Walking in trying to find a place to sit yet at the same time still being overwhelmed by all the pink; Every school likes to do at least one think pink game in honor of breast cancer awareness. The music is loud, yet somehow I could still hear the squeaks of players shoes as they run past. I see the Coach Harvey sitting so intensely by the bench. The teams record is way better than MCLA’s so everyone just assumes this game is a lock. After that first buzzer rings, it seems as though it’s just back and forth. Talking with my friends in the stands as if the game was just going on in the background. After about 5 minutes, it starts getting more intense. Cheering, chanting and chirping, the three C’s to a good basketball game. The crowd cheers for the teams while the ones on the bench are chanting for the defense and the occasional bash towards the opposing team is heard in-between both. You read the opposing teams roster and then make fun of how the 4’10 male claimed to be 5’5. Halftime is the art of dancing to the crazy loud rap music that somehow makes the crowd get louder. From the somewhat sexual dance moves made by the cheer squad and the smell of popcorn because of the people behind me, I still managed to somewhat dance to the music in the stands; awkwardly, but still dancing. Second half starts off slow, they score, we score, they score, we score. Then we realize how close the game is to ending and how close the score is. The game is way too close for the cheering to get any quieter. JP from or team scores a three pointer, everyone stands up cheering, There is only a minute left to play and we are winning by just one point now. The yells and claps for defense get so loud that it feels as though the room is vibrating. MCLA scores a layup with only 14 seconds left in the game, Coach Harvey calls a timeout, there is still hope for us. Now losing by one the cheering gets even louder. Bryan, on our team, has the ball and he speeds his way down the court, the crowd counts down. 10, 9, 8, He makes it to the three-point line, passes it to Chris, 7, 6, Chris passed it back to him, 5, 4, 3; he shoots. In that moment you could hear a pin drop, the crowd is silent, we all slowly stand with our arms up, as the ball is still airborne. The buzzer goes off, the box on the net turns red, the ball is still in the air, and there is still hope. It felt like a movie moment then the ball hits the rim, you could almost hear everyone’s heart stop at that point. This shot, one full game, a week of them practicing, plays, plans and this shot it the thing standing between a win and a loss, this game is decided on a ball that seemed to be airborne forever. And we all thought this was going to be an easy win. The ball then bounces off and falls to the ground; the crowd takes a breath of air. Before we could even realize that we lost, MCLA starts screaming and jumping from the other side of the court. They were 3-14 we were 13-4, the team looked really upset.

I never went to a basketball game, I always thought it was boring to watch and it wouldn’t be fun, but to this day I still say how that was the best game I have ever seen. I’ve gone to three more after that.