Jesse and I took a break from Tiger basketball last night and attended a Memphis Grizzlies game. A colleague offered me two tickets yesterday afternoon, and I hesitated at first because I knew it meant Jesse wouldn't be getting into bed at a decent hour. Then the parental guilt kicked in (re: character parade), and I accepted his offer. They were comp tickets from the Grizzlies, so I knew the seats would be fairly good. And I haven't been to a Grizzlies game in two years. I've never seen them play at the Forum. While I enjoy watching them play, it's just not the same as watching the Tigers. And being at the games is definitely not the same. I miss the band and the cheers. Grizzlies games are just slicker. I also don't know as much about the players. My favorite player is Pau Gasol, No. 16. The Spaniard is a very controversial player. It's hard out here for a Pau fan. Even when he's the high scorer, someone's bitching that he's too soft or that he falls apart in the second half of the game. The Grizzlies were playing the Pacers last night and won by 30. But this really hasn't been a great season for the Grizz.

In order to get us to the game, I had to leave work, drive to Lindenwood to pick up Jesse, drive back downtown, grab a quick bite to eat at Huey's, walk and walk and walk and walk to FedExForum, and then meet up with my colleage to pick up the tickets from will call. We got to our seats with time to spare. Jesse is truly becoming a great little basketball fan. I was so impressed with his ability to follow the game last night. He hung on every basket, cheering when we scored and getting mad when they scored. He'll yell for defense and shout encouragement to the players. It's really cute. But he also kept yelling "Go Tigers!" which cracked up the people around us. "Mom! I've been to too many Tigers games!"

So after walking and walking and walking and walking back to our car at the end of the game, and driving home, and getting Jesse into the shower, and reading a couple of chapters from a book together and brushing his teeth, I finally got Jesse to bed at 10:30. And man was he cranky this morning. I'm sure his teacher is loving me today.