Journal Entry: October 30, 2008

So, yeah, yesterday I ended up sick. Unpleasantly so.

Still, we had tickets to go see the Oklahoma City Thunder opener. B-- and D-- showed up at my place a little after 5:00, and then T-- (who had gone to Edmond to drop off AB at my sister's for babysitting) picked up N-- and the five of us drove downtown together. (K-- would join us later, but he had to work late.)

We had dinner at Sonic in Bricktown, then walked across to the Ford Center. The crowd was huge, the lines were long, and when we finally got inside the arena area, it was packed. The basketball court looked tiny in the center of the crowd.

It was a real party atmosphere. In case you don't know, the big deal is that the Thunder represent the first Big League sports franchise to come permanently to Oklahoma. We, as a city, have invested heavily in the team, and it's seen by many as an opportunity to dramatically improve Oklahoma City's standing on the national stage. Of course, if the team fails, it'll be a major PR setback. But we're not focusing on that.

Anyway, I've never been much of a basketball fan (it ranks somewhere between golf and baseball on my watchability scale), but I'm a big fan of my hometown and, hey, we got a good group of people to go see it. Worst-case, I was still spending an evening with most of my closest friends.

And that pretty much sums up the evening. Watching it in person was a lot more fun than watching the same game on TV, because of the atmosphere. Everyone was psyched. We lost. That was a disappointment. And I really recommend that you take every precaution to make sure you never get sick in a Ford Center men's room. But otherwise, the evening was pretty awesome.

We got home around 10:00, and T-- went back to Edmond to pick up AB. I took care of a couple things around the house, then I crashed.

Other than that, it's just things and stuff.