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.

Final Four

Well, the Final Four is set, and I must do a little bragging. I am in second place in my Facebook group (don't ask about my other brackets) thanks to going 4/4 in picking this year's Final Four. I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I have ever nailed all four teams in the Final Four in a single bracket, and I have filled out many brackets in my time. Of course, that does not mean anything if I don't get the final two or the champ right. But I will bask in this glory for a few days at least. In case your wondering, I've got the Buckeyes beating the Gators in the championship game.

That is a very intriguing matchup. Stewart Mandel at CNNSI.COM had a great column talking about the Final Four subplot with the potential OSU/UF rematch in the final game.

Personally, I think OSU fans are scared to death of the prospect of playing UF in the final. After the basketball team lost to UF in December and after the football team got destroyed in the Fiesta Bowl, I would imaging that Buckeyes everywhere are dreading a game with UF and are rooting for UCLA accordingly. As for that Fiesta Bowl, I must confess, even though I hated seeing UF win a football championship, there was a part of me that took pleasure in the beating OSU took. As any good Miami fan, there will always be a part of me that harbors some bitterness at the way the UM/OSU Fiesta Bowl went down back in 2003. So, for me at least, even though I can't stand the Gators, it was kind of cool to see OSU come into that game as prohibitive favorites and lose, much the way Miami did in the previous game. Kind of poetic justice.

Anyway, I don't really care who wins this weekend, except of course as it relates to my bracket, so I will pull for Ohio State, if for no other reason than my Buddy Adam may never come see us if UF beats OSU again.