Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

On Christmas night I did something I have never done before. I went to see a professional basketball game.

Now the reason I have never done that before is because I was sure that it was something I would not like.

But my son, Mr. Nice Guy, has lately become a huge basketball fan, and The Entrepreneur decided it would be nice if the whole family went to a game together.

So off we drove to Cleveland to watch The Cleveland Cavaliers battle with the Washington Wizards to maintain their 14-game home winning streak.

I thought I was going to die of boredom. I anticipated an anxiety attack from my fear of heights knowing we would have the worst seats at the very top of a gigantic arena.

But you know what? I had a blast!

Who knew that there was so much more to basketball that what is going on with the actual game. If you get a little bit tired of watching the players dribble up and down the floor so what. There is something else to entertain you. There is the Jumbotron.

There is a wonderful slice of American Pie up there on the big screen. You get to meet the players and pick the one you think is the best looking. Then there is the Mistletoe game, where they zoom in on a couple and force them to kiss.

There are funny posters made by fans and close-ups of darling children who are fans in training.

At half time you can watch a mini-concert and some guy getting paid $25 a ball for three minutes worth of long shots.

At the time-out breaks the impossibly cheery cheerleaders will lead you in a yell or just kick up their gold boots for your entertainment.

You can make some noise with plastic bats that are handed out to the crowd and make a mess throwing fake snow placed on your seat in party-favor bags.

If you are lucky you might catch a T-shirt shot into the crowd or a lottery ticket attached to a mini-parachute that falls from the ceiling.

Somewhere in all of that activity the game might get exciting. You might catch yourself on the edge of your seat in the final minutes of the game when the opposing team pulls ahead.

You might realize that your normally reserved son is handing out hugs like candy when his team pulls ahead.

After the win, you might wait calmly in the line to get out of the parking deck and join in with the fans who are honking endlessly in celebration.

You may realize, like I did, that you were wrong about something you never wanted to do.

It just might be a whole lot of fun.