Net Worth It: Metro Basketball Outing
Last Saturday, February 10, some 30 of us from Metro braved the traffic and rain to descend upon Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a fun family night watching the New Jersey (ahem, Brooklyn) Nets take on “The Brow” and the New Orleans Pelicans. If you don’t know your pro basketball all-stars’ nicknames, then ask a young person or basketball fan around you — they’ll know. Unfortunately, “Boogie” Cousins was out for the season for the Pelicans, along with “Linsanity” (can we still refer to Jeremy that way, LOL?) for the Nets.
Still, it was a great evening of fun, frivolity and rooting for our local team.
For some in our midst of 30+, it was their first professional basketball game.
Jordan (8 years old) said, “I think it’s gonna be exciting because it’s my first basketball game.”
Kaitlyn (8) added, “I’m excited because I’ve never been to a basketball game, too.”
Just as the first quarter wound down, Anthony Davis heaved a half-court shot… and it went in! Crazy. By the end of the evening, he would rack up 44 points and 17 rebounds — that All-Star double-double stud.
Nets shooting guard Allen Crabbe more than held his own, contributing 8 three-pointers (several of them clutch shots) and finishing with 28 points.
We found many reasons to stand and clap, get our groove on during time-outs or breaks, and get wild in order to get attention — especially when the camera operators were giving the fans their brief moments of fame on the Jumbotron, lol. We even screamed our heads off for the Nets’ Team Hype to shoot or throw free t-shirts our way. Alas, we didn’t get any. Several of the kids did get a nice giveaway, as it was Allen Crabbe bobblehead night, lol.
Whether or not you root for the Nets, they certainly kept it interesting by slowly chipping away at what was, at most, a 28-point deficit versus a capable Pelicans team. And when they sent it into overtime, the crowd was definitely into it, chanting “DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!” and cheering for every made shot that gave the Nets a chance at actually winning this thing.
Unfortunately, the Nets couldn’t keep the lead, and the Pelicans sent the game into double overtime, at which point it slowly became evident that the Nets’ steam had run out. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Pelicans had prevailed, 138 - 128 in double overtime.
Still, the evening, masterfully orchestrated by Men's Ministry's (M3) own James Lee, and subsidized in part by M3, provided some great memories for the individuals and families at Metro.
A blessed, basket-tastic time was had by all ;o)
Submitted by Wes Nam