Cal Basketball Falls to Arizona, Ruins Valentine’s Day
My wife is out of town at a conference all week, which means that we weren’t together for Valentine’s Day. I am perfectly OK with that. It’s not that I’m opposed to romance or gifts or chocolate or anything, but I prefer these things to come organically, and not at the behest of some sort of marketing campaign.
Anyway, Valentine’s Day is no day to be alone, so I decided to spend it with Cal Basketball. With the game in Tucson, I headed down to Triple Rock in Berkeley with CBKWit for some very good beer and some very large television screens at which to yell. Believe me, there was plenty to yell about.
Hey, I’m too busy trying to save our season and my job! Don’t blame me if your Valentine’s Day sucked!
I know, I know, I shouldn’t be emotionally invested in this floundering mediocrity of a team, and most of the time, I’m not. Still, when the game comes on, the instinct kicks back in, and I’m rooting hard for our Bears.
From the outset, the game never felt good. Cal was quickly down by as much as 11 in the first half, but they scraped and clawed and found themselves down only 1 at the half. When the Bears played solid half-court defense, they looked good, forcing Arizona to toss up outside shots that had little chance of finding the net, but this did not happen often enough. 4 guys would defend well, and then someone would lose his man, only to find him a second later, ball in hand right under the basket. Easy points. Too easy.
Even worse was the sloppy play on offense. Arizona is, and always has been, good at converting turnovers into fast break points, and the Bears gave away far too many of those. Incredibly frustrating to watch.
Though they took a brief lead, I never felt that Cal was the better team. To their credit, they kept the game close pretty much the whole way through, stringing us Bear fans along, but that’s just not enough anymore.
Overall, the result was disappointing, but not unexpected. That sounds about par for the course for a last-minute date on Valentine’s Day. Next year, I guess I should plan ahead.
Oh, and this is now the second time I’ve been out watching a basketball game with CBKWit, and let me just say, his skills with the ladies have not improved. Look — and I say this because I’m trying to help — even if she wasn’t a lesbian, she still wouldn’t have been interested in what odors your gym bag imparts on objects stored inside it. And it’s never a good idea to mention your dirty underwear before you’ve even mentioned your name. I’m just trying to help a fellow out, mkay?
Man, I barely remember that part. I always thought I became more charming when I got drunk. Guess not.
Comment by CBKWit — February 15, 2008 @ 8:20 am