Thanks to Shlara's surpassing generosity, the Teej and I were treated to one of the more unique experiences of our hoops-following lives last night. We were in attendance courtside before the Wizards/Pacers contest as Bullets alumni Bobby Dandridge and Mike Riordan shared their memories with season ticket holders (and a pair of interlopers) in a pregame "chalk talk" moderated by Wiz radio announcer Dave Johnson.While Dandridge was gracious and open, Riordan stole the show with his memories. He talked about everything from the 1970 NBA Finals (he was a member of the Knicks team that beat the Lakers in the famous Willis Reed Game), running into screens set by Wes Unseld, the difficulties of getting Elvin Hayes to run the triangle offense (Elvin never met a ball he didn't shoot), the differences in All-Star game from his era to now (the money that went to the winners back then made a difference, so the players competed as hard as they did in real games), and trying to guard Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. Riordan, who used to own a legendary Irish bar in Annapolis, was authentic and engaging - a real Gheorghe of the people.
We confess to being a bit disappointed about one aspect of the evening, however. Our tickets said that there was a game between the Wizards and the Pacers to follow the chalk talk. Turns out the Pacers played against John Wall and a collection of playground hacks. The Wiz won the first and fourth quarters, but got blitzed, 65-38, during the game's meaty middle. Jeff Foster, who entertained us greatly with his Larry Bird-esque game-long standing and stretching, managed to be +10 in 9 minutes of action, grabbing 7 boards against the disinterested Wizards frontcourt. Fan favorite Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points in 21 minutes, mostly by just playing harder than the other guys. Dismal effort by Flip Saunders' boys.The evening's highlight, beyond the Teej's late-game outburst at the home team's lack of defensive effort, was the appearance of a Pacers fan dressed in full Rey Mysterio costume - mask included. I wasn't aware that anyone from Indiana had that kind of weird.
Huge thanks to Shlara. Team G:TB owes you yet another.
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34 comments:
I have no idea where you found that picture, but I can't stop laughing.
which one?
And honestly, I'm not sure I've ever seen a basketball team live that played worse defense than what the Wiz "offered up" last night.
The Rey Mysterio thing.
Foster must have a bad back, or sever ADD, because he never sat down once, or even stood still once, while on the bench.
wrens host georgia state this evening before closing at odu. have the 11th seed locked up, but have beaten both candidates for the 6 seed this season. hmmmm. #wrenswillmakethecaasemis
Mike Riordan is a fucking badass, by the way.
I could not be less interested in my work responsibilities today..
I had no idea Foster was still in the league until last night. Feels like he has been playing a lot longer than 11 years.
Wheelhouse Jerry - thoughts on this Deron Williams thang?
This was the worst defensive performance I've ever seen live.
http://espn.go.com/nba/recap/_/id/271129002/boxscore?gameId=271129002
So glad you guys had fun at the chalk talk--wish the same could be said for the game. Those players owe me money for that performance...
it's too bad every professional basketball and football game isn't for a purse-- so that you earn your salary by winning . . . do players often have clauses in their contracts that give them bonuses if the team wins more?
Speaking of bad NBA games, Broka and I will be at the Jazz-Nuggets game in Salt Lake next week. We are snowboarding out there and taking in a game one night. Too bad the Jimmer is not passing through U of U that same time.
That Jazz-Nuggets got REALLY less interesting over the last 48 hours. But it should make it easier to get last-minute tickets.
I may live tweet from the game. My first tweet may be on how successful I was smuggling in brown liquor into the venue. My second will be a discussion of the Birdman's neck ink.
what mountain are you tackling, tr?
teej, looks like we can say we saw the end of the hilton armstrong era in chocolate city.
wisky just hit a banked-in three to beat michigan by one at the buzzer
towson falls to 0-17 in conference play. guh.
Marshon Brooks of Providence has 47 right now.
marshon brooks has 47 for providence
bastard
Ahl
did we say 47? how about 52?
tribe, y'all
VCU, t'anks for nutin'
need vcu, jmu, or hofstra to win the tourney #3bids4caa
Wiz need to trade a lot more than just Kirk Hinrich.
Magic lose to Sacramento at home. Sweet.
Shelden Williams: DNP-CD.
But a tremendous amount of high-fives all night.
12 hours late to respond, Rob, but we are hittting a few different mountains: Snowbird, Brighton, Park City, Deer Valley.
Good thing about Utah is you can hit so many epic mountains in one trip, all within a 30 minute drive. A ski-in/ski-out place is a bit easier, but hitting new mountains every day is also fun.
I'm hoping to avoid a repeat of the broken helmet -> concussion issue I had in 2007. And I'm hoping to start my plural wife life. We could use the help at home with the kids.
played hookey today and went to the poconos to snow-board-- the conditions were NOT like utah- but fourth time is a charm, both my boys can ski now, by the end they were doing blue squares and i will not have to pay for any more exorbitant "snowmonster" 3 hour lessons (in fact, i think they are young enough that they are still free!)
can't wait to take them out west.
Utah, gimme two.
ahhggh! googling winlevoss twins-- just saw social network and stumbled on this blog! it looks the same!
http://hear-the-boat-sing.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
I have to admit that they know how to take pictures. It is even better than those that they appear on Generic Viagra
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