A Quirkier NBA Experience

I've been to a bunch of NBA games over the past few seasons.  Most of them have been Knicks contests at Madison Square Garden, but I've also sprinkled in some New Jersey Nets games and Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers games in there.  This Wednesday I made my first ever trip to Oakland's Oracle Arena to see the Golden State Warriors take on the Memphis Grizzlies, and the one word I'd use to sum up the experience is "quirky."  Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised; this is Northern California after all.

The oddities started before I even got into the arena.  Parking cost a relatively steep $18; when I paid with a $20 bill, I got a $2 bill as change.  While I''ve seen $2 bills before, this was the first time I had even given or received one as part of a legitimate business transaction.  More efficient than giving everyone two $1 bills?  Yes.  Extremely weird?  Also yes.

The game was fun -- the Warriors are an exciting, high-scoring team and are playing extremely well right now -- but something about the experience was a tad "off."  It's tough to put my finger on it, but I think the fact that a company called "The Solar Company" was prominently featured on the courtside rotational signage at numerous points throughout a game (only in the Bay Area . . .) had something to do with it.  I literally laughed out loud when, with over 11 minutes left in the second quarter, Golden State forward Vladimir Radmonovic was awarded the "Bug Zappers Pest Control Swat of the Game" after a block on Memphis center Hasheem Thabeet.  The whole thing was so absurd that I took a picutre of it (see below).  Even the Warriors new uniforms are pretty quirky.  In particular, it's weird that the numbers on the front of the Golden State jerseys are contained inside the logo, as opposed to below it (to be fair, the old Warriors jerseys also shared this unique feature).  Weird stuff.

See?  I couldn't make this stuff up.

The Warriors fans are a very passionate bunch, I must admit.  I know the Warriors' faithful has a good reputation and, although the stadium wasn't completely full, I did find the crowd to be enthusiastic, knowledgable and entertaining.  I loved the "M-V-P!" chants that echoed throughout the arena every time Monta Ellis shot free throws - that's serious dedication to your local candidate for the fourth game of the season.  The fans love their players, and the players seem to feed off of the energy and produce some highly entertaining basketball.  Anyone who complains about the chippy, drawn-out nature of NBA games certainly isn't watching the Warriors play very often.

The Golden State basketball experience was odd.  But, sometimes odd can be good.  Overall the game was well worth the ~45 minute drive from Palo Alto to Oakland, and I'm looking forward to getting another $2 bill some time later this season.