Seth and I went to a Los Angeles Clippers game Tuesday night. I won four tickets from my job at the Los Angeles Times.
I haven’t paid much attention to sports for about 10 years, since I worked as news editor at an Arizona newspaper.
In the meantime, I dedicated myself to things like finding a spouse – I met her in 1997 – and having kids – in 2002 and 2005. When I do watch sports, I favor the Tour de France. (I biked for years.)
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good basketball game in person; I’ve been to many ASU games over the years. But most importantly, I’ll take any excuse for bonding time with my kids.
Because Lael is only 5 months old, my wife stayed home with baby. So, I brought a friend and her 13-year-old daughter, which turned out to be the perfect mix: Seth looked up to her with googly eyes and kept plopping himself on her lap. He would have gone anywhere with her.
The situation also was ideal because we were in the Los Angeles Times’ box, with its fantastic view of the arena and a lot of room to move around in. Since we were first to arrive, Seth enjoyed exploring the empty box, and we were able to take some great pictures.
Seth, who is 3, was excited the entire time, though not always by the game. He observed that the ticker-tape like ads that streamed across the stadium moved like a train. And he loves trains. Seth was deeply concerned, though, whenever the ads flashed in a different pattern.
My boy also ate like I’ve never seen before. An entire peanut-butter sandwich, chicken nuggets, lots of French fries and some ice cream.
Seth, who had never seen a game before even on TV, picked up on the general concept pretty quickly. He called the Orlando Magic the “bad guys.” Seth would yell out, “He won!” whenever the Clippers scored – if he was paying actual attention to the game, that is.
Seth also kept asking if it was going to get dark again as when the team members were announced. I’m not sure why it was important to him, but I had to keep explaining that I didn’t know.
During halftime, Seth and I explored the stadium. He was in heaven once we found the escalators, which we went up and down about 15 times. We only did the elevators about 5 times.
Then we went back in and watched the rest of the game. In case you’re wondering, the Clippers beat the Orlando Magic that night.
Though it was hours past his bedtime, Seth never complained, but five minutes into the long drive home, he was out cold.
What a great night.
I haven’t paid much attention to sports for about 10 years, since I worked as news editor at an Arizona newspaper.
In the meantime, I dedicated myself to things like finding a spouse – I met her in 1997 – and having kids – in 2002 and 2005. When I do watch sports, I favor the Tour de France. (I biked for years.)
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good basketball game in person; I’ve been to many ASU games over the years. But most importantly, I’ll take any excuse for bonding time with my kids.
Because Lael is only 5 months old, my wife stayed home with baby. So, I brought a friend and her 13-year-old daughter, which turned out to be the perfect mix: Seth looked up to her with googly eyes and kept plopping himself on her lap. He would have gone anywhere with her.
The situation also was ideal because we were in the Los Angeles Times’ box, with its fantastic view of the arena and a lot of room to move around in. Since we were first to arrive, Seth enjoyed exploring the empty box, and we were able to take some great pictures.
Seth, who is 3, was excited the entire time, though not always by the game. He observed that the ticker-tape like ads that streamed across the stadium moved like a train. And he loves trains. Seth was deeply concerned, though, whenever the ads flashed in a different pattern.
My boy also ate like I’ve never seen before. An entire peanut-butter sandwich, chicken nuggets, lots of French fries and some ice cream.
Seth, who had never seen a game before even on TV, picked up on the general concept pretty quickly. He called the Orlando Magic the “bad guys.” Seth would yell out, “He won!” whenever the Clippers scored – if he was paying actual attention to the game, that is.
Seth also kept asking if it was going to get dark again as when the team members were announced. I’m not sure why it was important to him, but I had to keep explaining that I didn’t know.
During halftime, Seth and I explored the stadium. He was in heaven once we found the escalators, which we went up and down about 15 times. We only did the elevators about 5 times.
Then we went back in and watched the rest of the game. In case you’re wondering, the Clippers beat the Orlando Magic that night.
Though it was hours past his bedtime, Seth never complained, but five minutes into the long drive home, he was out cold.
What a great night.