My First Professional Sports Game: Lakers V. Nuggets

I realize that the topic of this blog post is an anomaly for this site; however, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts as a first-timer.

My husband has loved the Lakers since they were in their namesake state:  Minnesota, which, I admit dates him a bit.  (You can read more about their history here.)  The point being, that he’s not a “new” fan as I am.  A bit about how I slowly by slowly became a Laker fan is found in this post on Psalm 37:4.  I bought him Arsenal tickets for his birthday, but I was sick and we didn’t get to go.

So, I found out that the Lakers were playing at Honda Center in a pre-season game.  For $38 each, I thought it was a good deal.  October is a late birthday celebration for a February birthday, but it was still very exciting.

I’ve never been to a professional sports game.  Now, I’ve been to the Honda Center back when it was the Arrowhead Pond for a few Gaither concerts, but I’ve never sat in the 400 section before.  Mercier wanted to be sure to see the whole game. He assured me that sitting higher was better, for the overview, and as close as possible either to the center or a goal (the basket).

When will NBA come to Orange County?

We arrived at 5:30 p.m. (the gates open at 5:00 p.m. and the doors open at 5:30 p.m.).  We had to stand in a security line and get waved by the metal detector (that doesn’t happen at the Gaither concerts).

But it was enough time to settle down, get Oggie’s personal pizzas (worth $4), eat, and get rid of our trash before the game started.  It was fun to watch the warm ups, and @hondacenter recommended that we come early for that reason.  The giant TV screens also showed highlights and scores throughout the game of the NLCS Angel-Yankee game.  In fact, they showed the game during half-time.  We saw the winning out–a fly ball at the top of the 9th inning.  The Angels get one more game to play; if they win that and the  next one, they play the Phillies for the World Series, but I digress.

The bathrooms are clean also, by the way; even including cup holders in the stalls and automatic faucets.  In a public place where germs usually thrive, I appreciated that (but also used hand sanitizer).  There is also a good selection of vendors for food, snacks, and drinks throughout the game.  You are not allowed to bring any food items (even water bottles) into the facility.

The game started promptly.  I loved the national anthem; I had to force myself not to cry.  It was neat to see all of the players, new and old play with the exception of Gasol and Bynum who were in suits on the bench.  Odom was great, Kobe was good as expected, and Sasha and Fisher were interchangeable.  Read OC Register Sports Reporter Janis Carr’s article “Jackson Shows No Signs of Worry” for more information about the actual game, Janis Carr’s blog post, or click here to see the post game videos.

The Lakers won; although it was a close game.  I enjoyed the energy of the fans.  Also, the Laker Girls are a great dance team–no cheerleaders there.

I took a few mobile photos.

Here are some of my thoughts about Honda Center in general:

1.  The seats in the 400 section are very steep.

It took 20 minutes before I didn’t have vertigo.

I had some serious vertigo; it took twenty minutes to acclimate.

Where's a protractor when you need one? That is steep!

2.  The seats are VERY close together.

So, if you’re bigger like me or my husband, then you’ll be overlapping the armrests.  Sit with people you know.  I almost would recommend buying 4 tickets for two people, so that no strange person sat next to you.  Although, I enjoyed my conversation with the lady next to me.  I was hoping to find photos of the actual seats on the internet, but they just had a general diagram.

Mercier folds his arms in an attempt to not touch his neighbor. He woke up this morning with shoulder pain. Ouch!

3.  Parking / Exiting after the Game

Parking when you arrive is not an issue.  We arrived at 5:20 with no trouble at all.  The fee was $15.  Preferred parking is $25 and has its own exit.  When the game was over, the parking lot was crazy.  There were peddlers everywhere; we almost ran over one who came from no where.  It took 20 minutes before we even moved.  Honda Center needs to go through some training with Disneyland.  Disneyland has parking and exiting down to a complete science.

Next time:

I’d rather sit in the red or pink sections… I wonder if the OC will ever get an NBA team?

Basketball Seating at the Honda Center