I Suck At The Celtics Game

I had a great time last night.

Last night was sort of a guys night out for me. I don't think I have had one of those in awhile. My friends (Cass and Ron) and I attended the Celtics game last night. Unfortunately, I suck at the Celtics game. The NBA's greatest franchise, the Boston Celtics, were playing the Miami Heat.

Cass happened upon the tickets and asked if we wanted to go. So off we went! The plan was to meet up for dinner in town and then head over to the game. As Ron and I were not in town, we decided to meet up at the train station.

Interestingly enough, while waiting for Ron at the train station, I got to watch the breaking news about a shooting outside of my high school alma mater: North Quincy. I don't know the particulars about the shooting, but Ron and I could see the police cars surrounding the school on our way into town. Like I had joked with Ron, Quincy has gone downhill since we both moved out.

Speaking of which, this would be a great platform to build Cass's campaign for mayor around. Of course, I don't have any empirical data yet to prove this. Quincy, however, has been in the news recently all for the wrong reasons: crime. And what is one thing that a lot of people fear? Increased crime rates.

Fear is great motivator when it comes to the political world. After all, fear in my opinion is what got President Bush (senior) elected President in 1988. Bush's opponent at the time was former governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis. If there is one person Bush senior should thank, it's Willie Horton. Willie Horton was a convict who committed a heinous crime while on furlough, a program that was supported by Dukakis while as governor. Dukakis was consequently labeled as being soft on crime and could never recover from the negative image. His popularity with the voters simply plummeted.

Similarly, I think the same type of campaign could be run for Cass. With the seemingly increased incidents of crime in the city, current Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch (pronounced like the soft drink Coke) could be labeled as soft on crime. Of course, this also gives me the excuse to use the campaign slogan "Don't be a Koch-head... Vote Cass." Now all I have to do is convince Cass to run for mayor of Quincy.

Sorry, I digress. Ron and I met Cass at Hurricane O'Reilly's for dinner. It was a little comical because out of the three of us, I was the only one to not order a salad. (I had a burger.) It also turns out that Cass and his wife (Ellen) are attempting the infamous Atkins diet, to which I cautioned him about the possible side effect of stinky breath complements of the process known as ketosis. Luckily for me, I'm not on a diet. I enjoy food too much.

Among other topics of discussion for the night besides the food, carbs, and diabetes were silly things like Ron's daughter's (Uma) love for all things Miley Cyrus. I am guessing she puts her hands up and nods her head like yeah. And really, when it comes to partying in the United States, who wouldn't?

As well, I had mentioned to Ron that since my son (Braden) passed away, I seem to have a different outlook on things concerning work. Before, I used to have certain working goals that I would make x amount of money or have a certain type of title. I would not say that those types of things do not matter any more. They do to some extent. For me though, those things seem so trivial now in comparison to friends and family.

It's almost as though Braden's passing has taught me that there are more important things to life than money; that if you focus on these trivial things, life will pass you by. Before you know it, you will have missed all these wonderful opportunities with the things that matter like friends and family. With everything in my life now, I don't want to look back and think about missed chances.

As for the actual Celtics game, it was great.

(The video below is from the Celtics game.)


The Celtics ended up defeating the Heat 107-102. Even though all-star Paul Pierce did not play due to injury, it was great watching the Celtics win. It was also great to just hang out and enjoy the night with my friends. Needless to say, it was fun time.