Rockets vs Bull GameDay Thoughts/Experiences + Pics

Brief history about myself

I was born in Houston in '77 and only lived there for two years as my dad was in the Air Force and we moved a lot. Even though we moved numerous times, as a little kid I new where my heart belonged as I was fixated with the Rockets. After my dad retired from the AF, we moved to Puerto Rico in the mid 80's. Being in PR sucked as a Rockets fan...the games started really late if the played at all on the TV. Also, boxscores/game scores didn't appear in the newspaper if the games ended beyond 12AM. So the only thing that I could have resorted to was the very short timed seconds on ESPN sports center where they showed the score (or minimal highlights at best). During the 1994 championship year, I fell asleep during the final game (had a rough bball game at school that day) and woke up the next day in tears when I saw the result. Those are the legendary days! Needless to say, I love the Rockets and I hoped that one day I will attend my first Rockets game. This opportunity came in 2003 when my wife bought me some tickets for Rockets vs Bulls to celebrate the rare cancer that I defeated and as a birthday gift. The Rockets returned the gift by whooping the Bulls by 32 points! My wife is from Chicago so she is a Bulls fan

My 2nd Rockets game - Shootaround/Warmup

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This time I tried to make the most of it by showing up early at 6PM when the doors opened. When I got there the following players where part of the early shootaround: Aaron Brooks, Steve Novak, Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola, Shane Battier, Carl Landry (Bonzi/Head showed up about 20 minutes later).

Shane Battier was shooting corner 3's and he was not shooting very well at first but then become a little better as he kept on warming up. However, he mostly shot from that corner during the warmup. My wife now has a crush on Shane Battier...she says that he looks nicer in person than on TV.
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Chuck Hayes attempted a few free throws and that was an ugly site (sorry hayesfan). The shots look worse in person than on TV. I must say that Hayes is one thick dude. No wonder Hayes does so well as a PF for his size his legs and body are something out of this world.
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Bonzi didn't do much during the shootaround. He mainly shot "free throws"...I put "free throws" in quotes because but the odd part is that he shot them about 2 feet after the charity stripe.
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Luther head finally came out and started to warm up. Many people wanted to get his autograph as he is from Illinois. (Here is one of the pics with Aaron Brooks..he is too fast for my camera so its a still shot)
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Scola was just shooting random jumpers and all over the place. He shot looks ugly in person. But he was definitely making some.
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Carl Landry and Steve Novak were the ones that stayed the longest for the shoot around and later on were dress in suits as they were inactive. Landry seems more impressive than Novak although I must say Novak looked stronger than I thought he was.
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After the guys started to head back to the locker room, I took some more pics...
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My 2nd Rockets game - Meeting ClutchFans brother Vengeance

Then I took some time to meet Vengeance (a ClutchFans member). We talked about the Rockets for about 15 minutes while having a beer. We both started to get depressed discussing the bad fortune that the Rockets had suffered so far. I did say that I believe that after what they showed during the Nuggets game that there is hope. (It's Time....time to be hopeful).
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When we went for a second round of beer, the woman behind us said "Rockets fans...we like Rockets fans". After a brief further discussion, we find out that she is Luther Head's fiancee". I told her that I am attending Illinois and remember the good years that Head gave. We didn't take picture because we thought that it would be creepy. (I am not the kind of person that would follow Yao to his house).

My 2nd Rockets game - Game Warmup

T-Mac, the diva, and Yao finally decided to come out. T-Mac had a bandage around his knee and looked as if he was to good to be shooting around or maybe just hurt. I was disappointed to see that Yao never came out to shoot the ball until just before the game started as well. I always hear about his work ethic how he is always there first, etc...maybe he was shooting before the doors opened. That's probably the case.
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Here are some pics of me and my wife before the game started.
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Anyhow, game is about to start and Yao and T-Mac sit NEXT to each other it seems that Yao is praying. Also, T-Mac was using a special chair (like an office desk chair) compared to other players. Is this related to his knee injury ...who knows.
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Sidenote: Francis was not present at this time.

 

My 2nd Rockets game - Game Time

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Overall, the game was great with a few people with Rockets jerseys in the stands. Many were YOF but who cares...all you care about is that people are cheering at your team.

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The guy who impressed me the most was our version of Agent 0. Aaron Brooks. That guy was so quick it was just astonishing. My wife who doesn't watch much basketball (occasionally when I force her) during the 2nd quarter said that T-Mac was a major disappointment as he is playing as if he doesn't want to be there. The words that she used to describe him were sluggish and lethargic. She took that statement back in the second half when he decided to be more aggressive with and with out the ball. The 2nd best in my book was Chuck Hayes...he contested every shot and if the shot went off without him touching the ball he would nod his head in disappointment. His work ethic never fails to impress me. Also, it seems that Rafer was pushing the ball faster than usual. I will have to see the game on TV as it may have a different perspective.

Also, during the game with 9 minutes left most fans were running out the door so I was able to move forward and take some up close shots. I can't believe the bulls fans were booing during the entire 4th. I hope the Rockets do not do that as fans. That's insulting!

 

Rafer getting benched after it was clear that the Rockets had won
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Bonzi and his big rear and skinny legs!
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T-Mac with a minute left ready to go (to Detroit)!
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Didn't get any pics at the end when they left except this one because I was trying to shake hands with the players...Novak and T-Mac connected.
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If you want to see all of the pics click here

I have only posted the pics from my camera...my wife took many more.
Enjoy,

jsmee2000

PS. I may next season fly to Houston to pick up a couple of games. I want to experience it with the home crowd cheering.

 

Oh one last thing...when we were walking out of the game I saw two older ladies walking with a Rockets jersey on. I say go Rockets and the lady gave me a high five. It turns out that it was Luther's mom. Luther's fiancee was following right behind her. I would say that there were about 10 of them in that crowd. Luther got lots of support at home. However, nobody screamed...We want head, we want head!

 

Oh...and Francis showed up after the first half for about 3 minutes and then he disappeared. Also, Novak made 24 3's in a row during the shoot around. I thought that this was worthwhile mentioning.

 

Sweater and pants!

 

I will take you up on the offer!