Major Warm Fuzzies About my Wahoos

Yesterday, I did my second activity ever with the local UVA alum association, and it was much fun.  With Justin Anderson and the Dallas Mavericks in town, we went to watch them do their thing vs the Wizards, and I did it with a hokie friend (gasp!).  I was pretty angry with Justin last year when he announced that he was leaving UVA early and declared himself eligible for the NBA draft.  I wished him well, but damn I was bitter.  I thought I’d be over it by the time this season started, but nope.  My feelings are much more subdued, but I’m still a little mad at him.  Happy for what he’s got going on, but selfishly mad.

We got to go into Verizon early to watch pre game shoot around, which was kinda cool.  Mark Cuban was front and center, which made me wonder who was managing his empire while he was traveling with his basketball team.  After shoot around, we wandered upstairs to our nosebleed seats.  I got to say hi to my Nats Park usher friend, and we randomly came across a kid’s petting zoo (!!!!).  They had silkie chickens (!!!), the largest rabbit I’ve ever seen, and a tiny adorable pig that I strongly contemplated stealing.

The game itself was …. Ok…. But only because I don’t love NBA basketball.  Justin got in the game in the first quarter, but after running into his teammate and knocking him out of the game with bruised ribs, he sat the rest of the game.  The Mavericks ended up winning, and after the game ended, we went back downstairs for a Q & A with Justin.  This was pretty awesome.  Justin is one of the nicest guys ever, and he gave me a major case of the warm fuzzies for my basketball program.  Justin spoke about how Tony stresses the importance of being good people in addition to good basketball players.  In a world filled with stories of athletes getting into trouble for terrible things, it was heartwarming to hear that Tony puts together a winning basketball program with good guys that I can be proud of both on and off the court.  So much love for him and UVA, and so happy that Justin is contributing to his team as a rookie.  After listening to him talk for a few minutes, it was hard to stay mad at him… although I do miss seeing him in orange and blue.