You’ve Gotta Love It, Baby!

Jazz basketball!!!! Used to totally love it.  I say used to, because we are currently stuck in a “building pattern,” complete with virtually unknown players and a losing record.

Okay, so I actually still like basketball; it’s truly the one sport I enjoy watching, unless my kids are involved.  For the last few years, we’ve been lucky enough to have season tickets, which we have loved.  It’s been great to have date nights and to get out a bit during the winter; especially as the girls have gotten older and can help out with the boys.  This year, we didn’t get tickets because we spent a lot of our time last year scrambling around to get carpools for kids and to work around schedules.

Suffice it to say, we haven’t been to any games this year.... which was really okay, but we were thrilled when our friends, the Astling’s, called to invite us to the Oklahoma City game.  Mark had gotten some tickets from a client in appreciation for his hard work (he now has ours, as well.)  They were tickets to an executive suite..... one where you sit at a table, eat on real plates, have good food and all the drinks you want.  Sadly, I stuck to water, but I would have shut the place down if I had been drinking Diet Coke.  We had so much fun, although we almost missed the main course part of dinner because we were too busy chatting.  As we pounced on the guy taking the food away, we were informed that they would be setting out dessert for half-time.  YES!!!

After our food, we sat in soft, cushy seats and watched the Jazz.... wait for it.... win!  Gordon Hayward was AWESOME!  It was nice to watch him play.

We had a great time, Astling’s.  Thanks for inviting us!  Oh and it didn’t hurt that we had special parking and a mid-block police escorted crossing.

But..... this wasn’t our only brush with basketball this week.  Jack has just started Jr. Jazz again and he is so excited; as am I.  I love watching him play and when Matt is home, Jack’s games are like our special weekday dates.  We don’t take Will because he’s nuts in confined spaces.  Jack says that we are too distracting and that we spend too much time and attention telling him what to do, but how do you convince an 8-year-old that the second quarter of the game is not the time to bite/chew on nails/hangnails or any other body part that fits in his mouth?  Agggghhhhhh!

Needless to say, watching these little boys run up and down the court, chasing a ball is the best entertainment.  All we have to make sure is that we have a blue Gatorade for the boy.  Not too hard.

He’s really good at passing the ball in bounds.  Tries really hard to dribble, but usually only manages a few bounces before he freaks himself out and has to pass it to someone else.  When he can get a shot, he usually makes it, but he’s not the tallest kid on the court.... so that makes it hard sometimes.

Jack is really looking forward to his birthday; because his Grandma Homer told him that she was going to sign him up for basketball camp as his present.  Yes, he won’t get it until the su