Session 6: Opening Night
Northwest Athletic Club, inside Target Center. Where Ultimate Hoops opened on March 28, 2006.
Suggested Listening: “Between Something and Nothing” by The Ocean Blue
March 28, 2006.
I had walked the steps down to the basketball court at Northwest Athletic Club inside Target Center hundreds of times. Pickup ball on weekday afternoons. Gym bag and a pair of shoes.
Tonight Mary and I came down with a bag of basketballs, scoring sheets, stat sheets, a portable speaker, a camera.
Six teams on the floor in Ultimate Hoops uniforms. Banners on the walls. Mary plugged in the speaker and hit play on the iPod.
All ‘80s music.
This was my Bedroom Floor. If it was happening in my room, I was listening to the music I wanted to hear. Some players laughed. Others groaned. “How can I warm up listening to Tears for Fears?”
No longer jersey orders in a file. No longer images on a screen.
Real players. Real customers. There for opening night.