Gilbert Is F'ing Back!: A First Hand Account
There are very few things that make me happy in this world, and if you break it out I'm sure 9 out of 10 of them involve Sports. If you haven't caught on by this point I always capitalize the word Sports on this site. Do you know why? Sports has given me more joy in my life than any other thing. Sure the Love of your family is a great thing, but tell me the last time you jumped out of your seat and lost all control because your drunk Uncle talked to you at Thanksgiving. It hasn't happened.
Before you jump down my throat.....yes I've graduated College, yes I've had sex, and no I've never had a kid (thought we'd get that out of the way early). The greatest moment I've ever felt in my life was being in attendance during the Wizards defeat of the Bulls during the 2nd Round of the NBA Playoffs and Gilbert Arenas throwing the ball into the crowd as the (then) MCI Center went ballistic (see above). I'm sure a lot of things will top that in the future (Baby Awful?), but that moment combined with my fandome just blew me away. Sure I was at the George Mason-UConn game, but I had no vested interest in that game.
Fast forward to Wednesday night. I don't know how else to say this but I was privy to courtside seats (thanks Maj!) at the most important game of the Wizards season. When I was walking up to the Verizon Center I saw the most perfect and beautiful sign I've ever seen. It was on the giant wall of the V-Center and it featured the quote, "I'll Be Back," with a giant zero painted over the words. At about three minutes into the first quarter I'd learn that sign wasn't just a marketing ploy.
For some reason the crowd started to stir. Wait no....is Gil in uniform??? No g'damn way. Not happening. Against the Bucks?!? (Ed note: I've got goosebumps at this point). It's a timeout so everyone is just waiting and watching......
Fuck me......he's coming in!!! I'm sure that my child being born will blow this out of the water, but Gil walking on the court to the crowd at home was f'ing awesome. I can't even describe the feeling because my favorite player ever proceeded to just destroy the Bucks in the coming minutes. He hit every shot. He got a ball down low, faked, and hit a reverse layup. It's been a long time since I've felt "joy" in my life but this was joy......
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYwoH_Lu_OY&hl=en]
Sure the craptastic Bucks won the game on a buzzer beater, and sure Gilbert might have looked a bit slow at times, but I could care less. I was courtside for the best comeback involving DC Sports since.....well ever.
(I greatly appreciate the times you let me drop the "National Veil" and you let me become a complete DC homer. Also many thanks to The Maj who is the f'ing man)
