Wow, the last 5 months have been a deadzone and I didnt even realize. The Buzzfest was more decorated than normal with a quasi fence around the ‘pit’ in front of the stage to give it a garden look. The had a mockup of the Cathedral behind the band. There were chairs and tables that made the Arena look like a cafe. There were Honeybees on stage with the band, signing autographs and inside the Arena handing out programs at the same time. My guess is the whole squad was involved in Buzzfest, and if its happened before, I hadnt seen it. There was more of EVERYTHING it seemed. It kind of felt overdone, but it grew on me. My only complaint was all the extra decor seemed to make it harder to navigate the Arena. (On a personal note, they finally put markers on the security tables to show maximim lens size so I dont need to have ‘conversations’ with Security about my camera).
Before player introductions, George Shinn gave a great speech to get the crowd going. he brought out Chris Paul who showed the crowd his gold metal (I couldnt help thinking how Lebron felt during this. “I got one of them too as a starter and went farther in the playoffs”).
Player introductions were slightly different this year as they have a little lighted pedastal the players stand on with smoke pots. A little overdone, but I’ll deal. James Posey was introduced to the Hive and we went nuts.
The game was a little scary through the first half with the only real highlight that we kept Lebron to less than 10 pts.
Some of the boys made some really clutch shots and plays. Armstrong looked good.
As did Dwest. Here he is getting past three defenders for 2 pts.
And of course Posey was a beast.
In the world of the entirely non-beastly, the Honeybees looked awesome as always (although the holding up of placards for sponsors kinda bugged me).
All in all, an awesome game and a great way to start off the Hives season. Everyone in my section was complaining that there werent any Posey jerseys in the store. Aside from that, I was the only person around me screaming, standing clapping, etc. Note to self: never go to a game alone again.
(in other notes, I found our webmaster in the stands across the Arena from me. I got pictures of him that would prove devastating if he were a Presidential candidate :D)
(In even more news, all of these shots were taken from the back row literally. Sec 321, row 17 with cement behind me. I’m always available to provide priceless reminders of your game day experience for the paltry price of the ticket next to you which will almost definately be closer than these. The above was a hopeless attempt at marketing, but Im sure it just smells of the desperation it is. I really need to find some money for season tickets)