**BIG SIGH**

THEY HAVE ARRIVED

The front cover

The back cover


The tickets


The gratuitous shot

Let the season begin.
(you can click on each photo to enlarge)

2008 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, part one

OK then, because I don't know where to start I'll just start at the beginning. There will be many photos and many parts. All photos, as usual, have been taken by me. If you find yourself disappointed in the quality of the photo, never fear. I will be getting a better quality lens for my beautiful camera as soon as I raise the funds. But that's a different story.

I'm here to tell you about the Balcony View for GAME SIX of the 2008 NBA Finals. The Final Game of the Finals. The game that made grown men (and women *raises hand*) cry.

Balcony Guy and I had to strangely enough rent a car to get to the game. Our beloved Flower (as named by Balcony Gal) decided to have issues the night before and we weren't risking anything. We settled in our babysitter, Balcony Memere, with the girls and hit the road at 5:30. Early for a 9PM game but, again, we weren't risking anything.

On the Mass Pike (where I had once before discovered something odd) we got stuck in traffic. And by stuck I mean stopped. A truck pulls up next to us and it is filled with guys and perhaps one gal all wearing green, on their way into Boston to party. I look over and they look at me so I give them the thumbs up. So the guy in the back pops his Cs jersey at me and I laugh and then flash them. Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. I flashed them my tickets. Jaws drop. Screaming ensues. Money is flashed. LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY. I could have grabbed the money, tossed them the tickets and Balcony Guy and I could have been in Jamaica by sundown. You can click on the image to get a larger view and try to count all of the money.



Instead I flashed the picture and quickly rolled up the window and locked the door because apparently I was carrying the holy grail.


Once in Boston and almost at our parking spot we were held up again but not by traffic this time (there was surprisingly little traffic in the city at 6:30). Cops on motorcycles cut us off on Charles St as they escorted the Laker's bus to their ultimate loss. Not an exciting picture but a thrilling moment.









Everywhere you turn downtown there are photos of the the Cs players and playoff banners. I've taken a lot of these shots since the playoffs began but this is my favorite.





After meeting our Balcony Pals at Porter's for some food and drink we headed to our seats. Outside of the bar two strangers shook hands and posed for this picture. Then trashed talked each other until the Laker's guy ran down Portland street screaming and with his pants down around his ankles. I don't know why, it just happened.

The Garden was electric. People couldn't sit down. Everywhere you turned someone was yelling or clapping or high-fiving (note to self - don't high five strangers unless you want your hand to fall off).

I'm afraid that's all I've got for right now. It's time for a nap. I'm betting it will be a good nap. Did anyone else, after finally going to bed last night, sleep soundly for the first time in months? This roller coaster of emotions and sleeplessness was like having a newborn. I'm glad to say my baby is finally sleeping through the night after winning the best-baby-ever contest.

Stay tuned for part two. There will be talk of my meeting the Beast's Lair (though not the Beast himself), men in white pants, the Celtics Dancers and much more.

Game One, Won

I have almost 600 photos from last night's game. I promise I won't share them all but over the next couple of days I'll share many. Many. Not much to say about the game since it's being said everywhere else. Oh, wait, I just want to publicly declare my love for Paul Pierce. Not because he was carried off the court and came charging back in moments later. I'm in love with him because he has been a rock. For 9 years I wondered why he was here. And now, this 10th year, I'm so proud of him for sticking it out, holding his own admirably and in the most romantic of gentlemanly ways. He's never needed to boast, never acted like he deserves special attention and he has always spoken to the Celtics fans from his heart. I've never loved seeing his smile more than I have in the past week. It's like the sun shines. Sigh. Smile on, Paul, smile on.

NAP IF YOU CAN, otherwise entitled The 2008 NBA Finals

I give everyone permission to take a nap today. It does not matter when you choose to snooze as long as it's not after 9 o'clock tonight. It's going to be a long and exciting evening as the Celtics face off against the Lakers for game one of the 2008 NBA Finals. I'm so excited that I'm just going to apologize right now to the guys who sit behind me; I'm sure I'll spend a lot of the evening jumping up and down and my butt will barely touch my Balcony Seat. It's not often we ladies get a chance to strap on the sports bra just to be spectators!

When tomorrow morning rolls around and my two Balcony Girls toddle (yes, that's what toddlers do) in at the crack of too-early-in-the-morning to wake me up, I'm sure I'm going to need a big dose of this:


Coffee came out of my nose this morning when I saw this editorial cartoon by David Hitch in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. David's cartoons are often funny but this one is a total 3 pointer at the buzzer. Someone tell me that they will be handing out coupons for these special NBA pills at the Garden tonight.

GO CELTICS!

BEST FRIDAY NIGHT EVER, Part Two

Friday night was rough. The world's worst foul call was made. The score went up and down and up and down and I'll be the first to say that up and down makes for a rough time. I'd tell you all about it but by now you'll have already seen it or read about it or heard about it. There really isn't much for me to say except WOOOO FRRRRRIIIIGGGINNNNN WHHHOOOOO.

Here's the Balcony Gal Pictorial:

We had a little party to watch the game. I gathered all of the special party glasses but the green glasses were a favorite.

I hired this great bartender. He showed up wearing a cape which was interesting, to say the least, but I was thrilled to discover he could mix a drink behind his back with his sword. Impressive.

My BFF was a hit at this party. I knew she'd never show up to watch hoops so I told her we'd be having a red carpet, private showing of the Sex and the City movie. She got all dressed up and prepped. I'm sure I'll pay for that little lie at some point but there is no denying she had a great time. There she is on the left next to Balcony Guy's BFF, then Balcony Guy and Me.

My BFF invited this pair, too, so they were a little over-dressed but they really enjoyed themselves. Turns out he loves tequila, too. Apparently she'd had an unfortunate accident with a dog about six months ago and wasn't really drinking. I interpreted that to mean she wasn't double fisting like I was.

One of the guys from the clean up crew came in toward the end of the game and cleaned out all of the red glasses since DeeTroit was no longer in the running.

Then the cleaning guy came back in with a bunch of yellow glasses. I didn't mind since a little rivalry is always good.

The bartender thought differently. He was all, "Beat LA!" and he poked the guy in the third eye with his sword.

My neighbor stopped in and was all, "Dude. Go LA!! Kobe is so going to make you wish you weren't even born." We made him a drink in a yellow glass.

I'm looking forward to the next few weeks. I'm excited to see the Celtics and LA go at it under the boards. Game One of the finals will find me sitting in my Balcony Seat with Balcony Guy. Think they'll let us sneak in our green glasses? Hopefully I'll have pictures to share next time. Meanwhile, GO CELTICS!

Remember When

Balcony Gal Disclaimer: if you come here for silly or for the basketball-but-not-necessarily-basketball related then you should just avert your eyes. This isn't going to be pretty. And I don't think I have photos for this. At least not yet because that would require an energy I don't have right now due to two sick kids, a house on the market that has to look like we don't have kids, a big work thing that requires a photo shoot of me, work things in general, and a team I'm behind 100% that is confusing the hell out of me.

Remember when, at the beginning of the season, when the Celtics team, all players, came out on fire?

Remember when, part way through the sesaon, when the Celtics team, all players, came out on fire?

Remember when, at the end of the sesaon, when the Celtics team, all players, came out on fire?

Remember when the energy of the team constantly ran high?

Remember when home or away didn't matter?

Remember when Rondo or Pierce could toss the ball toward the basket and KG miraculously appeared to snatch it and put it home?

Remember when Ray Allen wasn't just the calm and consistent but was consistent?

My View From The Celtics Balcony remembers a lot of things. I'm choosing to stop now before I anger the Celtics gods, or front office, or players, or fans who aren't concerned and frustrated by the playoffs. No matter what is happening on the court or in the locker room I'm still going to be a fan. I'm still going to love every minute I sat in my Balcony Seat. I'm still going to be here next season. I'm just saying that my fire has faltered a little because of everything else that is going on in my life and it seems like the Celtics are faltering a bit, too, because of what is going on.

Anyone want to tell me what is going on?

GO CELTICS

Got Old Milk?

All of the other Celtics blogs are looking ahead and, while I am too, I'd like to take a moment to look back. The Balcony Family is in the process of packing up our house in an attempt to sell it to some lucky family. You can read about the exploits at the blog Balcony Family Exploits which, as you can see if you tried to click on it, only exists in my head.

In the process of packing I came across old newspapers wrapped around glasses we never unpacked when we moved into this house. In 2002. You think I would be smart and purge these beautiful margarita glasses but no, they may come in handy some day. Like in three years when we have a blow out margarita party. You're all invited.

The newspapers included an article from the 2002 NBA Playoffs when the whole world was watching Pierce and his shooting abilities. The fans where watching with hope in their heart because the Celtics had last made the playoffs in 1995, and had made their last Eastern Conference finals appearance in 1987 (thank you Wikipedia).

In this packing and pretending-we're-going-to-purge-anything-we-don't-need process, Balcony Guy came across this photo. This was a Got Milk? ad from 2001. From an issue of Men's Fitness from that year. You'll have to visit that imaginary blog to see why I've been hording issues of that mag for so long (and why it only just NOW occurred to me that we moved that magazine and it's brothers from our apartment to this house. Geesh.).



Want the picture? Leave a comment in the comments section - INSTEAD OF EMAILING ME THAT I'M AN IDIOT FOR NOT TALKING STATS or I'M DISGUSTING FOR POSTING CRUDE MUSIC ONLINE. Don't be a wimp, leave your comment. The comment must tell me what you were doing in May of 2002. And it should be good - perhaps funny or embarrassing or smell a little bit like the eight mile high armpit (shaved?!?) of Zydrunas Ilgauskas - and somehow, anyhow, basketball related. The winner, which will be chosen at random by a number generator (Balcony Princess's favorite number of the day, probably), will win this beautiful piece of back flap from the before mentioned magazine. Yeah, it was probably worth more when it was still attached to the mag but that has been passed on to the recycling gods now. Perhaps this photo will get a better home. Enter as often as you like.

Just Spill Already

Rumor has it that Kevin Garnett's wife, Brandi, gave birth in the past day or two. Reports I've read this morning and the other gossip mongers I've chatted with don't seem to have any information. So come on, Kevin, spill it already. Boy? Girl? Size? How's Brandi doing? How's this baby? How's your head, what with the playoffs starting tomorrow and a new little life to be fawning over? The good people of Boston want to know.

So until we know if Brandi may or may not have given birth, I may or may not like to offer my congratulations.

GO CELTICS.

A List

April 5, 2008

1) 12 Balcony Points to Prianna Lee for showing up a day before they were going to make her show up through induction. Way to show initiative, Ms. Pierce!
2) Congratulations to Prianna's parents, Paul Pierce and Julie Landrum. Julie, can I call you Julie? You automatically get 20 Balcony Points for giving birth right before the playoffs. I'm going to give you 2 points for every night you get through during the playoffs. And 10 points for every time you are super mom and let PP off the hook from diaper duty so he can concentrate on work. Of course, I'm not going to know of these times if you don't call me or email me to let me know. Or, better yet, start a blog. Something along the lines of "the Celtics Baby" or "Born into the Green" or "You Can't Dribble A Baby" or "The Truth is That There is a Lot of Poop."
3) With so many new babies in the Celtics family I'm not surprised to see a rise on merchandise like this and this. The latter I admit to having wanted last season.
4) My Balcony Baby, who is a month shy of turning two, used to accompany us to Celtics games when she was a wee thing. I'm not going to lie when I tell you I breast fed her (yes, I said breast in a Celtics blog) while at the game. And before I get lots of nasty mail on the subject let me just say zip it. There weren't many people around, the kid was hungry, and let's face it, a boob coming out at a sporting event is going to be met with cheers.
5) Our playoff tickets arrived yesterday. Pretty. Oh so pretty. We did put in for another string of tickets but didn't get them. I'm ok with that. It was a heck of a lot of money to have to shell out just to maintain our cool status. You do know we're cool, right?
6) I'm working on this post while the Cs are playing the Bobcats. Pierce, KG & Ray Allen all have the night off and I'm so happy to see the way everyone else is playing without the Big Three. The points, the boards, the high fives, the team work. It's nice. There are a few things I'd change but I'm not the coach and what's the point in discussing that on this blog. I'll go make comments on other people's blogs.
7) The lack of fans in the Bobcat's stadium is sad. Those empty floor seats. The empty seats behind the benches. I'd love to have them pan up so we can see if the Balcony is representing.
8) Remind me to run a contest I've been sitting on. I just need to talk to The Man first...Don't let the suspense kill you.
9) Anyone else ready for the playoffs already?
10) I love Mohawks. Big Baby, I love your Mohawk. I'm even willing to show my support for you and the team but sporting my own. I'd even dye it green. I'm ok with the Mohawk.

Finding Celtics References In Strange Places

Warning: this is not a happy post. You may avert your eyes and come back later when I've got something more joyful or silly or more entertaining.

The Balcony Girls and I packed up Balcony Cat 2 today and brought her to the vet. She wasn't doing well after what seemed like an infection and I'm very sad to say she passed on this afternoon. I'm saddened to have lost the lovely ball of fur that I've had for ten years. The ball of fur that slept close, wasn't afraid of a bouncing basketball, and purred louder than is legal.

In a strange twist of fate we had to bring her to a different vet today. The reason is so odd and completely off topic that I'd have to go start a different blog elsewhere about the Balcony Family's daily life outside of the Celtics.

Since I'm not going to be doing that today, let me tell you the reason for this post. The girls and I are waiting for BC2 to be seen and we meet a nice young couple who had just adopted a HUGE cat. I mean biggun. I mean bigger than a Tonka truck. The receptionist asks for the name of their cat and get this. No really, this is why you're reading all of this sad stuff about my precious BC2. The cat's name is...

RONDO

And the vet tech who was standing there didn't miss a beat, "As in Rajon?" Yup.

Life is good when, in a time of sorrow, there are Celtics fans around you.

Here's to Sammy The Cat (her real name). Cheers.

Go Celtics.

Accidental Photo

Driving into the Celtics vs Suns game yesterday afternoon (Lovely win, Celtics. Lovely win.) I managed to snap this shot on the Mass Pike:


I had driven by this guy and his female passenger and was shocked at the plate. What kind of luck was that? So I slowed down in the far right lane and after waiting for about an hour for him to catch up (ok, not really an hour but seriously he was doing about 55. On the Mass Pike. Clearly he's not from these parts.) I got this shot and several others. Poor guy. I hope he didn't travel all the way from Pennsylvania just for that game.

Car Wash to Raise Money for Celtics Playoff Tickets

It's no secret that I'm working on ways to pay for my Celtics playoff tickets. I've tried to become a Celtics Dancer - they sent a lovely letter telling me to try again next year. Apparently my belly button isn't real enough for them. I've tried growing a ticket tree and I've almost put up a paypal button so people can just contribute already. I realized I was fresh out of ideas.

I needed the help of someone who could really care less about the Celtics. And let's face it, we all have many people in our lives who could care less. If it were the Red Sox I was talking about then the line of good pals would be down the block. But this is the Celtics. There are still only a handfull of us that care. Perhaps it's that there are only a handful of us that believe? Everyone else doesn't want to get their hopes up. But that's a post for another time since I don't want to discourage those of you who only come here for the pictures.

The person who came to my mind when I realized I had to fund raise was my Best Friend Forever. This is a gal who got 5 of her neighbors to fight over who would remove a skunk family from beneath her shed. She successfully raised money for a drumming scholarship to MIT for needy drummers (I know, what the heck is that about?). Last month she held a highly renowned book drive for her local library and was able to bring in thousands of old Mac and Windows manuals dating back to 1994. This is a gal who knows how to get things done.

So this weekend, while also pondering what goodies the Easter Bunny would be bringing to my house, I called my BFF on my awesome ME phone and she came right over. Remember, you can click on the pictures to get a bigger version. Then click the back button to come back here. I'm tired of getting emails about how you people clicked a photo then got lost in the World Wide Web.

We chilled in the hot tub, tossing back tequila in over-sized tea cups because my neighbors are really nosy and I'd much rather they think I'm a tea junky than a lush.

We decided to have a car wash. My BFF made a great sign and walked around attracting customers.

First in line to show his support was Balcony Guy with the Balcony Bus.

He was even so sweet as to bring me one of those great car wash Mitts. *Sigh* He is so supportive. Just look at him cheering me on.

He invited some friends to help out, too, and they were more than happy to be here to help their friend Balcony Guy get to the Celtics playoffs.

Here's his best bud helping out my best bud. So sweet.

I managed to get this shot of his undying gratitude. Don't you just love when the audio becomes visual?

Balcony Guy was key to getting the small cars washed in short order. He had a great time with most of the customers. This guy, however, was more interested in his PDA than in the handsome fellow cleaning his car.

We had positioned ourselves near a construction sight and we got lots of big trucks that way. I highly recommend this to anyone else considering a car wash.

Those big trucks take longer but the men sure do appreciate the work. They all took the time to shake my hand.


Unfortunately this one gal got the wrong idea. She had been hanging out in her man's dump truck and was she ever pissed. She totally jumped out and attacked me.

While this didn't thrill me, I did like earning a little extra for the impromptu wrestling match.

I'm proud to report that we earned enough cash to get through a couple of playoff games! I'm saddened to report that after treating our friends to dinner and drinks for their help and devotion, and having to get my hair and nails redone, we're almost back to square one. Guess it's time to come up with another fund raiser. Anyone have any thoughts?

Fast and Faster

Last night's win against the Pistons sure had the adrenaline pumping. Perk had a glorious double double, Rondo had some fantastic drives to the hole and KG just was, all while scoring his season high. This morning's Globe had this great quote about KG from coach Doc Rivers:

"He is back to normal and his conditioning is back, his timing is back," Rivers said. "The way we can tell usually is his jump shot, not his post game. When he's making little elbow jump shots, that means he has good rhythm. When he's not, that usually means he's going too fast. He doesn't have but one gear, and it's fast and faster. He was good."

Fast and faster. Sure beats my gears: extra slow and stop.

Another Attempt at Raising Money for My Celtics Playoff Tickets

Oh, have I been an industrious little Balcony Gal. I've been racking my brain for weeks now to come up with the best plan to raise money for my Balcony Seats during the Playoffs. I've gotten emails in regards to things I should try but most of them aren't appropriate to post here *blushes*.

Balcony Guy and I thought long and hard and came to the realization that we should sell a few of our regular season tickets. Oh, before you think we're doing something underhanded, take a deep breath. We sell them to friends at face value. You want a chance to get a pair of these babies? Then you've got to prove your friendship and have a love for the boys in Green. You don't have to send me bottles of my favorite tequila (Milagro Anejo). You don't have to purchase a weekend getaway for me at Kripalu. You don't have to send the Balcony Girls gifts. You don't even have to beg me to put a paypal button here so you can donate $2.75 toward the cause. I can't be bought that easily. I gave up being easy years ago. (what, did she just say that?)

So in a move to beat all moves, we sold tickets to the Wednesday night game against the Pistons. Well, we didn't exactly sell them. I traded them. I set out to sell them but some guy from a well known Celtics blog site convinced me that I should trade them for some magic seeds. I brought them home and Balcony Guy was a bit upset, to say the least, but once I let him rub my feet he turned around and agreed this could be a good thing.

I got to work planting the seeds last night.



It was a lot of work so I did take a break at one point. Notice how I'm still happy and gesticulating in the only way I know how.



And then I went to bed and awoke to one of the most beautiful sites in the world. No, it wasn't a money tree. It was a TICKET TREE! OHhhhh. MYyyyy. GAwwddddd. Celtics tickets. And they were EVERYWHERE on this tree.

I had no idea it was really possible. Celtics Tickets on a tree. Right there in my bedroom. And not only does the tree grow tickets, it also grows clothes pins. How friggin' handy is THAT?


OH this is just too damn exciting. I can sell all of these tickets and that would help defray all costs of attending the Celtics Playoffs. Wooo hooooo. Could there be anything better right now? Oh yes, there can. There's another tree. That poor sucker from the well known Celtics blog gave me seeds for another tree. It has balls. It sprouts balls. It grows balls. A damn ballsy tree.



But I must stop here and leave the Ball Tree for another post. I'm just too tired from harvesting the fruits from the Celtics Ticket Tree. It's not easy raising money.

Neil Diamond on the Sidelines

Disclaimer: Balcony Gal can not be held responsible for any songs that stick in your head after the reading of this post.

No, no, turns out it's not really Neil Diamond. For a long time I thought it was. I remember last year, when my balcony seat was even higher up than it is now, I could look down and see this man who I just knew was Neil Diamond. I figured because the Cs weren't getting a lot of press no one talked about his presence. And last year I didn't bring my camera to zoom in on him at games so I was able to perpetuate my own fantasy that not only was he AT! EVERY! GAME! but he'd be Forever In Blue (black) Jeans. Certainly I could continue to imagine that, while I was in the stands above him, pregnant and ready to burst, he'd turn around and belt out Girl You'll be a Woman Soon. What can I say? I'm a Believer. That and I never saw him turn around.

Clearly, he's a believer too because, as I've since discovered, he really is AT! EVERY! GAME! I don't think, even in the darkest of Celtics times, he ever felt Love On the Rocks.

I also discovered, as I was purposely photographing him for this post, that he's not Neil Diamond. What? Was that a sad sigh I heard? A gasp of surprise? A chuckle from the men in the back who knew better all this time? Are some of you pointing and laughing at me? Just for that I'm going to say Song Sung Blue. There, get THAT out of your head.

I must say that he sure has my admiration. Not because he can afford to sit on the court but because he has chosen to sit there through thick and thin. I've come to call him The Man.

Other things I've noticed about The Man:
- The Man always wears black
- everyone hugs The Man
- you can see The Man's smile from the balcony
- The Man jumps up and down and claps and cheers and I'm sure he yells but I can't hear him

So to The Man, who we all know now is not Neil Diamond, I hope you are having the time of your life. I know I am and I'm WAY UP HERE.

On a semi-related note: last year there were a lot of children who got to sit in those seats down on the court. At the beginning of this season there were children who got to sit in those seats down on the court. Now it seems no one who sits in those seats on the court brings their children.

Just another observation from the Balcony.

Celtics and Cavs Part 1

There is a lot for me to touch on for this game so this will be coming in installments. And I don't even know where to start.

I guess starting with the first shot of the game would do. What do you notice? Thank goodness this shot didn't influence the game because 1) there was no Green under that net and 2) Paul missed. Oh, wait, Paul didn't pull down a lot of shots anyway.



The crowd going into this game was insane. The energy throughout the Garden was intense. Everywhere I turned I overheard people saying "playoff buzz." I'm not sure what that really means but I bought into it and, yes, it sure is a great buzz. Until it seems like there is no real challenge on the court and no one is doing anything pretty or fun or exciting and you get all caught up in your camera and learning all of its settings. Then not so much buzz. Someone get me some tequila.

Ohhhh, it doesn't help that I finally paid attention to where Greg Dickerson sits and I was so mesmerized by his twitching and grooming and trying to get good pictures of it from WAY UP HERE that I started to feel like I had a twitch of my own. And I kept getting itchy around the collar. There are fuzzy pictures that I will share later. When it's not the middle of the night.

For those of you who didn't start commuting to the game at 4:15 PM and weren't so into your loud music while relishing the fact that you didn't have to answer questions like, "Balcony Mummy, why do they sing I want to lick your hump?" then you missed the news and announcements about the Celtics newest acquisition. The viewers at home probably already knew that there had been a new teammate sitting on the bench in his lovely suit. Most people in the Garden had no idea. So when the announcer said, "Ladies and gentleman and rude people that sit behind Balcony Gal but are starting to behave, let's give a great Boston welcome (or something like that) to the newest Celtics player, Blhhh Blhhh Bldrahhhnnn," the crowd didn't exactly go wild.

Yes, it's true, Blhhh Blhhh Bldrahhhnnn is now a member of the Cs. I was so excited to hear this! Oh, I know most of you were taken by surprise but I had a premonition that Blhhh Blhhh Bldrahhhnnn would be here. I've ordered my Blhhh Blhhh Bldrahhhnnn jersey and it should be here tomorrow afternoon. I just hope the announcer was right. I hope he didn't mumble or slur or speak too close to the microphone. How embarrassed will I be to have the wrong jersey?

So the game itself wasn't very exciting. It was nice to see Delonte. It was nice to see that Wally still moves like his ankles aren't really a part of his body. It was nice to see KG moving like THE MAN again. Oh, and it was nice to see Scal in his warm ups and hitting the stationary bike like he was going to see action. And I've got pictures...