confession: i get fanatical

if you know me, you know that i cathect NBA hoops. i will watch the sacramento kings against the ny knicks in the pre-season. i have literally seen hundreds (maybe over a thousand?) of games over these years. my earliest tv-following nba playoff memory is the 1972 lakers winning it all!. yes, i am an old man.

i can enter into an alternative nba universe during games– especially the playoffs. i know that people can think i am temporarily crazy (they have told me) if they have ever seen me watching a playoff game. that’s why it is better for me to watch alone! thank God i am a celibate– as my antics might be detrimental to a good family life if i had chosen that route…

i cannot remember a more captivating, chaotic, tough, emotional game than last night’s rockets-okc thunder (whom i will forever refer to as the “blunder” since the 2008 robbery). part of it is the advanced technology and replays and challenges that are part of todays nba that did not exist in the past.

if you’re interested, here are the highlights. skip to 7:12 for the last two minutes…

i went to sleep happy since the rockets prevailed. i cheer against the blunder ALWAYS and ALWAYS will. but this year was different: chris paul, danilo galinari and shai gilgeous-alexander of the blunder were all ex-clipper players. they were personal favorites of mine and they are all on the blunder now and play key roles– especially paul. so i had mixed feelings…

nonetheless, i am looking forward to the rockets-lakers series beginning tomorrow!! and i am happy that clay bennett (the owner of the blunder who stole the sonics twelve years ago) is crying in his cheerios this morning! i admit to nba schadenfreude when it comes to the OKC blunder. Lord forgive me… and continue to warm my heart with these nba playoffs!!