United We Run

Joe and I went to the Timberwolves game last night. It was the first time I had seen the Timberwolves play in person in five years.

The last time I went was in April 2007.

I had just got back from North Dakota. My boss wanted us to redo an entire document in two weeks.

We had attended a funeral for friends of ours from the old neighborhood that afternoon. Three were shot to death. One was 15 years old. Have you ever been to a funeral for three people who died in a mass homicide? It’s not good.

Ray was very sick with his first bout of colitis.

The boys wanted to see Yao Ming play. So we went, including sick Ray, to a half empty arena, because the Timberwolves were crap back then. Schoolmates of the boys were there, too, so they sat together.

Fast forward five years. No Ray. No funerals, they convicted three of the murderers this year, and they’ll spend the rest of their lives in prison. I have a different job.

And Timberwolves are a lot better.

This was Joe’s Christmas present. He loves the San Antonio Spurs and I knew he would enjoy seeing a NBA game in person.

He loves Tim Duncan, the Spurs’ center, and I had to hold him back from running on the court to hug him. (Just kidding!)

It was a close game all the way until the fourth quarter, and then Timberwolves charged forth, and beat the Spurs in the final minute.

The arena was packed, everyone was cheering, and it was so much fun.

By the way, the sport is professional basketball, just in case you didn’t know.

Joe and I watched an entire NBA season last year, so now I’m familiar with all the players and teams, and I can get into it.

I used to watch a lot of NBA action when Asher was young and Michael Jordan was playing. Then I stopped.

Now I watch again.

Today I watched my older grandson play basketball. He’s not very good – he’s about a half second behind everyone else. But as a grandparent, I have more distance from his game, and I really don’t care how much he plays or whether his team wins or not. It’s just nice being part of his world for a little bit.

Well, we’re almost to the end of January has been almost nothing. We’ve been in the 30s most of this week and the tiny bit of snow we got has mostly melted. We were supposed to get snow today, but it never materialized, just some clouds gathering and then dispersing to let the sun shine again.