Wordless Wednesday: everybody's favorite Latvian

Good luck charms work again!

I think the Spurs management should really buy us season tickets. Then the team would be the first in history to go 81-0!

We extended our personal winning streak last week, watching our boys beat perennial rivals the Utah Jazz by 20 points. And our vantage point was almost as sweet as this victory margin. Courtesy of business colleagues, we got to watch in complete comfort from one of the arena's fine suites. 

This was an un-zoomed view from the box:

And zooming in really gave us good photographic results (note that most of the photos in this post were taken with Henry's super camera). Here's a great shot I got of Kawhi Leonard, our wunderkind phenom, flying up for a score (he's #2):

And after a few tries, Henry was successful in capturing Danny Green's text-book-perfect shooting form. Note the feet off the floor and the beautiful flexed wrist—it's another Tarheel Triple!

We hung around the suite for a little while after the game, trying not to munch on too many potato chips, letting the traffic to thin out a bit. The wait allowed me to get this shot of the almost empty arena. I was intrigued by the giant ladder over the basket on the right side; I guess the next event the place is hosting is something other than an NBA game?

Although this season has been rather up and down so far, we're still super-proud of our guys in silver and black. Possibly, if not probably, these banners are all we'll be getting. But we know how lucky we are to have lived through this amazing run. 

Pretty impressive, no?

The boys are back in town!

Long-time readers of this blog will know that our family are big Spurs fans. Some of us are even partial to another Spurs team, but most of the time when we hear that name, we think of our boys in silver and black, our town's only big league franchise.

We've been fans of the team for many, many years. In fact, we remember seeing each and every one of the retired jersey numbers when they weren't retired...

The 2013-14 regular season hasn't started yet, but pre-season has, and we're big enough Spurs geeks to be very excited to be able to attend one of these practice games. Thanks to a friend who passed along some tickets, we were able to see our guys in action in person last Sunday.

And I was pleased at how well some of my pictures of the game came out. Here's a sample:

view from the cheap (i.e., free) seats

our great mascot, the Spurs Coyote

big dramatic introduction of the players, even at a preseason game

You develop appreciation for how long a second is when you watch a basketball game

it has been a while...just sayin'...

Wordless Wednesday: Go! Spurs! Go!

Sweet seats

At the risk of causing anxiety that Hometown Tourist might be turning into a sports blog, I have to revel a bit in the Spurs game we saw last week.

As guests of one of Henry's colleagues, who was using her firm's tickets, we were very close to the action. Note that the photo above, and the one just below, were taken without zooming! (Note inbounded ball in the red square below. Timmy's about to catch it.)

Zooming took us even in closer. As in this timeout shot. What I want to know is, why can't the players and coaches just get along? The group on the left (see red lines) are the players having a confab while the coaches confer over in the lane.

What fun to be close enough to notice such things! It helped that the game was a very exciting win. Against the Grizzlies, who knocked us out of the playoffs last year. Very satisfying. (Although not unexpected; they often win when we are at the games!)

And to top it off, the half-time entertainment was terrific (as always). Elementary school unicyclists! What more could you want in an evening out?!

Extra! Local family ends Spurs losing streak!

...at least, that's what we like to think.

Another great birthday present from our exceptional children was Spurs tickets for the whole crew. What a great idea!

We picked, somewhat in advance, an April 3 noon game with Phoenix, not realizing at the time that coming into that game, our boys would have lost 6 in a row—their longest losing streak since before the Tim Duncan era.

So there was extra pressure upon us, as fans, not to let this string continue. As you might be able to tell, from the scoreboard shot above—which was taken at halftime, amazingly—we were able to turn it around in style.

On the left you can see the great view we had from our much-too-expensive seats. A great vantage point!

These wonderful children have come up with some spectacular birthday presents lately. From my Lord of the Rings feast, to their hugely vital role in Henry's surprise party, they really have set a high standard. But this year's might be hard to beat.

In order to make the afternoon even more special and exciting, we decided to have brunch at the Blue Star brew pub, one of the kids' favorite local eateries. On an earlier visit, we learned that they offer a free bus ride to Spurs games if you take in a meal there first. And they serve brunch on Sundays!

Perfect! No parking hassles, delicious beverages to consume on the way there (and on the way back! you just put in your order and have your mimosa waiting for you after the game)—what else do you need for a great celebration?!

Here are the kids ordering their to-go brews...

notice the brewing equipment in the back of the shot...only pub-brewed libations will do for my beer-snob kiddos

...and here we are on the bus, ready to head for the arena and make sure our boys pull out of their uncharacteristic end-of-season tailspin:

The whole affair was so successful, both from the standpoint of fun had and game won, we might just have to make this an annual event. We're definitely sold on the bus-to-the-game idea, birthday or not.

view from the Blue Star parking lot of Pioneer Flour's iconic tower

Although, from the birthday present standpoint, we're not sure how this could be topped.

Again, an empty nest

Globe-trotting son and daughter-in-law have gone off trotting again, although just for a while this time. They leave tomorrow from Houston for 2 weeks + in Spain.

Leaving our guest room lonely, our house quiet, and our dishwasher back on a 2 times per week running schedule.

We've really enjoyed having them with us for the last couple of months, but are happy (for them) that they'll be moving into their own house soon after their return from sunny España.

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One of the many neat things we got to do with them while they were here was go out to meet them while they were "on assignment." Earlier this month Hal got a couple of free nights at a newly opened local resort. We went out to see the place for ourselves (paying for our own beverages—like the ethical people we are—at this amazing bar, on the right, where we watched a Spurs game) one evening and were pretty impressed just with the scale of the thing.

I didn't get around to blogging about the outing, but since Hal just published his story on the resort, I thought I could give him a plug with a post now. It raises some interesting issues about the nature of green development.

Politics aside, it is a rather stupendous structure, and everything seems to be first class...and super-Texas-sized, like the lobby fireplace on the left.

It was an interesting night out for us old folks, who usually watch our sporting events curled up on the couch.

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Keep tabs on their blogs in the weeks to come for news of their junket to several Spanish (and one Moroccan) city.

Wordless Wednesday: first game tonight!