Jeff’s Blog

I have been a fan of the Phoenix Suns basketball team for over 25 years and a session ticket holder for 19 years. I share the tickets with three others so we each get 11 games each season.  We went from the highest row in the upper level to row 10 in the lower level behind the Suns bench. They are really nice seats. And I hate to say it, but the game is much more fun from the lower level, you feel more involved with what is happening, you can actually hear the players.

We have been through some really good times like the Finals with the Bulls (Barkley vs. Jordan) in 93 and some not so good times. Generally the Suns have had a winning season, 16 of the last 20 and made it to the playoffs 18 of the last 20 years. The playoffs are always fun but not the main reason I go to the Suns games. The main reason is entertainment, for the fun of it. When they win it is more fun and when they lose it isn’t so much fun. But winning and losing is not all of it. The attitude of the team while they are playing also adds to the fun or to a boring game.

When the Suns brought in Mike D’Antoni in 2003 he made the game much more fun to watch. We had fast paced, high scoring games. Yeah they didn’t make it to the finals, but it was a lot more entertaining. Then the Suns brought in Steve Kerr as the general manager and things have gone downhill since then. He did bring in Shaq and he is definitely an entertaining player. D’Antnoi left for New York and we have Terry Porter who is going to make us a defensive team. The games have been boring, low scoring and the players sometimes looked like they were out there only because they had to be, not because they wanted to be.

Then the day after the All Star game they fired Porter, made Alvin Gentry the interim coach and went on a three game streak of scoring 140 or more and bet the pants off their opponents. Yes, they weren’t the best teams in the NBA, the Paperclips twice and Okie Thunderless. They haven’t done so well since then either. They did lose Amar’e, who has been the leading scorer on the team. Very hard to get around losing a player like Amar’e.

I was at the Oklahoma game and the next game with Boston and I can tell you that as entertainment it was a whole lot better. The players seemed to be really enjoying the game now and the audience certainly enjoyed it more. Even the loose to Boston was a good game. I was also at the March 1 game against the Lakers where we kicked their butt. That was sweet, way too many Laker Gold and Blue in attendance. Nothing nicer than the quite from the opposing teams fan’s at the end of a game.

The Suns are number two in the Pacific division, 17 games behind the Lakers! They are number 9 in the Western Conference and it looks like they are not going to make it to the playoffs this year. Bummer, but the couple of games I have left look to be more entertaining than those during the first half of the year. I expect the Suns will come back way different next year. And a losing season every once in awhile is good for fans like me. It is the only way I am going to improve my seats and that still may not happen. Most of the people around us are long time, 20 years or more, fans. If I could move it would be maybe 1 or at the most 2 rows down and maybe a little more to the left toward the center. Like the aisle seats, 7 to the left.

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