spark-tastic

one of the hub's clients is part owner of the WNBA's chicago sky. yeah, i know, totally random as hell. anyway, he'd put out an invitation to the hub and his CWs to bring the wives and kiddies and head out to staples center to watch his team play against the l.a. sparks.

so yesterday, we hopped in the car and headed out to downtown l.a. to meet up with everyone and have some delicious grub at philippe's before the game. we enjoyed some tasty french dip sandwiches and macaroni salad, plus glasses of their tart, cold lemonade and then headed over to the venue to find parking and watch the teams warm up.

the contrast in the public's interest in the NBA versus that of the WNBA were first made painfully obvious when we pulled into the parking garage just across the street. i mean, we found a spot right in front! that never happens to us. and as we got out and made our way to the will call window for our tickets, i thought of how my friend MommyBelle giggled her ass off when i told her where we were going. ha! i probably would've pointed and laughed, too.

the teen bought those glasses at urban outfitters a few days ago and thinks she's totally nerd-chic. yeah.

we had really great seats - not far from the floor, and as we looked around, we realized that we basically could've moved closer if we wanted to. the place was empty. the teams were already warming up, and sparky, the mascot, was running around like a fool, playing with the kids, waving his arms, posing for pictures. the hub's client and his son got a tour of the locker rooms while the rest of us grabbed snacks at the concession stands and settled in our seats.

the teen and i cracked up when some woman came along and started kicking up a fuss when she found the hub and the bean sitting in her seat. um, there were about 47 gazillion empty seats around us. sheesh. i thought of the laker games played there last week and marveled over what a difference five or so days can make.

and just before tip-off, we were joined by the client's cousin, who happens to be one of the plastic surgeons on e's dr. 90210. i remembered stories about this dude told during our maui trip, and totally smirked to myself as i recalled his specialty - vaginoplasty. nice. real nice.

the sparks' coach is michael cooper, who's a former laker. he and lisa leslie were the only folks there that i'd ever heard of, and i spent a good amount of time trying to catch decent shots of them. these are still far away and shitty, but it's the best i got.

after the national anthem had been sung and i was well into my giant tub of popcorn, i noticed that the sparks' cheerleaders were made up of a troupe of pre- and teenage dancers. there were boys AND girls, and they were cute. again, i giggled at the differences between the sparks and the lakers - no laker girls at THIS game.

the bean managed to fall asleep, although she was often startled by the random yelling and cheering of the, um, crowd.

we were also amused at the security guards who literally scampered out onto the court whenever there was a time-out, during halftime, or any other times that the teams left the court. they would RUN out and man their stations as if their lives depended on it. heh.

the sparks want you to go green and recycle.

as the game went on, i found myself conflicted as to who i was rooting for. the home team, because i'm a local? or the chicago sky, because they're the reason we were there? i gave up and just cheered for whoever made baskets.

the sparks emerged victoriously, and as the fourth quarter came to an end, shiny confetti-like banner thingys exploded from the ceiling and floated to the ground.

whee.