Flight Life: Small Crowds Mean Less Disappointment

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Published: November 5, 2013

New Orleans Pelicans fans didn’t exactly pack the house against the Phoenix Suns, which is perhaps a blessing in disguise considering the team’s performance in the second half.

Perhaps the biggest news of the night comes from Andrew, who told me that Pierre will be getting a new face at some point. It’s unclear when. Combine that news with the loss and I’m officially a depressed Pelican.

Let’s get on with it.

Attention to Attendance: When the game started there were MAYBE 8,000 fans in attendance. Huge sections of the lower bowl were largely vacant, despite ticket prices starting under 10 dollars on StubHub. Section 310 had 47 people in it to start the the second quarter.

Normally they announce attendance to start the fourth quarter. Today it didn’t come until the end of the game and clocked in at 13,404. Not good, but way better than I would have guessed. This is one of those nights where it’s key that the team has such a solid base of season ticket holders.

If there’s anything to be happy about, it’s that you could count the number of sun tanners (get it?!?!?!!) on your hands and toes. I found a pack of them, but otherwise they were pretty much nonexistent.

Squawks from the Stands: “Proof that a clown had sex with a chicken”– A security guard remarking on Pierre’s appearance.

Stars on Location: Chris Trew (local comedian), Tom Benson (owner), lots of Eric Bledsoe’s family

Monty Moment: “You gotta stop dribble penetration, and that’s on me” — Monty taking the blame for his team struggling in the second half yet again.

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Probably Not on TV: The Pelicans spent a few moments of halftime honoring those who have contributed to make the Midnight Basketball League a success. As you may recall, Midnight basketball is a Pelicans sponsored league created to give at-risk kids a chance to get off the street at night and enable them to better themselves.

Also, there was a simulated bear vs alligator vs pelican race which will apparently take the place of the clam vs crab vs shrimp (or whatever). The differences are marginal, although the new one does look much more like an 80’s video game than it’s predecessor. If you’re scoring at home, that’s a good thing.

Off Court Statistic du jour: One– The number of times I saw Pierre the Pelican put a small child’s head in his mouth. Regretfully I was half a second late on the picture.

Pregame entertainment: Did you not attend the live podcast recording for Trew to the Game? Well then you were not pregaming the right way. We started off this glorious evening with a comedy filled hour at the Little Gem Saloon, where Chris Trew and his fellow comedians combined with Jason Calmes, Jake Madison, @PierrePelican and me to record an episode of America’s favorite sports themed comedy podcast.

You’ll have to listen to acquire all the knowledge we spewed, but I’ll hit you with a few things that I said in order to whet your appetite. I compared players to types/locations of houses in New Orleans.

  • Anthony Davis is an inherited mansion on St. Charles.

  • Jrue Holiday is a market value french quarter single family home (very nice, but not cheap).

  • Lance Thomas is a studio apartment in the warehouse district.

  • Eric Gordon is an expensive vacation home on the panhandle that was JUST repaired after a storm.

  • Jason Smith is a garage, which is maybe the highest compliment I can pay him.

Halftime Entertained?

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Yes. A petite woman otherwise known as the “Juggling Princess” controlled a large vase with her feet while lying on her back. It spun, it flipped, it twirled, and it never fell down!  Then she ditched the vase and the fun really started…

A table! She put a table on her feet and spun it around. Oh boy! I don’t have a clue what would drive a person to even think of doing such a thing, but this woman has apparently dedicated at least a large part of her life to it. Bravo?“Juggling Princess” essentially juggled and spun a large vase with her feet while lying on her back. It spun, it flipped, it twirled, and it never fell down!  Then she ditched the vase and the fun really started…

Honestly I really liked the accompanying music also…

 

Best Dressed

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Worst Dressed

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Joseph Warren Gerrity IV’s Examen de la Nourriture: After starting my dining at the Little Gem Saloon with some brussel sprouts, I was in the mood to continue being as healthy as possible. I purchased the snow crab roll with crab stick for 13 dollars from Sake Cafe outside section 114. Eight pieces of sushi and two crab sticks plus ginger, wasabi, and chopsticks.

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I wasn’t expecting much since, ya know, we’re in an Arena. I was wrong. The sushi was clearly freshly prepared (there was fresh fish on site), prepared by actual sushi chefs, and downright delicious. To be fair, I do like sushi a lot, but this was better than most grocery store stuff and on par with any average sushi joint. The price wasn’t great, but it was marked up less than most items in the Arena in my opinion.

It’s completely deserving of four and a half stars, and is currently my highest rated food item. One thing to note is that they did NOT take my Superdome/Arena merchandise card. This is the first time I have failed  in using the card to purchase food in either venue.

 

Tweet of the Game:

@BourbonStShots I think @PierrePelican will get me in my sleep, no matter what I do. I am without hope. I am doomed.

— Michael D. (@MikeDatTiger) November 6, 2013

 

View From the Stands

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section 114 row 25, seat 15

Caption Me!

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