Archives
12:08:00 PM EDT
Hearing the new Arctic Monkeys album
Out of the Basement, Onto the Game: NBA Edition
Inspired by the new book Being There, I've asked sports bloggers/fans for their favorite in-person sporting moment. The contributions range from heartfelt and triumphant to absurd and mundane, and they're sure to put a smile on your face. Today's post focuses on pro basketball with other sports coming tomorrow and throughout the week. Stay tuned, and send your own Out of the Basement, Onto the Game moment to dcsportsguy@aol.com. It's almost sure to get posted.
Monponsett, High Above Courtside
I'm about 7 years old, at the old Boston Garden for a Celtics/76ers exhibition game with my father. Three fights, culminated by a bench-clearing brawl. The crowd was howling for blood.
I was terrified- it was my first riot. Then, the attention of the room is drawn to the stands, from which 75 year old Red Auerbach is storming out of to restore order. Bee line for 6'10" Moses Malone, as the audience hushes.
Moses looks befuddled. Red uses "schvatze' during the one-sided argument, which I was about 30 feet from. He then goes after the ref, who was in way over his head. Everyone was back on their benches in about 45 seconds.
After finding out what "schvatze" meant, I asked my father why Moses didn't kill Red. Here's what he told me, and remember that he was 100% French:
"There are 15,000 angry people in the stands around Monsieur Malone. Do you know what's physically keeping them from coming out onto the court and killing him?"
I shake my head.
"Nothing at all."
Henry Abbott, True Hoop
May 19, 1990. San Antonio at Portland. Game Seven of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. With a minute and a half left, Portland was down by seven. Sevens all around.But there was some brand of magic involving Terry Porter, Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, Kevin Duckworth ... I forget all the details, but it was tied when I went to pee between regulation and overtime, and every single idiot in the overcrowded bathroom was singing, chanting, and peeing as one. No way we were going to lose in overtime, and we didn't. That year the Blazers made it all the way to the Finals, and I embarked on a sports journalism career which is more or less dedicated to recreating a feeling I once had in a public restroom.
Lauren and Mandy, Girls Gone Sports
Try as we might we never got tickets to the NBA Finals last year, so we made damn sure that we were at the Mavericks home opener against the Spurs this season. Yeah the Mavs lost, but half the fun of the game was heckling the Spurs fans. I got into it with an elderly gentleman, who I completely owned and who had to be escorted out of our section by security. Then after the game we took it upon ourselves to boo and berate every Spurs fan that walked within earshot. That is until we were forcibly removed from the AAC by our male companions, who really didn't want to defend our honor against the hefty Spurs fan headed our way. Perhaps we shouldn't have called her fat. We really should have been ashamed of ourselves, but we knew that somewhere Mark Cuban was smiling.A close second would have to be the time that Lauren got so belligerently drunk at a Dallas Stars hockey game that she was convinced she was actually at a Dallas Burn soccer game. She wouldn't stop spouting torrents of profanity ("Let's f---innnn go Burrrrnnnn!!!) in front of the children in the neighboring seats and on the way out she decided it would be a great idea to grab a half-drunk beer from the parking lot and polish it off. I'd like to be able to say that I made that last part up, but I definitely didn't. What can I say? We go balls out when it comes to sporting events.
Ben Henry, Baseball Card Blog
Here's one for you. My dad had fantastic season ticket seats for years in the old Boston Garden: right on top of an entrance. No one in front of you, nobody really behind you, plus we were at an angle in the corner behind the Celtics bench. It's a shame that dump was torn down.Anyway, for my birthday one year (I think it was 1991 or 1992, sometime in my never-ending Awkward Phase) my sister and I got to go to the Celtics/Blazers game where Bird, nearly hobbled by a broken back, scored 49 in double-overtime. It was an amazing game: Cliff Robinson got tossed early on, Bird got credited with a 3-pointer when it was very clear his foot was over the line, Drexler dominated in a losing effort, plus the Garden was packed and everyone was sweaty, gross and drunk. And here's the best part: the game is on the Larry Legend DVD as one of his greatest games ever. So now every time I watch it, not only do I see Cliff Robinson acting like a crybaby when his team needed him acting like a grown man, but I get to see myself in high tops, pastel shorts, huge hoodie and gigantic, face-engulfing glasses, recorded for all eternity.
Miss Gossip, Suns Gossip and FanHouse
In the summer of 2003, just after he had been drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, I drove three hours to Boston to see my boy Boris Diaw play in a summer league game. Michael Lee (then-beat-reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution) thought my "Boris, je t'aime" poster was so hilarious that he used me as the lede for his Hawks story thenext day. In the article Boris humbly denied the possibility that he had lady admirers.
Sportz Assassin, Sportz Assassin and FanHouse
As a Laker fan living in Charlotte, I always bought tickets to the lone time the Lakers came to town each season [I'd even go by myself]. The last time the Lakers played the Charlotte Hornets, the arena was split 50-50 between Hornets and Laker fans. The Hornets fans there were FANS, as their team was getting set to leave. And on this final game, the Lakers and Hornets battled all game long to a furious finish. Then, with the clock running out ... Kobe shoots ... buzzer sounds ... game. Lakers win. Me and the guy behind me celebrated the victory. That very moment was the first time we had ever met ... or would ever meet. Yet, he and I stomped around as if we were college roommates.
And the crowd makes a noise you very rarely hear. That's why basketball is so great. Everyone was up from their seat. 10,000 people wanted the shot to go in. 10,000 people didn't. The sound that was made was beautiful. The sound of half the place erupting in cheer while the other half gasped in defeat. It was awesome. Especially since my team won.
Written by dcsportsguy Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
The best part was that Red used "schvatze' in the Imperative, and I'm pretty sure it was "Go sit down, you big schvatze." He said it dismissively, as well.
It was a swirling brawl, but everyone was back on the bench about a minute after Red walked down onto the court. I've never seen Authority exercised so powerfully without violence, except MAYBe by Mr. McMahon. Jefferson Davis had to threaten to shoot the Richmond Bread Rioters.
4/23/07 12:36 PM