Well hello,
kaylaandlance.
blogspot readers, it's your boy Lance making his first foray into the wild world of online blogging! (Can't you just feel the excitement?)
So anyway, this past Saturday I went to Toyota Center here in Houston to watch the hometown Rockets play the
visiting Denver Nuggets. I was accompanied by the Father-in-Law, the honorable Douglas
Freede; the slightly less honorable, but nonetheless entertaining Cody
Girod, and his clone of a little brother,
Cade. With the game being in Houston and whatnot, of course I was rooting for the Rockets, but the real highlight of the night was getting to see my boy, Allen
Iverson-my favorite NBA player since i was in 7
th grade. Doug has given me a hard time about liking AI for as long as I can remember, claiming that he was a thug based on some of his off-court incidences. Frankly, I can't argue with him about some of the things
Iverson's been involved in; I mean, it's hard to defend someone who has been arrested for
threatening his wife and brandishing a firearm in the home, but hey, considering all he's been through growing up (single teenage mom, absent father, abject poverty...you know the story) I feel like he's come out the other side a pretty decent human. The thing I respect most about him is how hard he plays night in and night out, despite the fact that he's
maaaaayyybe 6 feet, and a buck-70, soaking wet and holding a
weimariener. Every game he gets completely abused by 7 foot giants after driving to the basket, yet he never complains and never lets up. Three years ago, when the USA was sucking it up in the Sydney Olympics, AI was the only one who acted like he actually cared about the teams performance, like he was
embarrassed and even
disappointed that the nation was being represented in that manner. It's old news by now, but afterwards, there was an article on
espn.com about how he felt honored to wear the red, white, and blue, how he understood that it was a
privilege to be selected to play for his country, and that even a bronze medal, as
disappointing as it was, was better than not playing at all. All that to say, there's way more to the guy than tattoos, and cornrows. He's very passionate about what he does and takes that responsibility very seriously.
So anyways, we're loving life at the game whilst the Rockets are kicking A and taking names (seriously, it was a 20 point lead at the end of the first quarter) and the Nuggets are looking very much off their game. Carmelo Anthony (who i will forever hold a grudge against for beating my Horns in the 2003 Final Four; Not to mention his sissy slap-and-retreat move against the
Knicks last December) was 0-fer the first 20 minutes of the game, including two 3-point
airballs. Even though things were going horribly for Denver, you better believe
Iverson was out their busting his butt on defense, making his man work for the ball on every possession, and throwing himself into the lane countless times for little drop shots and runners numerous times on offense. Needless to say, by the end of the third, Mr Doug was more than impressed, and after the game
AI's biggest critic was a new fan, a believer in Mr Allen
Iverson.
Some other highlights and random thoughts:
- In pre-game warm ups, some rowdy Rockets fans did a roll-call, similar to New York Yankee bleacher bums who chant the name of every starter until they turn and acknowledge the fans. Anyway, most of the Rockets played it cool, sort of ignoring the fans and half-nodding when they felt like it. But when it came time for Luis Scola, the rookie from Argentina, he looked excitedly around the arena until he found the origin of the "Scola! Scola!" chants, and when he found them, he smiled, waived, giggled, and quite possibly wet his pants. Seriously, it was like a kid in a candy store, just a priceless ten seconds.
- Steve Francis, the former up-and-coming star the Rockets traded to Orlando for Tracy McGrady a few years ago-who has since become a bench warming journeyman- surprisingly got the biggest ovation when he was in the game. It was really bizarre, I mean, how many guys play for a team for like five years, don't take them past the first round of the playoffs, get traded, become very much an afterthought around the League, come back to his original team, and get a standing O when he enters the game and knocks down two free throws?!?! Whaaaaat? The guy's getting MJ treatment for absolutely no reason. Fascinating.
- The Booker T introduction during a timeout. I think Cody actually yelped for joy when they showed him on the jumbotron, good times.
- And finally, the three-year old who brought the house down hamming it up for the 'Flex-cam' If you weren't there you wouldn't know, so I won't try to explain. Just know that it was hilarious. Got it? Good.
*In case you care, here are a couple of YouTube links of AI to give you a little example of why I think he's pretty awesome...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH5JTh3Xp3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI-AZQcZ0dc
Until next time, over and out.
-Lance
