Knicks Get Knackered

Yeah, yeah, I know. That hardly qualifies as news. Despite the crowd's repeated reminders (DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!), it seemed like any time the Bobcats managed to get on the right half of the court, they got a few points.

The Knicks actually did better than I expected against the Bobcats, as the final score was 110 - 118. But when I see scores like that, I think cricket.

There were also moments in the game that reminded me of American football (a pileup of players on top of the ball) and bowling (self-explanatory).

What made the game fun to watch was that the Knicks started out ahead, and then whenever they got too far behind (by say, 14 points or so), they would rally and almost catch up...

Also the hecklers who were sitting behind me were hilarious. They kept up a running commentary, their increasing despair sharpening their wit to a bitter point. Gotta love the NYC 'tude.

But the game also brought back memories of my bad old days as a cheerleader. We didn't have a football team, so our "big" sport was basketball. That part was fine; we got to cheer for the girls' team and the boys' team, at home games only. Why exactly were those days so bad, then? Glad you asked. For example, when both teams were playing at the same time, we would routinely have conversations that went something like this:

Fellow Cheerleader: Should we cheer for the boys, or the girls?
Me: How about we cheer for the boys?
FC: Oh, I'd be too embarrassed! (She and others giggle.)
Me: Well, let's cheer for the girls then.
FC: Oh, the girls are too boring! I don't want to cheer for them! (More tittering. This would continue for a few rounds, then we'd go out and go through one cheer for the boys, followed by a quick retreat into the girls' locker room for more fiddling with makeup, clothes and hair.)

But there was one game where we actually stuck around and cheered a while for the girls' team. Unfortunately, my fellow cheerleaders had only bothered to learn two or three cheers, so our repertoire was rather limited. I think it was the second or third time that we did "A big V, we want a victory!" that one of the players took me aside and very politely, albeit with a tinge of desperation in her voice, asked if we would stop doing that cheer since they were losing 23-0.

So that particular memory flooded back every time the JumboTron announcer ordered the crowd to clap and cheer....