Your Finals Experience

[chiefwahoo]

I just had to post something about actually going to an NBA Finals game. As a kid I always dreamed about being there - I just never actually pictured the Cavaliers being there because at that time it seemed like an impossiblity. So Game 4 was my first NBA Finals game ever. Actually it was my first championship-caliber game ever... I've been to plenty of Tribe playoff games, both division series, and ALCS, but never World Series. And the Browns? Let's just say I'll be happy with a playoff appearance again in my lifetime :chuckles:.

So last night I tried to take it all in, even as our team was down 3-0 it was a great atmosphere. The place was buzzing way before tipoff. The team shop was packed and the lines were huge. The entire time I kept thinking about all the money going into Dan Gilbert's pockets - and the increased chances of us buying our way back into this year's draft. The crowd was great last night, supportive of the team until the very end.

Driving home I was pissed about the sweep but grateful that I got to see us get this far. And I was thankful that I was there for Game 6 of the Pistons series. This team has brighter days ahead and I think everyone will start to see that as we get over the tough ending of the season.

I even got to get up close to the Eastern Conference Finals trophy. We better be able to do this with the O'Brien trophy soon...

Feel free to post your pics, vids, thoughts on the Finals experience here as well. And be nice with the comments, that's my wife. :chuckles:

 

[KI4MVP]

I was fortunate enough to make it to all 4 games. I've always wanted to go to a finals series and made the most of it.

Before each game I told my wife. This is the NBA finals and we're here. I made sure to point out to her in game 1 when the score was 21-20 I think that we were there for the cavs first ever lead in an NBA finals game. After that, each time we had a larger lead in a game, I pointed it out.

They wouldn't let my camera in, so I didn't get photos from games 1 and 2. I did get photos from games 3 and 4 that I will post in the next few days. For those who didn't go, I tried to not just photo the game, but to get some of the atmosphere of the finals. Lots of shots of the crowd and signs people brought.

Our crowd was MUCH louder than their. I don't know if it came across on TV, though, but their fans had these noise maker things - folded up cardboard that you could use as a fan that they would thump constantly instead of clapping. Before game 1 they stood and did it for a good 5-10 minutes. No yelling, no cheering, just that constant thumping. Not as loud as our fans, but there was kind of a war drum like intimidation to it. Enough that nearly a week later I can still hear it.

Their mascot and in game entertainment is dreadful compared to ours. And that wasn't their real mascot at our game - theirs looks much worse. But I guess when you're winning 4 titles in 9 years, you don't need to worry too much about in game entertainment.

Anyway, I'm glad we made it, I'm glad I made the trip for games 1 and 2.

3 years ago we were eliminated from the playoffs with a loss with 3 games left, then proceeded to beat 3 playoff teams to close the season.
2 years ago we missed the playoffs on a tie breaker on the final game of the season.
Last year we lost in 7 games in round 2 after nearly closing out the series in game 6.
This year we were swept in the finals despite having a chance to win games 3 and 4.

We get closer every year, but after the loss it feels worse. Some day soon I think we'll get to experience being on the winning side of the finals.

 

[chiefwahoo]

That's awesome that you went to San Antonio LJ. And Max too - any pics, stories? I've already vowed that when they make it back I will attend at least one road game.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Thanks for sharing fellas. You truly are a dedicated fan LJ.

I went to a game against NJ - the one where Sasha blocked Kidd from behind near the end of the game (forget if 1 or 2). We had seats up on Row 1 of the upper level behind the hoop. Ended up trading them plus cash to a steet broker for section 110, row 1 seats - directly across from the rim and from the Nets bench in the first row of where the seats go up. There was an aisle in front of us and then 4 rows of chairs on the floor. The block from Sasha was right in front of us and the ball came our way. And to note, I would not like to sit in that row again. People always walking in front of you, and you cannot see the plays develop - you are on the same level as the players, which makes it hard, especially when they are on the opposite end. Much nicer to sit up about 15 rows or more.

The atmosphere was almost like a regular game. I went to a game against the Wizards in the first round last year, and the energy level was much higher - and that was a first round game versus the 2nd round game against the Nets. I would imagine it was because we were expected to reach the Conference Finals. Detroit got our blood going. Its almost as if I can understand how fans in San Antonio are not as amped as us because the playoffs occur every year. We better not become like that.

 

[Cleveland56]

I only went to Game 3 in the Finals (was 4-1 in the playoffs), but the whole experience was incredible even though they lost.

My night started with this which I thought was incredible.
http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.p...a/nbacom/music/anthem_harper_game3_070612.asx

The crowd was great, and even better at parts than the E.C.F. Game 6 which I didn't think was possible...And the crowd wasn't manufactured to scream like it is in the regular season. It was just a great rowdy crowd.

Celebrity Sightings - Jim Tressel was on the Kiss Cam. Greg Oden was there. Jim Brown. Dr. J. Peyton Manning. Eva was there, even doing the O - H - I - O to 'Hang on Sloopy'...Naturally Tressel got the best response...

Unfortunately the down side of the night was nobody on the Cavaliers could shoot the ball (a theme all Series) and they could really never get going at all. And of course the Varejo play at the end of the game...

All and all it was a great experience, and I can't wait to go again next year hopefully. I also try and attend some of the road games on the road next year. San Antonio, Dallas, or Phoenix so you can't really go wrong there...

Kind of weird that five years ago I was watching Ricky Davis and Jeff Trapeigner do alley-oops all game for a 17 win team, and now this....

 

[chiefwahoo]

Kind of weird that five years ago I was watching Ricky Davis and Jeff Trapeigner do alley-oops all game for a 17 win team, and now this....

:chuckles: And we could get free loge tickets any time we wanted them... and scream things at Chris Mihm while he was on the bench and he would actually turn and look at us. My how things have changed... for the better.

The Ben Harper anthem was sweet, although I wasn't at Game 3. Celebrity sightings last night that I saw were Eva, Tom Brady, and T.O. I loved how T.O. got booed loudly until he started waving a Cavs towel on the big screen.

BTW, they had a whole slew of new ECF shirts in the team shop last night. I picked up another one that I'll post a pic of later.

 

[Smooth]

Chris Paul was there, Drew Carey (my friend was lucky enough to get an autograph and pic of him) was there, Taylor Hicks was there (sung national anthem) and Usher was there...

Oh yea... Gisele was with Tom... :chuckles:

 

[chiefwahoo]

Chris Paul was there, Drew Carey (my friend was lucky enough to get an autograph and pic of him) was there, Taylor Hicks was there (sung national anthem) and Usher was there...

Oh yea... Gisele was with Tom... :chuckles:

That's right, I did see CP3... and damn it, I didn't notice Gisele... my wife was too busy climbing over me to see Brady.

 

[KI4MVP]

I got a couple of photos of Gisele/Brady.

 

[aaronr]

I'm envious of all of you who had a chance to see the games in person. As I mentioned earlier, I'm in Seoul, Korea on a two-week teaching gig. There's a 13-hour time difference, which meant that I watched the games live on Korean television beginning at 10:00 am the following morning (with the Korean language announcers' voices turned down and Joe Tait's replacing them, with a big time lag of 10-15 seconds, thanks to ESPN.NBA). I've been teaching at 2:00 pm in the afternoon, so on game days I had to reserve a shuttle from my apartment to my classroom at 1:00 in order to get to class on time. A couple days, yesterday being one, I was not all that well prepared for my lecture because I was preoccupied with the uphill struggle that culminated, fittingly given the quality disparities in the two teams, with another defeat.

But, to close, it's been nice to be able to keep up with all of you via RealCavsFans.

 

[Karma]

I sorta had the same experience as you aaronr, minus the Korean announcers. My finals games were via ESPN and were played at 11am a day ahead. Anyways it was just a great feeling to leave work for the day to watch my team in the finals. Never been able to do that before.

Looking back now you have to be pretty proud that we got to the show. Next time I believe we'll make something happen.

 

[aaronr]

I sorta had the same experience as you aaronr, minus the Korean announcers. My finals games were via ESPN and were played at 11am a day ahead. Anyways it was just a great feeling to leave work for the day to watch my team in the finals. Never been able to do that before.

Looking back now you have to be pretty proud that we got the show. Next time I believe we'll make something happen.

Agreed, if we can get Lebron some help.

 

[Spursfan]

For those of you that went to the ATT center to see games. Were the Spurs fans there nice to you?

Just wondering...

I had a pretty good time in Cleveland. Most people were really nice.

I really liked the way your team uses video clips from movies on the Jumbotron.

The Pyrotechnics were cool in the Q.

Your mascot didnt do much for me, but I Think that must be a regional thing... because I think our mascot is awesome. (He's not supposed to look like Wile E Coyote)

I love how you introduced the Spurs with the Imperial Deathmarch... I wish we could introduce them with that music at our Building... lol...

 

[Cleveland56]

There is definitely nothing better than being introduced to the Imperial Deathmarch...Personally I would rather get that out as the home team.

SpursFan - be honest...How much louder was the Cavs crowd?
2 times? 5 times? 10 times?

 

[KI4MVP]

yes, everyone was nice to us, both at the AT&T center and around town (I wore my cavs stuff everywhere).

Perhaps it takes more than a couple of games to appreciate a mascot either way. One thing that struck me as a difference there is from time to time moondog will make a behind the back basket from half court. the coyote did a behind the back shot, but from the foul line. Another difference is there didn't really seem to be much energy from the personnel throwing the shirts or the fans when they threw shirts into the audience. Again, when you've won 3 titles in 5 years, those details probably aren't all that important. Our in game people put a lot of effort into getting the crowd going.

The biggest difference between the two arenas is the crowd itself. At the AT&T center, the crowd was more subdued while our fans get crazy loud. On the other hand, those noise makers you use with their persistence are quite effective. Like I said, I can still hear them. Did you notice at our game that our music guy played your song you use those with? Before the game in game 3, before the 2nd half of game 4 - I had to go over to him yesterday and tell him he was playing your song.