No distraction from another loss: Bucks v Bulls
As both teams took the court tonight, I breathed a sigh of relief: white socks, all! This means I can actually concentrate on the game! Stella claimed she didn't care who won, since she knows I'm from Chicago and in theory, this means I might be a Bulls fan. But I explained to her that I wasn't into pro basketball when I lived in Chicago, part of the reason being that at that time, the Bulls sucked, and I hadn't yet gotten into the concept of rooting for a team from a town or school other than one's own (except, of course, if that other team was facing the one that beat you for the playoffs).
Anthem this evening by the Holy Apostles Middle School Choir. Either Holy Apostles is an all-girls' school, or no boys are in this choir. They're good, but, as Simon Cowell would say, a little (!) pitchy on "rockets' red glare" and by the looks on their faces magnified on the Jumbotron, they knew they'd hit a clunker. Lesser girls would have let this defeat them, but the Holy Apostles soldiered on and managed to hit the even higher note of "laaaaand of the free" acceptably. Good reworthification, girls, and smart of you to not push yourselves and try to hold it obnoxiously. While this was going on, we get a color guard presentation by a cute as a button cub scout pack from Antioch, IL. Huh? What, are there no cub scouts in SE Wisconsin who could perform the honors? Antioch, IL? How'd they land this gig? Brian's theory is that we're trying to build up goodwill with Illinois so if Chicago lands the 2016 Olympics things are hunky-dry between us. That's a stretch, but its all we can come up with.
Bango the Buck's arm is no longer in a sling! Good for him! He actually sat down about four seats by us, so I took the opportunity to ask him how his arm is. As he is a mascot, he's not verbal, but he held out his palm and gave the "ehhhh" sign. He's probably got to ease it back in with some PT. Probably no aerial flips to dunk baskets with during a timeout for awhile, but at least the Applebee's promotion looked right again, all is well in the jungle. And for once, the promotion where two people duke it out on free throws was somethign to see. The winner was actually aiming, and once he found his shot, just pounded in something like 6 of 'em in the 24 second time period they give you. The winner of this bit gets to try to win a new car by sinking one from half court. For the first time ever, we're looking at a contestant who just might do it. (Usually the "winner" is some scrub who was lucky to be the one to get even one free throw.) He dribbles a bit, takes a few steps, he shoots, it actually hits the rim to the gasping of the crowd, but it doesn't fall into the net. Alas, no new car, just a round trip flight to Orlando.
Bucks started out slow, and I was OK with this, even though the Bucks don't put anything on the scoreboard until the clock read 8:13 -- and that was a free throw! Chicago pulls out in front strong and early, but I'm hoping that they'll be like the Bucks normally are and poop out leter. By halftime, they're tied, and gloriously so: Chicago lost an oppotunity to go into halftime leading due to some consistently good defense that's getting better and better. The passing game is getting better too, and I'm settling in for a night of some ferocious hoops, but they just poop out in the 4th quarter. Ach, this was especially frustrating since there were Bulls fans peppered about the place. Stella herself was wearing red (not because she is a Bulls fan, but because her favorite velvet shirt happens to be red). We had a good time anyway, mother and daughter. And the Bucks still have a winning record, and that record is still better than the Bulls' (a fact pointed out repeatedly by Milwaukeeans to Chicagoans as we made our way to our cars). But Brian and I spent way too much on this pack of half season tickets. Can't we get to see them win for once?
Anthem this evening by the Holy Apostles Middle School Choir. Either Holy Apostles is an all-girls' school, or no boys are in this choir. They're good, but, as Simon Cowell would say, a little (!) pitchy on "rockets' red glare" and by the looks on their faces magnified on the Jumbotron, they knew they'd hit a clunker. Lesser girls would have let this defeat them, but the Holy Apostles soldiered on and managed to hit the even higher note of "laaaaand of the free" acceptably. Good reworthification, girls, and smart of you to not push yourselves and try to hold it obnoxiously. While this was going on, we get a color guard presentation by a cute as a button cub scout pack from Antioch, IL. Huh? What, are there no cub scouts in SE Wisconsin who could perform the honors? Antioch, IL? How'd they land this gig? Brian's theory is that we're trying to build up goodwill with Illinois so if Chicago lands the 2016 Olympics things are hunky-dry between us. That's a stretch, but its all we can come up with.
Bango the Buck's arm is no longer in a sling! Good for him! He actually sat down about four seats by us, so I took the opportunity to ask him how his arm is. As he is a mascot, he's not verbal, but he held out his palm and gave the "ehhhh" sign. He's probably got to ease it back in with some PT. Probably no aerial flips to dunk baskets with during a timeout for awhile, but at least the Applebee's promotion looked right again, all is well in the jungle. And for once, the promotion where two people duke it out on free throws was somethign to see. The winner was actually aiming, and once he found his shot, just pounded in something like 6 of 'em in the 24 second time period they give you. The winner of this bit gets to try to win a new car by sinking one from half court. For the first time ever, we're looking at a contestant who just might do it. (Usually the "winner" is some scrub who was lucky to be the one to get even one free throw.) He dribbles a bit, takes a few steps, he shoots, it actually hits the rim to the gasping of the crowd, but it doesn't fall into the net. Alas, no new car, just a round trip flight to Orlando.
Bucks started out slow, and I was OK with this, even though the Bucks don't put anything on the scoreboard until the clock read 8:13 -- and that was a free throw! Chicago pulls out in front strong and early, but I'm hoping that they'll be like the Bucks normally are and poop out leter. By halftime, they're tied, and gloriously so: Chicago lost an oppotunity to go into halftime leading due to some consistently good defense that's getting better and better. The passing game is getting better too, and I'm settling in for a night of some ferocious hoops, but they just poop out in the 4th quarter. Ach, this was especially frustrating since there were Bulls fans peppered about the place. Stella herself was wearing red (not because she is a Bulls fan, but because her favorite velvet shirt happens to be red). We had a good time anyway, mother and daughter. And the Bucks still have a winning record, and that record is still better than the Bulls' (a fact pointed out repeatedly by Milwaukeeans to Chicagoans as we made our way to our cars). But Brian and I spent way too much on this pack of half season tickets. Can't we get to see them win for once?
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