My reaction paper is on a game that I went to see with my son at the Wells Fargo Center between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks on fan appreciation night. The night started off great when I placed a phone call to a former high school teammate and friend who is a Philadelphia Traffic policeman. He informed me that if I put his name and traffic on a piece of paper on my dash board that I could park alongside the Xffinity center on the street. Nice, that saved me $20 and along walk.
Well after a short walk we were in the building and headed to the ticket takers, where we were checked for bombs and weapons. I am ok with any extra security that is needed to ensure a safe environment for a contest. We were greeted by a 76ers employee who gave us a cheap 76ers key chain that lit up when pressed. So much for fan appreciation, we made our way to our lower level seats. I was impressed with this because my son purchased them for $20 a piece form a friend that could not use them. I was sure we were going to be in the nose bleed seats but we were 14 rows of the floor.
Once we were seated I got to observe the arena and all that was going on. First of all I noticed the dance team and how they were performing, then I noticed as I always do is the operation of the 76ers staff preparing for the game. They make sure that all the preferred or high profile season ticket holders are taken care of and that all the media and scouts have what they need. I am familiar with this procedure having worked as the film coordinator for the 76ers and also as a scout for the Orlando Magic.
We were seated right by the local TV and radio booth and we were greeted by Marc Zomoff and Malik Rose as they came from the floor up to their booth. Man that Malik Rose is a large man. The 76ers put a great pre- game show with the trampoline dunkers and a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and then the game started. The game was a typical NBA late season game with not a lot of energy so I was checking out what was going on in the background. The 76ers during timeouts brought out the T-Shirt multiple shot machines and were launching shirts all over the arena but I did not get a sniff of one.
As far as the operation of the game during time outs was concerned the 76ers did a great job with keeping the crowd involved and the excitement level high even though it was a lackluster game. During half time we walked around the arena and got to see all the tributes and amenities that the arena has to offer. We had a Tony Luke’s roast pork broccoli robe and it was outstanding!!! The second half was just as lackluster and I was watching how the referees were doing the game. They rotated in a triangle at all time and did not take any guff from the players giving a T early and not much was said after that.
When the game was coming to the end I noticed how the ushers moved into position to help people leave the building in an orderly fashion. We got to see World Be Free formally Lloyd Free who I played against and had a nice chat with him. We were surprised to find our exit easy and the staff friendly and courteous as we were leaving the arena. We got to our car after that short walk and beat the traffic out of the area. Our experience at the 76ers game was very enjoyable and I would go back at any time.
