I went to the Sixers-Kings game at the Wachovia Center last night with the girlfriend and the co-workers, and had a great time, as Philly defeated Sacramento. A few highlights:
- I made my NBA arena scoreboard debut, as I was asked to participate in a Sixers trivia contest during the first timeout of the second quarter. Even though my opponent in the contest spent several minutes hitting on the hostess, attempting to bribe her, and looking at the answers, I still managed to eke out a tie, winning Polish water ices for everyone in my row.
- The game fell thick into the on-again/off-again Ron Artest/Peja Stojakovic trade, as the trade was announced yesterday afternoon but rescinded shortly before game time, so while Artest hadn't come to town yet either way, Stojakovic was kept sequestered at the team hotel, so neither played in the game. As a result, the Kings gave major minutes to Kevin Martin, Jason Hart, and a couple of other guys I'd never before heard of. (The trade is now apparently back on).
- Mike Bibby (who had 44 points) played for the first time against his father, Henry, recently hired by the Sixers as an assistant coach, and the long-estranged father and son are apparently back on speaking teams. So there were no chants of "your son hates you."
- A real highlight- Sixers bench player Lee Nailon was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with domestic assault and harassment. Someone working at the arena was apparently napping, because during the second quarter a PSA featuring Nailon was played on the scoreboard- then hastily removed, mid-sentence. Reminded me of the time, when I worked for a sports publisher in New York, that I stood in NBA headquarters and watched editors take Jason Kidd off the cover of Hoop magazine, after he was arrested for hitting his wife.
- A bunch of players for the Phillies showed up at the game and were asked to participate in a free-throw shooting contest. Kind of ugly when Ryan Howard and Aaron Rowand each missed their first five shots (and were roundly booed), but in a possible omen for things to come, new closer Tom Gordon hit four straight.
- As for the game itself, Chris Webber was able to best his former teammates, as the Sixers won 109-103, in front of a slightly larger and more enthusiastic crowd than I'm used to seeing at the games.
Posted by Stephen Silver at January 25, 2006 05:27 PMI actually made my NBA arena scoreboard debut on Dec. 31, 2001 in Washington. I was part of musical chairs at mid-court in between the 1st and 2nd quarters. I lost. So did the Wizards.
Posted by: LilB at January 25, 2006 10:03 PM