To us, it was sort of a college game...

As winter's tight grip on the land gives way to the first signs of spring - brown-shorted delivery drivers, ducklings, the call of the northern Rafftery - a boy's thoughts naturally turn to one thing: college basketball. My Zags? In. My Huskies? So far out, Calhoun's not going to have to worry about lining up travel for the NIT. The mighty Wolfpack? In, riding on the sturdy backs of Nick Fazekas and Marcelus Kemp.

So where was I last night? Was I at home, watching the Big East tourney (sans Huskies) or catching a mid-major championship? Nope. We went to see the Suns host the Charlotte Bobcats.

That's not as strange as it seems at first... it's our only chance this year to see Ammo in person and to watch the greatest center in UConn history. Or Jake Voskuhl. Uh, I didn't know Mek had a calf strain. Jake did have a double-double, though. Despite the plethora of downed Bobcats (Sean May in streets), it was a shockingly tight game - up and down for most of the night - and, with a valiant effort, the Bobcats forced OT.

The game would have been even more fun had it not been so poorly officiated - though, other than Amare's two Ts, it was evenly atrocious. Ammo showed the same offensive single-mindedness that served him so well for three years in Spokane, finishing the night with 22 and 5, with three assists. The latter was deflated, however, since he made at least four other beautiful passes that should have been converted. Now, if someone would just teach him a proper defensive stance so he'd stop standing around like Lurch, he might be less of a liability on that end of the court. I guess MJ is too busy to spend time on his first draft pick for the Bobcats - just like he was too busy for Kwame.

I was shocked to see the Bobcats play a mix of matchup and (stagnant) 2-3 zone, but with 42 minutes of Morrison, I shouldn't have been. It must have surprised the Suns a bit, as they didn't do much to pick at the seams in the short-corner and free-throw line but just jacked and jacked and jacked from the arc. Then again, when you can hit 19 treys in a game, maybe there's no reason to bother attacking the zone.

Sadly, I believe we've decided not to renew our tix for next year. There are just too many non-basketball things about a game at AWA that annoy us: the worst (read: narrow selection of nigh-inedible) food of any arena I've ever seen; incessant promotions and inanity (our dancers, old women dancers, old men dancers, little girl dancers, the Adio Sol Patrol); and a complete disregard for the basketball fans in the arena. When the game's on, I really don't want some jackhole from the promotions staff coming into my section to block the court view so we can all cheer for *Taco Bell*.

If they'd put aside one section for basketball fans, and we could get tix in that section, we'd renew. As it stands, I think we'll probably just go to a few games next year and spend the savings on a new tv and NBA League Pass.