One For the Ages: Did you think I would start anywhere but with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA Finals. Lets start from Thursday night of last week. Its game five - Cavs vs. Pistons. You all know what happened by now - Lebron James scored 48 points, 29 of 30, and the Cavs last 25 points in regulation and both overtimes. It was a performance for the ages, something that just flat out does not happen for any team in this city. After his spectacular drive for the win, I just could not believe that the player wears a jersey that says "Cleveland" on the front. It was one of the greatest performances in NBA history and now the Cavaliers were just one win away from the NBA Finals and coming home to close it out. I was so wired after the game (which didn't end until 12:30) that I couldn't to to sleep. My wheels were turning. I just had to be at game six Saturday night. I emailed and texted MD saying "if you have ever done anything for me, this is it - get me in the building for game six!" This was to become the seminal sporting event in Cleveland since 1964. When the Indians went to the World Series in 1995 and 1997, bit ALCS clinchers happened on the road. The city has never really had the opportunity to experience a scene like the one that would occur Saturday night if the Cavs could close out the Pistons at the Q. The same night, the Indians were playing the Tigers at the Jake, right next door to the Q. I just had to be downtown to experience the madness.
Get Me In!: Friday morning, I was all over MD after we talked. I told him whatever he could do, please do it, because this was something that could not be missed. The buzz is this city was like anything we had seen since the 97 Tribe. Around noon, MD calls me and said "do you want to go? I've got the hookup." I had to make one phone call and boom, four tickets were mine. I had to pay for them, but they were very reasonable (below face value) and seeing as though this was my 5th playoff game this year and the first I had to pay for, who was I to complain. Leah decided to stay home with Andrew as I think she has had her fill of live Cleveland sporting events (we were at the Tribe/Tigers game Friday night). My first call was a no-brainer. Last Tuesday, my boy Jared took me to game 4 in his unbelievable seats - 8th row mid court on the aisle in the lower bowl. His father in law was back in town and he had no seat for game six. He is a Detroit native and big Piston fan who lives here. I owed him. So he was in. I also took our friend Shaw. The last ticket was there for the taking. While I was thinking about the magnitude of this moment, I thought of who I wanted next to me for this moment. Times like these are when i miss my father the most. He would be the guy. No doubt about it. MD was already going to be at the game, Jeremy was already there as well, and Ags was in Chicago. There was only one man who I wanted next to me - Uncle Kenny. He was more than happy to oblige. All day Friday I was so jacked and the game was still 36 hours away.
Anticipation: Saturday could not have been a longer day. I was up early as usual with Andrew after watching the Tribe make a sick 5 run comeback in the ninth inning to beat the Tigers 12-11. Side note - yes, I did leave early. We were with the Frankels, we both had sitters at home, both wives (especially mine) weren't crazy about sticking it out through nine innings when were were down four runs in the 8th. I was home for the ninth inning drama. Meanwhile, five people told me they saw me on TV during the game. Funny. I digress. Sean and Nancy were here and we met them for lunch at Fisher's Tavern (their chicken sandwiches are the whup, especially the honey mustard one). MD's kids were in town so we stopped over at my mom's to see them. I got some great pics of Reese giving her baby cousin some kisses and got to listen to a whole host of knock knock jokes. Reese repeats the same one a lot "knock, knock, who's there? Joe. Joe who? Jo Mama." Its so cute. I got in a game of old school Nintendo RBI baseball with Jace and then we headed out. Next was the Bilsky baby naming open house. Andrew was able to see one of his many suitors - Laila. We went home and my boy Mez came over with his girlfriend to see Andrew and the house. He lives in San Francisco. Gotta love The Mez - maybe the coolest guy I've known. In high school every girl wanted him, at KU ever girl wanted him. Great guy with a big heart. All of this went down and I hadn't even left for the game yet.
What Time is It?: Game time! Shaw and Jared picked me up and off we went to the Q. I did the same move that I did for games 3 & 4. Since there were 40,000 people at the Jake and 22,000 people going to the Q, parking was going to be an issue. We parked at the Ritz valet, duked the guy at the door a double sawbuck ($20), and he parked our car right in front. This came in real handy postgame when there were 100 people waiting for their cars. The buzz around the Q and walking inot the building was great. Jared had on a Pistons shirt and he was getting killed on his way in by everyone. Shaw and I loved it. We met Uncle Kenny at will call, got our tickets and walked in. You know I buried a Panini sandy during the pregame. Then came the horn. As the color guard came out for the anthem, the jumbotron camera showed Cavs minority owner and R&B star Usher. The PA announcer said "hey Usher, why don't you sing the anthem?" So he sang it, towards the end, the crowd was cheering, and Usher belted out "and the home...of the...CAVALIERS." The crowd went berserk - side note, that's weak. Don't defame the anthem. They announced the starting lineup for the Pistons and you couldn't hear anything other than boos. The Cavs flames and fireworks show then began and as the PA announcer called out "from St. Vincent St. Mary High School" to call out Lebron, all you heard was "from."
The Game: It was close throughout, so nerve wracking. The crowd was crazy during the first quarter as the Cavs led 27-21 at the end of one. Then the clock and scoreboard went out. There was a 20 minute delay between the first and second quarter. The entire second quarter was played without a shot clock or a scoreboard. It was the oddest thing. Every possession the PA announcer would have to say "there is 10 seconds to shoot.....5....4...3..." Nobody knew the score. They'd announce it after every basket, but you'd forget. It took the momentum from the Cavs and sucked the life out of the building. As my mom said "I thought this was going to jinx us and become the new one - The Drive, The Shot, the Fumble and now The Clock." The third quarter was tight throughout and a lot of my fingernails became shorter and shorter. Like every other game in this series, it came down to the fourth. The Cavs were up 1. Then the Daniel "Boobie" Gibson show began. When Gibson hit his fourth and fifth threes, the Q just exploded like no arena Ive ever been in. I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down. Poor Jared was in stunned silence while Uncle Kenny and went crazy and Shaw grabbed and shook me. Shaw was big on the "we're going to the finals" talk with 8 minutes left and of course I had to put him in check and tell him that he should no better because he's from Cleveland. "I won't believe it until the clock hits zero" I kept saying.
The End and the Spillout: So indeed the clock hit zero. The Cavaliers were Eastern Conference Champions and Lebron James was still the King. Bedlam ensued. I was choked up. I just couldn't believe this was actually happening. Cleveland hasn't seen an actual trophy presentation in a lifetime. The fans didn't know what to do with themselves. Not a single one left the Q until after the trophy presentation was over. The spill out into the streets was something special. I had goosebumps just being out there. The streets were packed with thousands of people high-fiving and hugging, horns honked on every car, people were dancing on the roofs of their cars. People were driving slowly with other people sitting on the hoods of their cars waving towels. The corner of St. Clair and West 6th was like Mardi Gras. Youtube has several great clips of fans in the streets that you must see. I didn't get home until 1:45 and Andrew greeted me by wanting his middle of the night feeding. I went to bed around 3 and was up at 7:15 with Andrew. I TIVO'd the game so I re-watched it Sunday morning. It was almost as good reliving it on TV. To hear the announcers blowing us and watch in awe as Boobie went off. To see the crowd reaction. To see the trophy presentation. All of it was phenomenal. I must have received 50 texts from different people congratulating me. Like I did anything. All I know is that it felt great to be a part of it all.
MD's Confliction: As many of you know, MD works for the Pistons radio network. He was born and raised a Cavs fan. His idol growing up was the legendary Joe Tait, the only radio announcer the Cavs had ever had. Matt has been friends with Joe since he became a member of the media and he was lucky enough to sit next to his idol during one of the greatest moments of Joe's life. MD knew how special this all was to Joe. In an email, he told me the following about Joe: Sitting next to Joe Tait and seeing how happy he was was the ultimate. He leaned back and looked at me with about 5 minutes left and said "I am glad you are here to see this". I told him "you better smile my friend.. you gotta be so damn excited" and he says "happy, yes.. excited? no". and then he laughed. To hear Joe's calls of the great moment from game six click here and scroll down and to the right. They are not to be missed. Back to MD - this was hard for him as well. I know he was so excited for the city, but as he told me in that same email: I couldn't really say it then or look it then, cuz i was about to go on air and talk to pistons fans AND my boss for Pistons was sitting 3 seats down.. but it was as good a moment as i can remember having at a sporting event. (Brian) Brennan's catch and score vs. Denver (AFC Championship game 1986) was unreal. The stadium was shaking, I was shaking. Tony Pena's home run in the 95 playoffs off of Zane Smith was ridiculous. The Tribe clinching the division in 95 and being there with Todd was unreal. Sitting in the house with dad when (Alvaro)Espinoza threw over to Herb Perry and we were going to the World Series in 95 makes me cry TO THIS DAY when i think about it. THAT was the best. This was cool as i got to experience it with Joe right there and I could look over and see Todd pointing and waving at me as well. Mad props out to MD for being a total professional and for getting me into the building for games 3 & 6. Here is how we know he is good. After game 3, we were listening to his postgame show on Sirius on the ride home and he actually sounded very angry that the Pistons lost. Deep down, I know he loved it. I'm proud to say he's my brother.
Get Me In!: Friday morning, I was all over MD after we talked. I told him whatever he could do, please do it, because this was something that could not be missed. The buzz is this city was like anything we had seen since the 97 Tribe. Around noon, MD calls me and said "do you want to go? I've got the hookup." I had to make one phone call and boom, four tickets were mine. I had to pay for them, but they were very reasonable (below face value) and seeing as though this was my 5th playoff game this year and the first I had to pay for, who was I to complain. Leah decided to stay home with Andrew as I think she has had her fill of live Cleveland sporting events (we were at the Tribe/Tigers game Friday night). My first call was a no-brainer. Last Tuesday, my boy Jared took me to game 4 in his unbelievable seats - 8th row mid court on the aisle in the lower bowl. His father in law was back in town and he had no seat for game six. He is a Detroit native and big Piston fan who lives here. I owed him. So he was in. I also took our friend Shaw. The last ticket was there for the taking. While I was thinking about the magnitude of this moment, I thought of who I wanted next to me for this moment. Times like these are when i miss my father the most. He would be the guy. No doubt about it. MD was already going to be at the game, Jeremy was already there as well, and Ags was in Chicago. There was only one man who I wanted next to me - Uncle Kenny. He was more than happy to oblige. All day Friday I was so jacked and the game was still 36 hours away.
Anticipation: Saturday could not have been a longer day. I was up early as usual with Andrew after watching the Tribe make a sick 5 run comeback in the ninth inning to beat the Tigers 12-11. Side note - yes, I did leave early. We were with the Frankels, we both had sitters at home, both wives (especially mine) weren't crazy about sticking it out through nine innings when were were down four runs in the 8th. I was home for the ninth inning drama. Meanwhile, five people told me they saw me on TV during the game. Funny. I digress. Sean and Nancy were here and we met them for lunch at Fisher's Tavern (their chicken sandwiches are the whup, especially the honey mustard one). MD's kids were in town so we stopped over at my mom's to see them. I got some great pics of Reese giving her baby cousin some kisses and got to listen to a whole host of knock knock jokes. Reese repeats the same one a lot "knock, knock, who's there? Joe. Joe who? Jo Mama." Its so cute. I got in a game of old school Nintendo RBI baseball with Jace and then we headed out. Next was the Bilsky baby naming open house. Andrew was able to see one of his many suitors - Laila. We went home and my boy Mez came over with his girlfriend to see Andrew and the house. He lives in San Francisco. Gotta love The Mez - maybe the coolest guy I've known. In high school every girl wanted him, at KU ever girl wanted him. Great guy with a big heart. All of this went down and I hadn't even left for the game yet.
What Time is It?: Game time! Shaw and Jared picked me up and off we went to the Q. I did the same move that I did for games 3 & 4. Since there were 40,000 people at the Jake and 22,000 people going to the Q, parking was going to be an issue. We parked at the Ritz valet, duked the guy at the door a double sawbuck ($20), and he parked our car right in front. This came in real handy postgame when there were 100 people waiting for their cars. The buzz around the Q and walking inot the building was great. Jared had on a Pistons shirt and he was getting killed on his way in by everyone. Shaw and I loved it. We met Uncle Kenny at will call, got our tickets and walked in. You know I buried a Panini sandy during the pregame. Then came the horn. As the color guard came out for the anthem, the jumbotron camera showed Cavs minority owner and R&B star Usher. The PA announcer said "hey Usher, why don't you sing the anthem?" So he sang it, towards the end, the crowd was cheering, and Usher belted out "and the home...of the...CAVALIERS." The crowd went berserk - side note, that's weak. Don't defame the anthem. They announced the starting lineup for the Pistons and you couldn't hear anything other than boos. The Cavs flames and fireworks show then began and as the PA announcer called out "from St. Vincent St. Mary High School" to call out Lebron, all you heard was "from."
The Game: It was close throughout, so nerve wracking. The crowd was crazy during the first quarter as the Cavs led 27-21 at the end of one. Then the clock and scoreboard went out. There was a 20 minute delay between the first and second quarter. The entire second quarter was played without a shot clock or a scoreboard. It was the oddest thing. Every possession the PA announcer would have to say "there is 10 seconds to shoot.....5....4...3..." Nobody knew the score. They'd announce it after every basket, but you'd forget. It took the momentum from the Cavs and sucked the life out of the building. As my mom said "I thought this was going to jinx us and become the new one - The Drive, The Shot, the Fumble and now The Clock." The third quarter was tight throughout and a lot of my fingernails became shorter and shorter. Like every other game in this series, it came down to the fourth. The Cavs were up 1. Then the Daniel "Boobie" Gibson show began. When Gibson hit his fourth and fifth threes, the Q just exploded like no arena Ive ever been in. I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and down. Poor Jared was in stunned silence while Uncle Kenny and went crazy and Shaw grabbed and shook me. Shaw was big on the "we're going to the finals" talk with 8 minutes left and of course I had to put him in check and tell him that he should no better because he's from Cleveland. "I won't believe it until the clock hits zero" I kept saying.
The End and the Spillout: So indeed the clock hit zero. The Cavaliers were Eastern Conference Champions and Lebron James was still the King. Bedlam ensued. I was choked up. I just couldn't believe this was actually happening. Cleveland hasn't seen an actual trophy presentation in a lifetime. The fans didn't know what to do with themselves. Not a single one left the Q until after the trophy presentation was over. The spill out into the streets was something special. I had goosebumps just being out there. The streets were packed with thousands of people high-fiving and hugging, horns honked on every car, people were dancing on the roofs of their cars. People were driving slowly with other people sitting on the hoods of their cars waving towels. The corner of St. Clair and West 6th was like Mardi Gras. Youtube has several great clips of fans in the streets that you must see. I didn't get home until 1:45 and Andrew greeted me by wanting his middle of the night feeding. I went to bed around 3 and was up at 7:15 with Andrew. I TIVO'd the game so I re-watched it Sunday morning. It was almost as good reliving it on TV. To hear the announcers blowing us and watch in awe as Boobie went off. To see the crowd reaction. To see the trophy presentation. All of it was phenomenal. I must have received 50 texts from different people congratulating me. Like I did anything. All I know is that it felt great to be a part of it all.
MD's Confliction: As many of you know, MD works for the Pistons radio network. He was born and raised a Cavs fan. His idol growing up was the legendary Joe Tait, the only radio announcer the Cavs had ever had. Matt has been friends with Joe since he became a member of the media and he was lucky enough to sit next to his idol during one of the greatest moments of Joe's life. MD knew how special this all was to Joe. In an email, he told me the following about Joe: Sitting next to Joe Tait and seeing how happy he was was the ultimate. He leaned back and looked at me with about 5 minutes left and said "I am glad you are here to see this". I told him "you better smile my friend.. you gotta be so damn excited" and he says "happy, yes.. excited? no". and then he laughed. To hear Joe's calls of the great moment from game six click here and scroll down and to the right. They are not to be missed. Back to MD - this was hard for him as well. I know he was so excited for the city, but as he told me in that same email: I couldn't really say it then or look it then, cuz i was about to go on air and talk to pistons fans AND my boss for Pistons was sitting 3 seats down.. but it was as good a moment as i can remember having at a sporting event. (Brian) Brennan's catch and score vs. Denver (AFC Championship game 1986) was unreal. The stadium was shaking, I was shaking. Tony Pena's home run in the 95 playoffs off of Zane Smith was ridiculous. The Tribe clinching the division in 95 and being there with Todd was unreal. Sitting in the house with dad when (Alvaro)Espinoza threw over to Herb Perry and we were going to the World Series in 95 makes me cry TO THIS DAY when i think about it. THAT was the best. This was cool as i got to experience it with Joe right there and I could look over and see Todd pointing and waving at me as well. Mad props out to MD for being a total professional and for getting me into the building for games 3 & 6. Here is how we know he is good. After game 3, we were listening to his postgame show on Sirius on the ride home and he actually sounded very angry that the Pistons lost. Deep down, I know he loved it. I'm proud to say he's my brother.
The Prediction: So now its on to San Antonio. Most experts say that the Cavaliers blew their wad against the Pistons and celebrated like they won it all. Well, this is Cleveland and we deserved it. As Lebron said after the game, "No fans deserve this more than our city's." Can teh Cavaliers beat the Spurs? I didn't think we could beat Detroit, so why not? We do have the best player on the floor. The problem is the Spurs won't make the same mistakes the Pistons did. They are too well coached and too smart. This has been a great ride, but I think this is still a flawed Cavaliers team devoid of great talent next to Lebron. The Spurs just have too much. They will win in six games.
Prairie Update: This would have been finished sooner, but I was on a conference call learning about what is my "new" company, Pactiv. Tomorrow, the sale goes through I I officially become a Pactiv employee. I was told everything will stay the same for now, benefits, compensation, etc. The offices are staying as they are. My boss has a meeting tomorrow with the higher-ups at Pactiv and it sounded to me after as if he thinks he isn't going to make it. I hope he does as I have a great thing going with him and a comfort zone, but I just don't know. We shall see.
Song of the Day: "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang
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