Warriors 115 – Grizzlies 109
Giants won the WORLD SERIES! I woke up this morning a day removed from the night of the big victory and completely forgot that there was a massive parade today. In an instant, hump day had earned it’s name. Although I would have loved to have gone and been a part of the party I really needed to get into work.
I showered quickly ran out the door only to be greeted by a crowded 1 California bus along with a hoard of people that decked out in Giants gear going one place… downtown. So instead of waiting for an empty bus, I ran across the street to hail a cab. After about 15 full had passed me by an empty one stopped and asked me where I was headed. ”California and Grant”, I said. ”Thank God!” exclaimed the cabbie… screw this… I’m bad at working with quotes…
In short he wasn’t going to pick me up if I was headed anywhere near Civic Center or beyond Montgomery due to the crowds blocking traffic.
As we made our way down California Street to the agency, we passed car after car either with someone screaming out the window or with orange and black war paint all over it.
The city was amped.
I get to the office and the first thing I do is swing by Michael’s desk to see if he’s ready for the game. As soon as I see him I notice that he’s not wearing his ‘The City’ old school Warriors logo tee. I give him hell until he reveals that he’s not wearing it because he’s waiting to get some new logo gear at the game… good man.
Toward the end of the day Aaron and I were trying to arrange a time where all four of us (Michael, Aaron, April & I) could get out of the office and head to the game. Unfortunately they had to stay a little later and I was itching to call my work day a wrap so we left a bit before Aaron and April.
The Commute
As the work day winded down and it got closer to 5:30, I can say confidently that both Michael and myself couldn’t wait to get out of the office and on to BART toward Oracle. I mean, who wouldn’t be stoked for quitting time, a Warriors game is just icing on the cake.
As we made our way to the Montgomery BART station it looked like a parade had gone through there. Oh, wait, the Giant’s World Series Champions parade did… Sorry I can’t bring it up enough because the Giants as world champions still hasn’t sunk in yet.
We were walking through the leftover black, orange and white confetti all over the ground and it hits me. I’m with ANOTHER Phillies fan (Julia was the first I took to a game). However, unlike Julia, Michael tries to forget that Giant’s beat the Phillies to move on to the fall classic and I’m sure he pretended the black, orange and white pieces of paper on the ground and balloons on the street posts were left over from a massive halloween celebration that doesn’t exist.
If only it were that easy for Michael to ignore. As soon as we got to the BART underground platform, there were people decked out in Giants gear everywhere and it was more crowded than usual do to today’s celebration. And even though the parade was at 11am, some people were just getting back on BART to head home after a day of drinking and high fives.
So far the commute has served as one of the best opportunities for me to get to know my guests better, but since Michael and I not only work together AND live together we are usually up to date on each other’s lives. And because of that our conversations leaned into future speak.
Michael and I usually talk about what’s going on at the agency. It’s hard to avoid due to the fact that it’s unfortunately/fortunately a large part of our lives. Golden Season was to combat that and get me out out of the office and out with my friends face to face. And even though we already see a lot of each other, there’s always more to know about Michael as it’s a truth… you can never completely know someone and Facebook and Twitter are not the answers.
Michael and I are similar in many ways. We’re the same age. We work at the same company. We’re in the same department. We live together. Our only two fantasy football leagues are the same fantasy football leagues. On the surface our friendship makes sense. But it’s what’s below the surface that makes it a true bond. Beyond the superficial categories that group people together, Michael and I share a lot of the same values, perspectives and approaches on life.
He’s one of the biggest reasons why all the change that has happened around me the past year has been bearable.
Because at the end of the day, Michael doesn’t bullshit you and gives it to you straight. I hear that’s how they do in Philly.
Like Julia D., I raised the question of whether or not he is still trying to get closer back to Philly. I don’t know why this is always a big question for me. It truly does fascinate me and love hearing about how each person deals with developing a life away from ‘home’. Perhaps it’s because I never thought I’d move out of San Jose. And perhaps because even though San Jose is only 45 minutes away, it feels entirely different than my home here in San Francisco. Perhaps it’s because I’m still trying to figure out if San Francisco is going to be just a tarmac for me, or if it will be the runway where I take off. I don’t know, but it’s through these conversations where I try to gain insight for myself when it may or may not come time for me to make a similar decision.
For a while now Michael has been hinting at heading back East for a while to reconnect with family. Whether that’s an entire move or just frequent visits, it’s hard to say. But the desire is there. The need is there… based off our conversations getting closer to home at this juncture of his life is almost a necessity. And like most people who are fortunate to call San Francisco home for any duration or even come to visit, they fall in love with it.
San Francisco is home to Michael. It’s comfortable and you don’t grow if you’re comfortable. And like myself, Michael doesn’t want to be ‘comfortable’ until we start settling down.
We realize that every year in your 20′s is enormously significant and Michael is looking to make them count.
Knowing how much San Francisco is ‘home’ to Michael tells me that it’s only a matter of time before he leaves it. Not because he’s running from it or anything, it’s because he knows it will always be here for him. And as much as the people of the city rotate in and out, the qualities that make it San Francisco, he knows, will always remain fairly the same.
I get it… that’s why NYC is on his mind and it’s only a matter of time, it could be 2 months or 2 years, but getting closer to his family is in his near future.
The relationships that we have with people, even those that we’ve known forever need our nurturing. A city thrives on our loyalty, change and growth. A basketball team needs the same things. If I were ever to leave the bay, you best believe that I’ll still be rocking Warriors gear just like Michael can often be seen roaming the streets of San Francisco wearing his Phillies hat that he’s had forever. And no matter how far we move away from the the people/city/team we love, we always take a piece of them with us. And the most natural of all human things is to crave being closer to them. And the most selfishly balanced thing is to get geographically close as possible.
I know Michael wants to be closer to his younger brother. He’s proud of his parents and like all of us with parents… they’re not getting any younger… and time is not giving us any breaks.
San Francisco will always be here.
The Phillies will always be there. The Warriors will always be there. But the people in our lives…we don’t know how much longer we got with them, and I admire Michael more than he knows because he’s constantly assessing what he needs to do to get him closer to ‘home’.
2 months or 2 years, he doesn’t know, and he struggles with the idea of leaving a city that he loves.
However, there is comfort in the fact that San Francisco will be here waiting for him when he’s ready to return. Because unlike the people in our lives, the city is made out of stone.
The Game
As we got off BART, it was one of those killer sunsets that greeted us. It makes that walk from BART to ORACLE a little more bearable as it’s amazing how it paints the sky with the most awesome colors.
We made our way to the Plaza and immediately hit up the Team Store. Mike wasn’t sure what he was looking to get, but he finally keyed into the royal blue Adidas track jacket with a subtle Warriors logo hit on the left chest. Like I mentioned before, we’re a lot alike, and although I wasn’t wearing mine that night, that was also my first new logo purchase.
However the only sizes they had left were Large and XL. Large was way to big on him but thankfully the Adidas store was just upstairs on the concourse. We headed up there and Michael found his size and I ended up copping a black hoodie and ‘item of the game’ hat for my pops for Christmas since I’m also taking him to the game Christmas Day with me… no surprises revealed here as I’m sure my dad’s not reading my blog… in fact he may not even remember this thing exists.
After the Adidas store, Michael and I went straight for Ribs and Things. Since Aaron has been touting it as some of the best BBQ he’s eaten when he went with me a couple weeks ago, Michael’s been wanting to sample it. Mike went at it and got the beef ribs and I got the pork ribs this time around. The best place to eat Ribs and Things is at the Club 200 lounge. You can stand or sit and not have to worry about being in your seat and the camera accidentally finding you during a timeout and showing everyone else in the arena that you got Honey BBQ all over your face.
As soon as we posted up at the Club 200 Lounge, Michael ran and got us some beers. Soon after digging in April and Aaron rolled up with some tri-tip sandwiches from R&T and we all ate and chilled before the game. I hope this happens more.
I love it when I can meet up with friends at the games and there’ll be plenty more opportunity since Aaron and April got the mini pack.
We hung out for a bit and from where we were standing we could see we had 2 minutes to tip off. We parted ways and Michael and I headed to the lower level to my seats.
Michael was in his element. Being a huge sports fan, there’s nothing better than to watch it live.
And not only that, Michael being from Philly couldn’t even deny that the Warriors were an exciting team to watch.
The game started out slowly but picked up in tempo after it seemed like all the guys were finally clicking with one another.
The big thing of tonight was Dorell Wright’s three point shooting. It looked like he couldn’t miss hitting 7 of 13. He’s been the biggest surprise to me this season as I really never did get to see much of him in Miami, or maybe it’s because he flew so under the radar. His size, shooting ability and athleticism at the 3 is going to be huge for us this year. Great GREAT signing.
At the half Michael and I decided to get out of our seats and grabbed more beers. My seats are awesome in the sense that everything we need is literally outside of my section and being able to sit on the isle is pretty clutch. We have to stand and sit a lot to let people in and out, but it’s better than us doing the shuffle by people.
As the second half started, the game was still close. All the dubs played well and a lot. It was really awesome to see Michael decked out in his new Royal Blue Warriors jacket and into the game. Because like I mentioned before, if not for Philly, San Francisco is is home and the Warriors now were clearly his basketball team… or at least until he finds another place to call home.
What was awesome about having friends in different parts of the arena was that we were still able to share in the game via text messaging. Aaron and I were riffing back and fourth the whole game until he and April made their way down to some empty seats behind us.
These are the moments that I’m beginning to really cherish.
Time with my friends and different people at all of these games. There I was, I had three close friends and collegues around me with a team that I’ve built a relationship with over the years.
It’s a crazy time at the office right now, and if not for these games with these people, with Michael, I’d lose my sanity.
But just as much as Michael eyes heading back to the East Coast, I eye opportunities for us to hang out before the time comes where he does leave this city, leaves the office and leaves the apartment.
This city will always be here. The Warriors will (hopefully) always be here; my time with Michael, due to the course and nature of twenty-somethings in San Francisco, will not.
Already, looking back at yesterday’s game, this ‘Golden Season’ project of mine gave us one more opportunity to remember why we are friends, one more excuse to connect, one more reason to help us understand that no matter what happens in the next 2 months or 2 years, that the most important things that we would have shared connects us throughout the course of life… this city, these beers, this team and this ‘game’.
-Nam
More photos from last night:
