I've mentioned before that I sometimes feel like I 'run out' of Sonic opinions. It truly is a concern to me. Writing two columns a week -- one here and one at BskBALL -- along with recaps of every game and previews of every game and my usual dozen or so posts a day -- that's a lot of Sonic thoughts! This is a challenge, but in a sense I think it's also an opportunity, in that I get to explore a lot of different ideas and themes, and hopefully don't become stagnant in my thinking.

Today, one of those creative excursions.

I'm afraid that, with the notable exception of SonicJoe, nobody ever hears my thoughts during Sonic games. This is probably a good thing, as I'm liable to say all sorts of crazy things during games, when my objectivity rating is rather low. This means that after somebody turns the ball over twice, they're, "The worst player in the world." Then, they steal the ball, and they are, "The greatest!" Such is the nature of basketball.

But yesterday, for the Sonics' game against Milwaukee, I decided to record my thoughts throughout the game in order to give you, the readers, a view of the Sonics 'through my eyes.' I hope you enjoy it. I very much did.

Pregame:

5:29: My mother and I set off for the game, with me beginning my nutritious meal of a gordita and a chalupa from Taco Bell in the passenger seat.
5:44: We park for free. I will still not give away this secret ....
5:56: I enter KeyArena, finding a short line and avoiding the delay that others face because of having their bag checked.
5:57: I swipe my card at the Sonics' Green and Gold Rewards station. No instant win, and the coupons now pale in comparison to the free coke I got on opening night. So that's their plan -- soften us up with good stuff early, and then give us nothing later.
5:58: I settle into my seat: Section 222, Row 8, Seat 11 -- the best seat in the house! (Yes, I am messed up in the head).
6:01: George Karl walks onto the court and receives a long, loud ovation. I alone amongst the crowd think of Eric Snow, who Karl so cruelly cast away to the bench, and later Philly, so many years ago. My take on Karl has softened, but I still attribute much of the Sonics' post-Karl downturn to his unwillingness or inability to play young players, leaving a quick downturn because of rapidly aging key players a likely result.
6:03: SonicJoe arrives.
6:06: National anthem. Some guy with a guitar. Fair enough.
6:07: The Bucks' starting lineup is announced. Karl is starting Darvin Ham? WTF? Has he gone nuts, starting Ham over the number of other options? On second thought, I reconsider the use of the word 'gone'.

First Quarter:

6:15: The Bucks' rim appears to be cursed. Two straight point blank shots have appeared to be dead on, but swirled out. This has to be a good sign for the Sonics.
6:20: Desmond Mason goes down hard while pursuing a loose ball. Oh &*^%! Why isn't he getting up? This better not be the hamstring which has given him trouble all year ... &*^%! ... can't walk off the court on his own, this can't be good ... &*^%!
6:25: Peja Drobnjak hits two more from the line. He is ballin' tonight, with 8 points here in a couple minutes of the first quarter. Use him more, Nate!
6:28: Yay! Earl Watson's getting ready to check into the game! Not Shammond! Good coaching, Nate!
6:29: Radman gets up too ... Joe complains loudly and urges me to record it. I note the hypocrisy that he too had disdain for Karl because he wouldn't play youngsters, and now he wants the lottery pick to sit. I'm glad Radman's officially back in the rotation.
6:31: At the timeout, the PA announcer introduces the Sonic broadast staff. I can't help but think this is stupid. First off, we're not listening. Secondly, they've done this every game and guess what? I already know who Billy McKinney and Kevin Calabro are!
6:34: My goodness, [Buck reserve guard Michael] Redd sure is shooting a lot, isn't he? Redd finishes the game 3 for 11 in 24 minutes. He did shoot a lot.
6:35: (Timeout after first quarter) Bungee-cord basketball is the entertainment. I just find this weird. You have to combine strength and shooting skill ... could they have found skills on any more opposite ends of the spectrum?

Second Quarter:

6:39: With his sixth straight point, GP has officially entered THE ZONE ... not the Twilight Zone!
6:41: Wow, a decent promo exhorting the fans to make some noise from GP. Usually, these have been just plain stupid since a great one with Kemp ... oh, man, I loved that ... guaranteed victory!
6:49: Look at Joe's column, but the three guy dancers with the Dance Team, dancing to 'NSync? Not cool.
6:55: For the nightly 'Celebrity Lookalikes' feature, the joke is Karl/George Costanza on Seinfeld . That's pretty cold, but none of the people picked from the crowd look anything like other Seinfeld characters. A better job could -- and should -- be done.
7:03: Bones Barry nails the threeball from the side to end the first half. A perfect end to an almost perfect half, as the Sonics go up 17 on Milwaukee. This has been a great game so far.

Halftime:
7:04: For the umpteenth time this season, the halftime entertainment is the little 8 year olds playing basketball. I've commented often that my personal idea of a good break from basketball at halftime is more basketball, but calling this basketball is a stretch. I think I might have suggested this on a Sonic comment card. If so, my bad, and I apologize. Get us some junior high kids at least!

Third Quarter:

7:25: This game could get ugly, the Bucks are really playing poorly and the Sonics are really playing well. This will definitely be ugly -- the overweight man who likes to dance as if he has consumed copious quantities of alcohol is being shown on the screen. I had hoped we had rid ourselves of him last year after they actually invited him on the court. Apparently not ... other people seem to enjoy it, however. Strange.
7:36: Whenver the Sonics come off the court, the PA announcer (Vic Orlando) keeps asking us to applaud them. I know this is typical with the scoreboard, but the PA guy is a bit much. We are humans, not trained rats who do what you want on command. I'd like to believe I can figure out when to clap on my own, and don't need the PA announcer's help. I'd really prefer that he stick to announcements, and that's it.
7:37: This timeout brings the 'Kiss the Girl' segment, where fans on the screen are supposed to kiss each other. This is a pretty weak one, very little kissing. A theoretical question, however -- what if blood relatives get put up there? I always have this thought when attending games with my female cousin who is also college-age. I don't care how much the crowd boos, we are NOT kissing!
7:39: The Sonics force the Bucks into a 24-second call. When those happen and it's not the final minutes of a game, you know the defense really has to be hustling and doing a good job. Howard Schultz agrees with me -- he's up on his feet to applaud. What's with the Schultz hat? I'm reminded of last week, when the UW men's hoop squad forced two 35-second calls in the first half. Now that was fantastic d.
7:40: Des gets on up for a wicked alley oop finish from Payton ... this one should get the crowd into the game and bring the momentum back to the Sonics.
7:41: The Sonics give the momentum right back by allowing a Tim Thomas three. Am I the only one that notices that three pointers are far more important than twos in terms of momentum?
7:46: Radman passes up a shot anyone else on the floor would have taken. While he was gunning early on, he appears to have been broken by the team of his will to shoot. At least for his rookie season, I'm not sure this is a bad thing ....
7:48: Damn, Tim Thomas is having him a game. Note the difference between the word game and the word game. It's subtle, but it's significant. And seriously, he is playing very well in Big Dog's absence.
7:49: (End of Third Quarter) The overweight man is brought onto the court to dance. This is ugly (pronounced oo-guh-lay)!

Fourth Quarter:

7:50: The Bucks throw the ball away. My, they've had a lot of turnovers, and perhaps more significantly, unforced turnovers. They're stepping out of bounds and throwing away the ball without any pressure from the defense. Not a good sign for them.
7:54: Radman forces a turnover in backcourt. He's had an excellent game tonight. Instad of trying to win the game on every play, he's taking things slow and going for the solid play instead of the spectacular one. He better stay in the rotation, and let's hope he can build of this effort.
8:03: A couple of plays have me pissed off. First, Barry tries to throw a lob to Rashard Lewis from almost halfcourt. Predictably, it is stolen. The Sonics are up 17 at the time with about six minutes left. What they need is to run clock and hopefully get a good shot, not try for a spectacular play. Similarly, on the defensive end, Darvin Ham gets into the lane and is doubled, creating an open three attempt for Redd (? not sure on this one). With the big lead, three is a lot worse than two, whether a more difficult shot or not. These are the kinds of things the Sonics need to learn -- and it's not just young Sonics screwing them up, but veterans as well. Up big, make the solid play, not the spectacular one.
8:04: The song "Hallelujah" is played. Perhaps that's not its name, but that's what is repeated in the chorus and what I know it as. Anyways, this song always makes me think of Game 5 of the ALDS in '95 between the M's and the Yankees. After David Cone walked Doug Strange on a 3-2 splitter (a ballsy pitch, if ever I have seen one) to force home the tying run, he was removed after having thrown something like 130 pitches. This song was played during the pitching change, and it was so loud and raucous in the Kingdome. Almost makes me wish I still went to baseball games. Of course, I conveniently forget that the reliever, Mariano Rivera when he was spotty, not the game's best closer, shut the M's down, but whatever. A fond memory nevertheless.
8:05: Coming out of the timeout, the song 'Come With Me' by Puff Daddy (excuse me, P. Diddy) is played. I love this song, it's one of my all-time favorites, for whatever reason, and the only time I ever hear it is when it's played at Sonic games. Plus, it seems to do a fine job of pumping up the crowd. Let's hear it more!
8:06: Bones' threeball puts the Sonics up 18 with 1:57 left to play. This game is officially OVER!
8:07: Even more official, George sends in the bench, conceding.
8:11: Ray Allen hits a couple of threes, but the final margin is still a healthy 14. A great game!

Postgame:

8:20: Return to the car. My half-drunk Coke tastes awful good.
8:32: Arrive at UW dorm. No time to waste, I must get to work on stuff for SC.com!