Season Ticket Review: Ugly ugly ugly
The Arena was buzzing – it was Military Night, an annual celebration that provides camouflage jerseys for the Skyforce, a halftime routine where 30 or so high school near-dropouts take a mock oath (their words, not mine!) to do something armed-services related (though that doesn’t include tucking in their shirts, apparently), and a welcome diversion from the frigid temperatures that have taken over the Sioux Falls area. After the Christmas game, Military Night brought in the most impressive Skyforce Crowd this year.
Game 12: February 3rd, 2007
Anaheim Arsenal (13-16) at Sioux Falls Skyforce (15-12)
It’s a “must-attend” night. It’s a game that serves as the only exposure to real, semi-professional basketball for the entire year. The crowds are big, and they’re ready to see some action.
My dad even came – armed with tickets from work and ready to watch a great team win a great game. My dad used to take me to random Skyforce games, here and there, during my Chicago Bulls infatuation. I loved it, and so did he. We figured last night’s collapse would be remedied, that it had served as a wake-up call, being shamed in front of the home crowd like that. We sat on the rail, right behind the HenkinSchultz season ticket spots, and had a great view of what hoped to be a well-fought contest.
It wasn’t. A lot of people were disappointed. A lot of people left with a bad taste in their mouth. This was an ugly, ugly loss.
And it wasn’t just the uniforms. I’m not sure words can truly describe it. It was just ugly.
In the second quarter, both teams scored 22 points. Combined.
For the game, Anaheim shot 34% from the field. Which would have been great, if the Skyforce wouldn’t have shot 33% themselves.
Frank Williams was 1 for 10. This on the night we were presented with the American Family Insurance “3” signs (to signify three-pointers, naturally). In fact, the Skyforce only bothered to make three three-point shots total. And only one in the first half.
We stayed close – or as close as you can when you’re making just one in every three shots. But in the fourth quarter – where it took until 8:30 left to finally score a field goal – we lost it. We fell behind. We missed easy lay-ups. We missed A LOT of easy lay-ups.
We’d lost four in a row, coming into this game. I’m beginning to understand why. Now it’s at five.
Not even Quick Change could lift our spirits.
Sorry. I can’t talk about this anymore. Maybe they’ll have it fixed by the time Los Angeles shows up next weekend.
Maybe.