'd care enough to tune in. i've been to a few nba games in person and those are pretty fun. but i always thought the magic and nuance of a live game is lost on television. my grandpa took me to my first game when i was seven or eight. i don't have much memory of it except that there were a lot of people. my dad took me to my second game about 6 years ago. his boss had seaon tickets and pretty good seats to boot, relatively close to the floor. we sat in front of a young kid and his dad. the kid was having a blast and yelling and cheering. he was kind of loud, but seeing it's a big game in a giant stadium, who cares? but of course some people sitting next to him shushed him. of course. people can be so entitled.
anyway. the nba team in my town is notoriously bad. they lose more than they win. if on the off year they win more than they lose, they always fuck it up in the end. everyone gets all hyped up and tunes in and puts up "we believe" posters in their apartment windows. but the team hasn't won an nba championship since the year after i was born.
this year is no different, except B and i were invited to a preseason game by one of our friends who works for a company with a box at the arena. we went and had a lot of fun. free box seats! free binoculars attached to every box seat! free nachos and pizza! and the darn team actually won! and i remember why it is i like watching live basketball.
watching those players is like watching a graceful, sweaty dance. it's awesome, really. they're so strong and run up and down and pass and scoop and toss and bow and turn. when i tuned out the cheesy, loud oompa-C+C music factory music and focused on the game, it was captivating.
i've only been about 35 percent into sports, but i'm pretty competitive by nature, so i got into it that night. and the next day i read the bios of players in the newspaper and learned their names and ages and heights. and since then, B and i have watched a few games. and it's great fun. B played basketball in high school so he's been teaching me about the rules of the game. like, i had no idea an offensive player could only be in the offensive key for 3 seconds. and i never understood how some fouls only got you one shot while others got you two, or better yet, three. and i had no idea what a point guard was. now that i have a better understanding, i'm enjoying it. me! nba! sistah!
the downside is how wrapped up i get in the outcome. i'm praying for my team to make that one final shot or get that foul or hustle up or work on their defense. what's shitty is that the team is shitty. five or six game losing streak. oh well. they get paid so much i don't feel too much sympathy.