Report from the Clip Joint 11/24

Zebra suit: $29.99. Regulation whistle: $8.99. Constanly calling weak traveling and carrying calls on both ends of the floor: Gutless.

This game was simply over-reffed. Felt like a call on every possession. Hey, refs: I'm pretty sure carrying is no longer a penalty in the NBA. Give us a break.

While we're on the subject, the league has to expand the definition of breakaway fouls. At least three times Stevie was grabbed on the open floor, just as I was waiting for showtime. This seriously undermines the entertainment value of the game. And can somebody tell me why Corey Spaghetti (get it? rhymes with Maggette!!!) wasn't called for anything more than a regular foul when he LITERALLY TACKLED Mr. Francis? I mean, he practically had to buy him flowers and promise to call after that one.

Okay, the scene: so I'm walking from my car and I see a guy wearing a Rockets cap. I ask if he's a Rockets fan (okay, dumb question but it's an icebreaker). Seemed like he thought I was asking him as a challenge, so I made sure he noticed I was wearing my "Two-riffic" Houston Chronicle facsimile shirt ("Double-clutch is twice as nice for fans, city" - what a lame subhead). Turns out he was from H-town as well and we knew quite a lot of people in common. He said explicitly he was there to see Yao. Turns out he wasn't the only one.

As we lined up for the metal detector check-in, I started noticing a lot of Rockets paraphenalia. And I'm not sorry to say that most of it was old-school red-n-yellow Mickey-D's style.

Once the player intros began (yes, I actually made it in for the intros!) it was clear that at least half the fans were there to see Yao and the Rockets. The place went nuts when Yao was introduced as a starter. And pretty much every time he touched the ball. But also whenever the Rockets did something well (which admittedly I couldn't tell before the second half).

I was glad to see such an overwhelming showing of support for our boys, but didn't any of these people get the memo that Yao was going to put on his show the week before? Come on, people! Okay, that does it, I'm putting together a group package for Feb 18. Who's with me?

Okay, I know I did all the tall jokes last week, but here's one from a friend of mine in attendance: "His socks are taller than most people's pants!"

Lots of calls for Yao the entire game. "Give it to Yao!" when he was in. "Put in Yao!" when he was out. Lots of chants in what I assume was Chinese. I certainly don't know any Chinese dialect, but I'm pretty sure I could make out something that sounded like "Yao Ming!" And when the Steve-Andre shouting match began, somebody shouted, "Don't make Yao get up in there!" Good stuff.

The place went especially nuts when Yao & Wang matched up. Which, like the whole game, was pretty ugly. Wang was clearly intimidated (even if he was the only one).

The Rockets stunk up the place so bad in the first I started spraying Febreze into my chair.

Funny JumboTron Moment: During a timeout, they showed a Clippers Spirit girl. Cheers. They showed a guy in the audience wearing a Rockets jersey. Boos. Clippers Spirit. Cheers. Eddie Griffin (who chuckled when he saw himself). Boos. Spirit. Cheers. Mo Taylor. BIG boos.

Yes, I felt numb at the end, after they let the Clipper's best shooter put one in (correct me if I'm wrong, but does Yao's goaltend stop the clock, giving the Rockets at least what little time they had for a last shot, so it's sort of a good thing? I'm grasping at straws here).

But as I left the Superstore I saw a couple of guys, one wearing a Francis jersey and one wearing an Odom jersey. And it was that vision of unity, of peace, that made me think, "Crap, would it have killed us to get one lousy point in the final two minutes?"

 

Just checked with the Lakers ticket office- all groups are sold out for the year. Sheesh - win a few championships...