Watching Pros

Brian and I didn't actually go to the Warriors game a few nights ago. Instead we fired up the television and checked it out from his apartment. Not to attack the sanctity of a trip to the stadium or the arena but I'm beginning to think that if you have a nice TV, a nice couch and a Zesty Chicken Bowl from Taco Bell, that the stay-at-home game-watching experience is superior to the hassle of driving, parking, paying and sitting in the upper deck a mile away from the floor at the Coliseum. And it is the Warriors, after all.

We did miss out a little, though. The game we watched was the one against Dallas where Dunleavy went nuts after the bogus foul call and proceeded to yell, point and curse at the ref (One of life's simple pleasures is to read angry athletes' lips on TV), get ejected and take off his jersey and fling it into the crowd. It was clear on the screen that the crowd was going nuts. Hell, Brian and I were going nuts on the couch. The Black players on Dallas were laughing at this White guy showing some attitude. The fan who caught Dunleavy's jersey immediately put it on, covered himself with a coat and shot evil glances at anyone who looked in his direction. It was amazing. What a great night to have been at the arena. You never know when stuff like this will happen.

I don't know whether I think athletes have it hard or easy. Perhaps I should just say they have it different. With the Dunleavy thing, I realized how aptly named the Coliseum is. All these fans roaring because someone got ejected? How does that feel to be under the spotlight and cameras and pressure with so much noise and so many people egging you on several nights per week? Everyone (people you don't know, people you don't care to know, people you'll never meet) has an opinion about you that's unflappingly positive or negative based on the stereotypes of ten of thousands of people who came before you. Well, that part doesn't really count because everyone judges everyone else, regardless of athlete status. Anyway, it's crazy. Something the most of us just can't ever comprehend.

Totally unrelated: Saw Melinda & Melinda last night with Rose. It was entirely pretentious and enjoyable.