Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

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bapo!
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Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by bapo! »

For years, my friend Mike and I talked about driving to Cleveland to see a Cavs game. It's only a 2.5-hour drive, and the best player in the world played there, so it made sense. And I was still angry at myself for not seeing LeBron when he played a high-school game in Pittsburgh back in 2002. Of course, we never went.

This season, I've had a renewed interest in basketball, so Mike bought Cavs/Heat tickets as a birthday gift. When he bought the tickets, the Heat hadn't won 877 games in a row, but we knew that it could be a pretty special night, even if the Heat won in a blowout. We had no idea what we were in for.

Okay, back up to Monday. Heat/Celtics on ESPN. The Celtics jumped out to a 17-point lead, and I thought, maybe this is the night that the Heat just don't have it in them. A blowout loss during a long road trip -- that happens to every team. But they kept hanging around, hanging around, and eventually won it. So the streak would be intact for Cleveland.

Drove into town yesterday, heard on the radio that Kyrie Irving was hurt and wouldn't be playing. I guess he's been out for a while, but I think I can be forgiven for not following Cavs' news too closely. So a lopsided win was looking even more likely.

Pulled into the parking lot and was greeted by a smirking guy who handed me my ticket and said, 'Welcome to South Beach.' Yes, it was March 20, and it was snowing in Cleveland.

We walked into the arena super-early, so we watched a lot of the pre-game warm-up. I love this time, an hour or two before the game. Loved it when I still played. Just going thru the motions, getting loose, finding a rhythm. (I wish that baseball stadiums opened early enough so that I could watch more than the last 10 minutes of batting practice.) Watched Shane Battier drain a bunch of 3s from the corner, then some of the Heat played a loose game of 3-on-3. Big tv lights circling the floor as the local-news reporters did their stand-ups between 6:00 and 6:30.

Starting line-ups. We figured that it would be big and loud, and it was. The Cavs have a hype man who gets a lot of face-time on the jumbotron, kind of a poor man's Will.i.am. He introduced the team, and huge pyro shot out of the scoreboard. We were sitting in the upper deck, but the pyro made us noticeably warmer. It seemed like an awful lot of effort to go thru for a team that's going to win 25 games this year. But okay, let them have it. Not much else to root for in Cleveland these days.

Game time. Let's go. And then we noticed some guys in suits walking on the floor under the scoreboard, and some kids with towels trying to mop up something. Apparently the fuel from the pyro was leaking. The players were sent back to the locker rooms, the scoreboard was lowered, a dude with a ladder climbed up, and he just shoved a bunch of towels up in there. 40 freaking minutes later, we were ready to start. Again.

Something on the scoreboard about the key match-up being Tyler Zeller vs. Chris Bosh. Mike laughed and said, 'Yeah, good luck with that.' Then Zeller scored a couple of quick baskets, and I said, 'I knew that if Zeller played his game that Miami would have a lot of trouble tonight. He's completely dominating Bosh.'

LeBron was booed every time he touched the ball. That was to be expected. It seemed like more of a perfunctory boo, tho, not the venomous boo that he heard in 2010. But still, boo. He threw down a rather vicious dunk on a breakaway early, which drew a mixed reaction from the crowd.

Early on, Miami just could not hit its shots, and Cleveland played better than expected. Much better. They went on a 19-0 run at one point and opened up a huge lead. I'm not sure if anybody believed that they would hold it, but the Cavs fans were ecstatic. During half-time, the energetic guy sitting next to me said, 'Man, I've been waiting for this since 2010.' His eyes were watery. Didn't know what to expect the second half. If Miami could knock a few points off the lead in the first 5 minutes, then maybe they could make a game of it. But if they were still down by 20-25 points, they might just pack it in and keep playing Chris Anderson all night.

The first few minutes of the third quarter, it was more of the same. Cleveland playing well, Miami's shots not falling. But then, very suddenly, it changed. Miami started hitting shots, and they started getting into passing lanes and creating a lot of turnovers. A 27-point lead turned into 22, then 19, then 15, then 10, etc. Luke Walton played a lot of minutes and looked awful. It was sad. Bill Walton is one of my favorite historical players, so I was hoping that his son would at least hold his own, but he hurt the Cavs last night. And some guy behind me yelled, 'Where the hell is Zeller?! Why is he on the bench?!' Miami cut it to 6, then Cleveland hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, so they had a 9-point lead heading into the 4th quarter. It didn't last long.

LeBron decided that he was going to take over every possession, either dishing off to Shane Battier or Ray Allen, or hitting 3s himself. He hit a couple of 3s to tie the game, then did his little celebration thing, and the air just went out of the arena. More big shots from Battier and Allen and Mario Chalmers, and Miami went up 8. Cleveland came back, had an either/or call go against them in the final seconds, but Miami won, 98-95. The guy next to me, who had been yelling and jumping out of his seat the entire game, went completely silent at the final buzzer, just standing there looking at the court, numb. I wanted to give him a hug. Miami won its 24th straight game, and 20,000 people very quickly and quietly filed out of the arena.

Wade and Bosh were mostly quiet, tho I enjoyed the first few minutes of the second quarter, when LeBron and Chalmers were out of the game, so Wade controlled the offense exclusively. He's a joy to watch.

LeBron finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. In the 4th quarter, he had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

And some dude ran onto the court in the fourth quarter. He got up to LeBron before security could stop him. LeBron rubbed his head. Mike said, 'He handled that a lot better than James Harrison would have.'

We listened to the post-game show on WTAM as we drove out of town. Two guys were talking about the possibility of LeBron returning to Cleveland after the 2014 season. As Eminem would say, 'Let it go. It's over.'
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Jerloma »

What was the guy expecting to do once he got up to LeBron? Hit him. Hug him? Make a Delonte West joke?
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by rass »

bapo! wrote:Game time. Let's go. And then we noticed some guys in suits walking on the floor under the scoreboard, and some kids with towels trying to mop up something. Apparently the fuel from the pyro was leaking. The players were sent back to the locker rooms, the scoreboard was lowered, a dude with a ladder climbed up, and he just shoved a bunch of towels up in there. 40 freaking minutes later, we were ready to start. Again.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by sancarlos »

Good post, Bapo!
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by mister d »

Jerloma wrote:What was the guy expecting to do once he got up to LeBron? Hit him. Hug him? Make a Delonte West joke?
On the radio last night, they said he had a "Come Home in 2014" sign or t-shirt or something. LeBron has an opt out.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Scottie »

Jerloma wrote:What was the guy expecting to do once he got up to LeBron? Hit him. Hug him? Make a Delonte West joke?
I posted the story/video in the NBA thread last night. It was much ado about not so much.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Johnny Hotcakes »

Excellent post, Bapo!

Must have been a hell of a game to be at. Think you'll be back for another this season? It will be hard to top that.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by bapo! »

Johnny Hotcakes wrote:Excellent post, Bapo!

Must have been a hell of a game to be at. Think you'll be back for another this season? It will be hard to top that.
Thanks, The Wrench. (And sancarlos.)

We might go back at some point, but probably not this season. Other than a Bulls/Rockets preseason game in Pittsburgh in 1986 or '87, this was my first NBA game, so I really lucked out. I knew that the atmosphere would be pretty intense, but I wasn't prepared for that level of insanity. There are so many meaningless mid-season games in every sport where the teams are just kind of going thru the motions, the fans aren't really into it, and the games are instantly forgettable. This, obviously, was not one of those games.

So, next season, we might go up again when Miami is in town. Or Oklahoma City. Or the Clippers. But if this is the only NBA game I ever go to, I think I'd be happy with that.

Overall, I'm not sure what to make of The NBA Experience™. It was just so busy, a constant barrage of music and noise. I didn't mind it last night because it was all new to me, but if this were a random Cavs/Grizzlies game, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much. (I'll admit that I laughed when, as a Miami player was shooting a free throw, an image was flashed on the scoreboard to elicit boos. First, the Pittsburgh Steelers logo. Then, a photo of Ben Roethlisberger.) Basketball is a young person's game, and it's just not being marketed to me. But the Cavs still get 20,000 people to show up to watch a not-very-good team, so they must be doing something right.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Shirley »

Yeah, great post, Bapo! The Swamp doesn't get enough long-form posting anymore.

I'm with you on the NBA Experience. I find all of the extra crap really cheapens the game. It's like they know the game itself isn't entertaining enough. And the thing is, it could be, but all the fake cheering, loud music and jumbotron bullshit just sort of convinces you that the game needs all of this extra, fake energy. As someone who's been to a LOT more college games, usually at great gyms (Cameron Indoor, The Dean Dome, U-Hall in the Sampson days, etc.), I find NBA games jarring.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by bapo! »

Shirley wrote:I find all of the extra crap really cheapens the game. It's like they know the game itself isn't entertaining enough. And the thing is, it could be, but all the fake cheering, loud music and jumbotron bullshit just sort of convinces you that the game needs all of this extra, fake energy.
Most sporting events are afflicted with 'jock rock' and contests and ads during stoppages, but not to the degree that I saw last night. (And the pyro was laughably over-the-top.)

My favorite games are minor-league baseball games in Erie. I go by myself, take a book with me to read between innings, and I can just watch the game and not have my senses bombarded. But drive a couple of hours east to the AA park in Altoona, and it's nonstop piped-in noise. It's baseball -- it's not going to be that exciting. We don't need to be 'up' for three hours.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Johnny Hotcakes »

Agreed, I'm a much bigger fan of attending minor league baseball than the majors. There's an A level team here that can be quite horrific (I was once at a game where "we" beaned FOUR guys in the top of the first, and then went on to win the game), but nothing beats minor league baseball (in a decent park) on a warm summer evening.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by howard »

I went to a game in Cleveland to see Bron Bron. I was surprised at the extent of the pyros. I felt significant heat. But the single aspect that impressed me most was the scoreboard featured a display of the difference of the scores of the two teams. Right above the score--+4 or -1, or whatever.

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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by bapo! »

howard wrote:I went to a game in Cleveland to see Bron Bron. I was surprised at the extent of the pyros. I felt significant heat. But the single aspect that impressed me most was the scoreboard featured a display of the difference of the scores of the two teams. Right above the score--+4 or -1, or whatever.

Subtraction ain't easy, i guess.
The Diff!

Yeah, I thought that was odd, too. And I chuckled as I watched The Diff morph from +27 to -8 in a few blinks of an eye.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Johnny Hotcakes »

Wow, I'd be offended by that if I was a Clevelander. Offended and embarassed.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Johnnie »

Excellent post, Bapo! Very entertaining read.
bapo! wrote:The Cavs have a hype man who gets a lot of face-time on the jumbotron, kind of a poor man's Will.i.am.
This makes me laugh a lot for some reason. Fuck, I hate the Black Eyed Peas.
bapo! wrote:During half-time, the energetic guy sitting next to me said, 'Man, I've been waiting for this since 2010.' His eyes were watery.
Oh, Cleveland. :'-(
bapo wrote:Overall, I'm not sure what to make of The NBA Experience™. It was just so busy, a constant barrage of music and noise.
I hate it with a passion. When I moved to Arizona in '07, naturally I started digging for sporting events to go to. The Celtics visited Phoenix in February the following year so I started looking for tickets. Found a single one being sold on Craigslist that was $125 (tix in the same section were going for $450+) and I was able to nab it. When I told the seller I had just moved there because I was in the Air Force, she gave it to me for $100. Completely awesome, right?

Well, thank god it was only that much. For the amount I could have spent to watch 2 hours of a live sporting event, I lucked out. Never have I been let down for the atmosphere. It was clearly geared towards yuppies and their kids. The pyro, the theatrics, the shitty pop music. It was nauseating. Every time out was an opportunity for Brick Tamland to go full retard. The T-Shirt cannon was shooting t-shirts. The mascot was running around like a toddler in Wal-Mart. The in-house speaker system was shouting about advertisements, then offers, then birthdays, then...ugh. Then more pyro! And more music! It wouldn't end. By the time I left, my ears were ringing. I was thoroughly displeased. It didn't help that the Celtics looked tired and old and lost ugly. I just didn't want to go back. And the seat wasn't that great either! Like row 24 or 26. I could see the floor, but when you watch this shit on TV in HD and then see it in person, it's actually....worse.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Shirley »

Hell, a lot (all?) of arenas actually play music DURING play now as well. Not the whole time, but after a made free throw or something, they'll blast some Smash Mouth until the other team gets the ball over half court. Really fucking annoying.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by bapo! »

Johnnie, I'm assuming that you've been to a Celtics game in Boston in recent years, right? Was all of the extra stuff toned down a bit? Like, do the Celtics trust their fans enough to know that they're there to watch basketball?

Baseball games in Pittsburgh are pretty busy. (The only guaranteed non-Opening Day sell-outs are Fireworks Nights.) But the Pirates can't really draw fans based on the product on the field. I would think that a game at Fenway or Yankee Stadium would look much different.

And yeah, Shirl, they played a bit of music during play. Mostly drum-and-bass stuff that maybe you couldn't call a 'song,' but it was something. I thought that was a definite no-no. At least the music in Cleveland was different than I was used to hearing. Mostly R&B and pop, as opposed to the dinosaur rock I hear in Pittsburgh. And I didn't hear 'Cotton Eyed Joe' a single time!
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Scottie »

Shirley wrote:Hell, a lot (all?) of arenas actually play music DURING play now as well. Not the whole time, but after a made free throw or something, they'll blast some Smash Mouth until the other team gets the ball over half court. Really fucking annoying.
Smashmouth. Yeah. That brings back nightmares. They were huge in the Bay Area around 1999-2000 (they're from San Jose). Anyway, speaking of blasting noise at basketball games, I wanted to mention how much worse that is when there are only a couple of thousand people in an arena. I've been to a number of Golden State Warriors games, a BART ride away from downtown San Francisco, and lemmetellya, when that stuff is cranked up to eleven in a largely empty building while the home team is losing by 20? It's painful. No wonder Oakland has such a high murder rate.

Right from the start. Flourish. Lights go down, volume goes up. Some Michael Buffer Wannabe gets on the PA, YOUR GOLDEN STATE WARRIOOOOOOOOOORS! Small smattering of applause. Explosions of a paltry variety. Hey now you're an All Star get your game on go play. Ugh.
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Re: Swamper on the scene: Heat at Cavs, 3/20/13

Post by Steve of phpBB »

Shirley wrote:Yeah, great post, Bapo! The Swamp doesn't get enough long-form posting anymore.
I know it's a couple of days late, but I wanted to echo this.
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