I've Got a Golden Ticket!

I have never in my life been more excited for a sporting event than I am for tomorrow night's NBA Draft Lottery.  I know this sounds weird, because it's not even really a sporting event.  And had I not ruined a surprise, I would not have even known how important tomorrow night is.  

Here's how my excitement for tomorrow came to be:

I believe in joint checking accounts for married couples.  They promote unity, honesty, communication, and accountability.  They also make gift giving exceedingly difficult.  As in, “Kathy what is this charge for the Minnesota Timberwolves?”  Yes, that’s right, I ruined Kathy’s birthday surprise last week.  My birthday is July 17.  Kathy was disappointed.  The only thing that made this situation better is that, she got me the best gift ever: season tickets to the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Kathy is a truly gifted gift-giver.  She always gets me just what I want, but usually something I am not expecting.  I have not stopped talking about this gift since I ruined it last week. 

 
There is one significant positive to knowing about these tickets early: it makes tomorrow’s draft lottery extremely exciting. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, when I was resigned to the fact that I would never be a season ticket holder.  The Wolves are practically giving away season tickets next year.  They will have one of the first five picks in the draft.  Whatever pick they end up with will correspond to the dollar value of the tickets that I now own.  If they get lucky and get the first pick, Kathy and I will pay $82 for season tickets ($1 per ticket, 2 tickets, times 41 home games).  The most we could pay would be $410 if they get the fifth pick.  This is still a ridiculously good deal, but certainly more than what Kathy and I budget for one another’s gifts.  Tomorrow night’s lottery is now one of the most important sporting events of my life, because I have a vested interest.  And it's not all monetary.  Tomorrow will determine whether or not the team I will spend next season with will be entertaining or not.  Here are some of the thoughts I've had in the last week.

 

1.  I can't believe I have season tickets.   I really thought this would never happen to me (for reasons expressed in my previous post).  Getting them as a gift allows me to enjoy them without worrying about my past reservations.  I can just enjoy them, or share them, or show up at halftime after confirmation (luckily the Target Center is on my way home from church.)

 

2.  I really hope the Wolves get the number 1 pick.  How cool would it be to have season tickets that cost $1 per game?  Also, Kathy would still have left over money in our budget to get me another gift.

 

3.  The Wolves might rather have the No. 2 pick.  That way they could pick Evan Turner, a wing player, which they need, and not feel guilty about passing on John Wall, the most talented player in the draft.

 

4.  This PG thing reminds of Lost.  Who is going to lead this team Flynn (Jack Shephard), Rubio (John Locke), or John Wall (Sawyer)?  Flynn and Rubio have to be Jack and Locke, they came in together, both have strong qualities in their favor.  I have my reasons for saying Rubio is Locke but I don't want to spoil anything.  Wall is Sawyer, because he emerged as something of a leader in spite of the presence of two leaders already.  He also brings something to the table that the other two can't, he's his own guy, and the most entertaining of the three.  I think Wall's got some of that.  A huge part of me wants them to get Wall and trade Rubio.

 

5.   I am all in on this.  In the last week I have checked out the Wolves 2010 schedule to count how many games I could have gone to this year.  I started reading Wolves blogs.  I contemplating buying more Wolves gear for my nights at the Target Center.  I felt like a kid on Christmas when I got some season ticket holder information in the mail.  

 

6. I can't wait to see visiting teams.  I will root for the Wolves (except when they play the defending champion Celtics), but I'll be more excited to see their opponents.  I can't wait to see Durant and the Thunder. I can't wait to see Steve Nash.  I can't wait root against the Lakers.  I can't wait to see Lebron and the Bulls.   I can't wade to see Dwayne Wade, Carlos Boozer and the Miami Heat.  I can't wait to see Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh and the Knicks.  What better season to have tickets then right after the best offseason ever?

Anyhow, if you have it in you, root hard for the Timberwolves to get the #1 pick tomorrow.  And then come up to Minnesota, I'll have plenty of tickets to go around.  I look forward to blogging about the season ticket holder experience.