I really didn't want to spend another night alone and I knew that a number of friends were busy. Unthinkingly, after On the Town I entered the Book of Mormon lottery, which I lost for the third time. It ended up being a blessing in disguise. After i got a smoothie at Jamba Juice that was really bad and not as good as they usually are. Disappointing.
I was texting Shira a little bit to discuss plans to see each other and I didn't have any good ideas for tonight so we decided to just do dinner at my apartment tomorrow. On the subway, though, I had a realization: that the only Nets/Twolves game at the Barclays Center was on Wednesday, November 5th. Because Yachad had been cancelled I could actually go to the game! I quickly texted Shira to see if she was interested and she was.
I knew tickets would be available but it was hard to figure out exactly how to get them. The box office at Barclays wasn't letting people in. So I did a stub hub search and found a pair of tickets in the upper deck on the side for $25 each. Not bad considering the original price was $40 each!
One problem though, I had to find a place to print the tickets! Because of the fire I couldn't go to CBE. Plus, it was a little too far. I called Emily but she didn't have a printer at home. I yelped printing services and saw that an indie printing place was on nearby Bergen street. Their tech was down, so I went to a ups store instead. It took a while for me to figure out exactly how to print without wasting money on a printing card, but it worked out and I got the tickets printed for $1 a piece (still a price gouge but whatever).
I sat in Starbucks to juice my phone for a bit before heading back to Barclays. I met Shira and went in for my second Barclays event (the first was Itzhak Perlman and Yitzchak Meyer-Helfgot together in concert back during my first year in BK. It's still a very nice arena. We took our seats, but planning to grab our snacks at the kosher food stand right before halftime.
The game itself:
It was a pretty exciting game! The score changed lots of times with the Timberwolves taking an early lead. By the half though the game was essentially tied until the end. The wolves were down by six with a couple minutes left but ended up pulling through to win the game.
KG now plays for the Nets, which is crazy because his career is so associated with the Timberwolves. How interesting for him to be playing against his "home" team so to speak. He only scored once but with his huge frame was able to get plenty of rebounds for the Nets.
I forgot how much fun arena rituals can be, especially for kids. Every time the camera scanned the crowd a kid a couple rows ahead of us started dancing enthusiastically. He didn't win. There were t shirt guns, dancers, shooting contests, a kid game at halftime, and those meters on the screen purporting to show how "loud" the audience is. I used to think those were real and the kids in the arena still do. Another great kid moment came when the twolves had the ball and the crowd was shouting "Defense!" This kid joined in the chanting, but when the Twolves scored, cheered. Maybe the kid was glad the nets had the ball back. Anyway, a cute moment.
When it comes to price gouging the Barclays center is worse than the ups store. A soda in a small cup cost $6! The kosher hotdog was also $6 which was way more reasonable but still too high. I guess Shira and I could have chosen not to partake.
The only reason I knew about the game in the first place was because I was bored in the subway and saw the nets schedule. The only reason I was free to go was because of a fire at CBE that cancelled yachad (fortunately/unfortunately would be a good game to play here). The only reason I remembered is because I had a moment of revelation in the subway this afternoon. The only reason I actually went was because Shira could come with. There are so many factors that lead to one's capacity for having a fun experience. I'm sure I've missed many, but I'm surely glad for tonight's.
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