“On behalf of myself and the Sixers…”

Yes, you heard correctly. That’s exactly how Jrue Holiday, the Pelican chosen to welcome the season opening crowd, went about doing so.

Tweet of the Game: 

@BourbonStShots He called us the Sixers and the Pelicans in the same sentence. He should of fit in Hornets for the trifecta!

— Barry Broussard (@GeauxtohellLSU) October 31, 2013

 

New Stuff: The mascot was unveiled! As we thought, he’s a pelican with mohawk. His name is Pierre. No word on if he can fly. Sources tell me he can fall gracefully, kinda like Buzz Lightyear.

The group formerly known as the Buzz Patrol is now known as the Swoop Troop. I approve.

The Used-to-Bees are now called the Pelicans Senior Dance Team. With the exception of the beer garden tap situation, this was the biggest disappointment of the night. Nobody over the age of 11 likes being called old.

Introduction Thoughts: A creepy/terrifying pelican, electrifying smashes, great music, awesome special effects, and all my favorite players. If I had one complaint it’s that a lot of the actual footage looked more like it was from NBA2k14 than from real NBA games. Regardless, it was excellent.

As the players were introduced in real life, there were four video screens surrounding them which worked together to display the name and number of the players, along with Pelicans logos. It was a nice, albeit slight improvement.

Attention to Attendance: Tonight was technically a sellout, but there were undoubtedly some open seats in the upper balcony. Tom Benson who said in a pregame interview that most games were sold out this season, which if true is amazing. The key word there is “if”.

There were only a handful of Pacers fans in the building, a nice change from the preseason game against Miami.

Squawks from the Stands: “I feel like there are other mascots named Pierre…” – Some dude who must be French

Notable Citizens: Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Gary Chouest (former owner), Terry McDermott (former contestant on The Voice), Kenny Vaccaro (Saints Safety), Mark Ingram (Saints benchwarmer), Darren Sproles (Saints RB), Keenan Lewis (Saints cornerback), Roman Harper (Saints safety)

Monty Moment: “I’m pretty boring. It helps to keep me simple.” — Monty discussing the excitement of game one in his pregame press conference.

Probably Not on TV: Anthony Davis hummed songs in the “HOW DO DO YOU DOO?” contest, and Jrue Holiday managed to guess three of them correctly. Despite their relative success, this is a good time to acknowledge that AD has no chance of making a name for himself as a musician.

Off Court Statistic du jour: Two- The number of Pacers fans I saw wearing jerseys from players on the current roster. I also located four people donning Reggie Miller gear.

Pregame entertainment: The Bucktown All Stars were on hand to provide some pregame entertainment. The brass heavy band played a rocking cover of “Fire on the Bayou”, but it was this juggler who was really on the ball.

The Pelicans always put on a fun pregame party, but they failed in the most obvious of ways tonight.  Someone decided that a single beer tap and one Redd’s Apple Ale tap would suffice for the entire season ticket holder beer garden. Bad move. This is New Orleans, not Indiana.

Halftime Entertained: Yes! Today was a good day to stick around for halftime, as Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue played one of their hits. If you’re unfamiliar with Troy Andrews and his band, I suggest you get acquainted. He’s recorded on new and upcoming CDs from Galactic (my favorite band), Eric Clapton and Lenny Kravitz. He also performed on the Academy Award nominated song “Down In New Orleans” with Dr. John.

He’s my personal pick to be the next really big name musician to come out of New Orleans, despite not playing that pop nonsense that so many people inexplicably prefer to real music. It’s truly a pleasure to be able to watch him perform during halftime, as I’ve paid to see him play probably a dozen times.

Joseph Warren Gerrity IV’s Examen de la Nourriture: I ordered the $12 Chicken and Sausage Pasta from Three Point Grill outside of section 118. A dinner sized portion, the dish was mixed in front of me in a heated serving pan.

The penne pasta was cooked properly  and served in standard proportion to the chicken and sausage. The cream-based cheese sauce was flavorful, but the consistency was overly thick, overwhelming all other flavors at times. The seasoned sausage was sliced thinly, and the boneless, skinless chicken tasted was satisfactory. Diced green onions and Parmesan cheese topped the item, improving the appearance considerably.

Overall I give the dish 2.5 stars out of 5. While it’s something I’d consider ordering again if was particularly hungry and/or drunk, the entire entree had an oily consistency and after a few bites resorted to a bit of a mush. It’s not bad for Arena food, but the search for excellence continues!

Lastly, here’s the picture of the game. Sometimes we’ll have a caption, sometimes you’ll have to fill in the dialogue box. Today we’re working with some gold.

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