It's FANtastic!

Thanks to my good friend Clay, I went to my first NBA game last night. I got to the see the Miami Heat play the Atlanta Hawks. Because Clay had his boss's tickets, we were able to sit about ten or fifteen rows up at about the top of the key. Needless to say, the seats were pretty good.

I've never been a really big NBA fan. I usually don't watch games until the playoffs start. But I will rarely turn down tickets to a professional sporting event.

My first impression was that you don't truly appreciate how big those guys are until you watch a game live. Shaq is massive and Alonzo Mourning is not what you would call small. I was able follow the game much better in the arean and was able to watch the whole court. It gave me a much better idea of what goes on during the game. For example, we were behind the Heat bench. When the ball was down on the opposite end of the floor, one of the assistant coaches was up talking to a stat guy over at the scorer's table about fouls and stuff. That was something the camera usually does not focus on or that people rarely notice.

The other interesting thing about being in the arena are the sounds that you don't hear on TV. The swish of the ball on the net. The slight ping as the ball just scrapes the back of the rim on its way in. The sound of the rim popping back into place after a monster dunk. Being able to actually hear the coaches and the players communicate. It was all pretty cool.

As for the dunking, I've been one in recent years to think there is too much emphasis on dunking and not enough on fundamentals. Well, seeing the dunks in the game changed my opinion somewhat. Seeing it live is so much more exciting and you have a much better appreciation for the sheer physicality of getting that high in the air with relatively little effort.

And of course, one of the best perks of seeing a game live are the cheerleaders/dancers. But I won't dwell on that, lest I get in trouble.

After last night, I have now been to all four major professional sports in the U.S. While living in Nashville, I was able to see some NFL games and some hockey games. I have now had the chance to see Major League Baseball and NBA here in Miami. I'm a pretty lucky guy. Hopefully, I will get the chance to go back to a Heat game, but it will be pretty hard to go back up to the nosebleeds. Those seats last night were pretty good.