Playoff season is here, and I have watched more games than I care to admit. I’ve already had it with Barkley (aka Windbag) and I can’t wait for him to just go away. So, this has given me some time to become a little sentimental and think about why I am so rabid about basketball. I know my family always watched basketball, but I don’t it really caught on to me until I was 15 or 16.
My brother came home from his mission on the same day as a playoff game here in the Delta Center. Naturally, we were glad he was home. My 2 brother’s missions had overlapped by 4 or 5 months, and we hadn’t all been together in almost 4 years. That night, we got to the game embarrassingly early, as my parent’s seem to still like to do, so they could “enjoy the atmosphere”. Well, for this evening the “atmosphere” included my very own humiliation. They had some stage set up, and music playing, and the next thing I knew, some giant purple dinosaur had grabbed my hands and pulled me up on this stage with him and was attempting every mascot trick he knew to make me dance with him. I was mortified. Some would call this assault. My parents called it the funniest thing they have ever seen and enjoyed. They loved it so much, and their cheering and grinning from ear to ear only added to my humiliation. All teenage disgruntled behavior aside, I loved it too. I saw my two parents’, who had had more than their share of problems for the years preceding, and they were having so much fun. That night, we all had fun. I don’t remember who we played, or if we even won….but I remember being so happy. Was it naive of me to believe that one night of basketball can take away real world problems and make you happy? Probably…but I still see it that way. I still see my parent’s, who still get just as excited to go to games, as they did when I was a kid. It is the one thing they do together, that they truly enjoy – besides watch “American Idol”.
Hopefully, ten years from tonight I won’t remember that the Rockets most likely killed us out of this series…I will remember the fun season Matt and I have had with our season tickets. And I am glad my family will be there tonight as well. In fact, my parent’s will probably be one of the first people there. Tonight though, if any purple dinosaur or any creepy mascot like thing comes near me…I am not suffering any more “mascot assault” just to put a smile on my families face. They are on their own.
No comments:
Post a Comment