Warriors 89 – Nuggets 106
Monday’s are a little easier to deal with whenever there’s a Warriors home game to look forward to.
Today was a mess. The office is nuts and my roommates and I are in the midst of looking to fill a recently vacated room.
So as the turmoil continues, the promise of a W tonight keeps me hopeful or brighter days.
Speaking of bright, Chris L is my guest for tonight.
I remember first meeting Chris almost four years ago. I had no idea how the industry really worked on the inside. The most I knew coming out of school with my advertising degree was accounts, creative and planning. One area where Lintz was making his mark was in research.
You should see how this guy presents information. He makes numbers sexy and I hate numbers… unless they are on the front or back of a jersey or a part of my fantasy leagues. And if they begin to amass in large forms in my bank account, I will love numbers even more.
Until then, I’ll stick to sports.
The plan was as usual, get out of the office and head to BART at 5:30.
And a nice surprise for tonight is that Heather and Will will also be at tonights game.
Will got some tickets at a really great deal and since he works in the East Bay Heather commuted with us to meet him at Oracle.
5:30 rolled around and I went to go find Lintz in his office, but instead we ended up hanging out with his officemate and Golden Season alumnae, Dharnesh. Heather strolled in looking for us and Chris was still no where to be found.
It’s always a crazy time for guys like Chris and I at work.
Since we’re not specifically on a single account, it can be easy for us to get spread thin quickly. But thanks to Golden Season, there’s an out.
There’s a game we had to be at and knowing Chris as well as I do, the Warriors are a welcomed break in his day; irregardless of what is going on.
I was really happy Heather and Will were going to, because it was also a Warriors game against the Denver Nuggets last year that the three of us went to.
As Chris finally returned from his meeting and he was feeling bad about being ‘late’, but the reality is that he’s such a nice guy, he’d apologize to you for not opening the door entirely open for the person behind him.
Chris is one of the nicest and most genuinely caring dudes I know. He wears his heart on his sleeve and asks for nothing in return.
Knowing him makes me a better person and being a few minutes ‘late’ is forgivable from a guy like him, because you don’t even have to questions the reasons why he was, because you know it was a good one.
The Commute
We made our way down to BART and as we were waiting on the platform at the Montgomery platform we ran into Phoung (aka Lee) Le and Sheila.
Lee also works at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and he and Sheila dance for a group they co-founded, For the Cause.
I first met Sheila back when Lee asked me to help them shoot a video of some of their choreography. Since then, Sheila and I have become friends and it has also brought Lee and I closer.
Lee is a talented Art Director at the agency and he’s also a really great guy, and the reality is that GSP is full of not just incredibly talented people, but also amazingly nice people.
When Lee heard about my initial idea behind Golden Season, he volunteered his time and found our other homie Curtis S to help me develop a site that was going to help me tell my story.
I’m still currently using the design I threw together, but there’s tons of inspiration from Lee and Curtis baked in here. I hope that sometime this season you all can see what those guys developed because it’s really cool.
Lee and Sheila were headed to dance practice and then home in the East Bay with their pup, Rex. Immediately, seeing the three of them together reaffirmed how much having a puppy can be seen as nice preparation for raising children. And judging by Lee’s face, I’d say he agrees.
With a large group on BART the conversation quickly bounced around from everything from the Warriors, work, Rex and dance.
Lee and Sheila got off at Lake Merritt and we trucked on to the Coliseum/Airport stop.
The Game
Heather had printed out her own ticket and since we beat Will to the Arena I encouraged her to come in and hang with us until he got there.
We entered the arena and Chris show his excitement in his signature ‘Chris Lintz’ way; giant smile, gentle chuckle and rubbing his hands together like he was trying to start a fire with twigs.
We got some food and drinks and immediately and headed to our seats. Heather came and hung out with us until Will showed up.
Will arrived right before player introductions and we said goodbye to Heather as she made her way to meet Will at Club 200.
I got to say that I’m continually impressed with what the Warriors have done with the Club 200 Level. I need to spend more time up there just chillin before a game.
After a quick hit of the Michael Buble montage (I’m not kidding… but it kind of works) that kicks off the player introductions, the lights went out and that’s when I could tell the excitement really hit Chris. He delivered another one of his signature grins and like that it was game time.
As expected we kept the game close through out the entire three quarters, but in the fourth is where we started seeing some trouble. Because of the natural swing of things, Chris and I really had a our best chances to catch up and talk in the first 3 quarters as our full attention was on the court during the 4th.
I realized it had been a really long time since we last hung out when he told me that Ngoc and him have been living together for over half a year now.
It’s still early in the season but I’m constantly getting reminded every time I go to a game with someone new how quickly time can pass us by and why these moments at Oracle are becoming more and more important for me.
It’s not like I didn’t choose to not hang out with Lintz or vice versa. It’s because the way the world is today and the way many of us operate, it’s all to easy to get caught up and forget that we need to always invest in the people we want in our lives.
I always walk away feeling like not only do I know my guests better, but they get to know a lot more about me as well.
Chris and I never have really slowed to talk about anything other than work, so tonight was a complete revelation about who he is and where he comes from.
Born and raised in St. Louis, the spirit of the mid-west makes him who he is. He’s one of the nicest people you’ll meet. Along with being ridiculously optimistic the man is a visionary.
He can take a seed of an idea and blow it out entirely all while making you think, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
The difference between most people and Chris is he’d probably give you that idea you wish you came up with.
He’s an extremely generous person and the one thing that he never has enough of but is always willing to give me, is his time.
In many ways he reminds me a lot of David Lee.
If you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably figured out that I’m a huge fan of Lee.
Granted, he’s not a dominant player, but he’s a player that gives.
There’s never been a moment in his career where I’ve questioned his heart and his enthusiasm. And so far this season, he’s the first one off a bench to rally the guys after a time out and the first to get in the ears of the younger players. I’m not sure what he tells them, but I can’t believe it’s anything other than encouraging.
This is also the style of Chris Lintz because in lots of ways they’re cut from the same cloth.
Why do I say that?
It’s because Chris when to high school with him. David Lee was older and they really didn’t know each other before Lee transferred to play basketball at a bigger program, but from what I gather from Chris and what I can see, read, and hear of Lee, St. Louis and the Midwest got some rock solid people, man.
As I mentioned earlier the game was close the entire time and a lot of our attention was locked on the court. I even looked over at Chris at moments and could see the anxiety from game.
And I didn’t have to tell Chris as I’m sure he could see it himself… the Warriors are not a fourth quarter team.
Time and time again… year after year, I just wish we could close out games in the fourth. But far to often we blow it and take an L that we deserved.
Chris was as frustrated as all the other fans around us and the handful of Nugget fans in attendance gradually wore their Carolina Blue a little prouder.
The one thing I can say is that the team played until the very end, or at least until it was guaranteed we could not come back in the remaining seconds. That, I think, is the biggest difference than what I’ve seen last year.
This year’s team looks like they want to win and what gets me excited is when I see it in Monta’s eyes.
I don’t care what other people think and David is still my favorite player, but Monta brings a jolt to the Warriors that gets me on my feet and fist pumping a storm.
He’s the spark plug, even to the last second, and it’s been fun to see him evolve into a leader and star, all with our Warriors squad.
I believe he’s loyal and as long as he’s proving he can lead this team, I hope the Warriors front office does whatever it takes to let him know that we’re loyal to him as well.
In the spirit of my man Chris Lintz, I hope for the sake of our team that the new owners, players and coaches won’t be afraid to show their cards so we can grow together and start building toward a championship.
Collaboration and communication… it’s what Lintz does best, and any time the Warriors want to take a page from his life’s playbook, I’ll put you guys in touch.
Go Warriors!
-Nam
More photos from tonight’s game:
