i saw that sgt. already posted a recap, but i thought i'd share some things because i live in the middle of nowhere and i'm bored.

i also went to friday's game in denver -- the bright lights! the big city! -- but didn't fill up with rage during the third quarter so much as herradura margaritas (1).

this also marked the second time my girlfriend bought me tickets to a spurs game. now, before you smile approvingly at my nack for pickin' em, hear this: she has never shown any interest in professional basketball until moving to denver and now she's a nuggets fan. go figs.

the worst part of last night for me? my girlfriend slept through the whole game until midway through the third quarter, when she sprang to life -- giddy, giggling -- and reminded me that if the nuggets won, i'd have to give her a 20-minute foot massage.

i don't mind being a mixed couple, but don't get your ugly gloating in my self-pity.

so long story short, i got really drunk and "passed out" before owning up to the foot massage, but did wake up in the middle of the night for... some things i was more interested in (2).

about the game, sgt. covered most of it. i would only add a couple things:

A) i thought our defense was pretty piss-poor for most of the game. that was a good point about finley letting a cold melo heat up, but iverson and najera were easily spinning and cutting around guys. speaking of najera, i've always liked the guy, but can someone blow a goddamn whistle when he pulls duncan's arm and then elbows the poor nerd in the head. i guess timmy wouldn't let him ressurect his level 21 gnome sorceror the last they played d&d.

2)i totally disagree with any latitude afforded pop in regards to benching the starters with six minutes left. yeah, they had been playing below their potential, but it was a winnable game. and yes, the schedule is pretty packed right now, but we're 6.5 games out of 9th place. every game counts. wouldn't pop want the team to try and play through adversity, which would give the team more confidence and comraderie than any blowout. or did pop give up because he didn't want the team to go through a hard-fought loss, the frustration of which might send the team sliding further than a half game back from the lakers? no risk, no reward, pop. this is one of the things i hate most about the guy. yeah, the regular season is long, and a little gas in the june tank is better than april's best record. but winners play hard, and they don't watch the final six minutes of a winnable game from the bench (3).

D)sgt. negelcted to mention the highlight of the night. i think it was the break between the first and second quarters, or maybe halftime, but they had about six people try and do the trampoline dunk we've all seen the mascots do. the last one was an unfortunate 40-year-old woman in a ginobili jersey. i'd like to say being so close to the man, myth and legend sitting on the bench would have motivated her, but it did not. on her first attempt, she jumped about six inches in the air, flung the ball over the backboard and landed on her face. on her second attempt, she didn't even get that far. this woman made a big deal about getting another shot, SLOWLY walked up and promptly slammed her nose on the hard edge of the trampoline. i just cannot figure out the right combination of words to paint a picture of how funny this was. i hope this lands on youtube.

some stars:

3. rocky the squirrel or whatever he's supposed to be. sgt. may hate him, but once during the game he absolutely beaned this kid sitting courtside right in the face with a prop. i have a bad sense of humor.
2. the stadium employee with the spurs tattoo who poured me three-shot margaritas. we'll always have ginobili and tequila.
1. the father with the two kids sitting next to me. even though you're a nuggets fan, you made sure your sons recognized how great a player manu ginobili really is. you're a fine man, sir, and thanks for the chili fries.

(1) i've only ever been to the at&t center before now, and i've gotta say the beverage choices in the mile high city are way better. when can we get a full bar with top shelf liquor?

(2) we're really close. closer every day.

(3) also note george karl kept his starters in until less than a minute left. what a fucking coward. his starters could barely keep the lead playing a team with black willow at point and a redheaded step-child as the go-to guy. maybe pop left the bench in to get experience, and develop their team game a little. maybe. or maybe there's a lesson in there about how we don't chase streaks, and the starters had their chance. maybe.