Basketball across the Bay - Golden State Warriors + VIP seats

With the San Francisco Giants (baseball) capturing the 2012 World Series trophy (for the second time in three years) and the San Francisco 49ers (American football) playing in the 47th Super Bowl, it seems to me that the San Francisco's champions' spirit is rubbing off on the Golden State Warriors (basketball). Go Warriors!

Besides that, my name was once again selected at work for a pair of tickets. This time they were not Concourse Suite tickets. I could not believe it when I opened the envelope and saw V-I-P written on the tickets. Whoa!


It was just a couple of months ago when my name was picked as one of the lucky eight employees to get Concourse Suite tickets. Of course, nobody knew they were Concourse Suite tickets until we claimed and opened the envelopes. 

[read my Concourse Suite seats, Golden State Warriors blog, January 2013]

I remember entering the coliseum and we were ushered through a different entrance. It felt like I was someone very important and special at that moment just because we were being treated as VIPs with matching free food and private suite to watch the game.

Anyway, my name got picked again and I was very surprised to see VIP tickets written on the tickets. Silly me, I didn't know which part of the coloseum is VIP so I looked online to check. I gasped for a moment because I couldn't believe my eyes. The VIP seats are the first row. Yep, really close to the action. As in, you are just a few yards from the actual NBA players. Seriously, are there any tickets better than these? Thank you, my employer! There must be a divine reason why I am experiencing all these, don't you think?

If you ask me which one do I prefer - the Concourse Suite or the VIP seats? Let me think about that. Haha. Yep, either seat would do. In fact, any seats would do. That is, if I was given another pair of tickets for free, of course. 

I find the Concourse Suite better for enjoying the basketball game with a big group. It is conjucive for company events and team building. For two people, like Mijo and I, I think the VIP seats are more entertaining because you are there close to the action. The Concourse Suite would be too detached from the game for Mijo and I. But then again, any seats would do just fine. I hope my name gets picked again any time soon. :)

This is a view of the VIP seating entrance. These guys make sure you are a VIP ticket holder.

The funny thing is that we didn't know we sat on the wrong seats the first time. My seatmates looked like CEOs of companies and serious basketball fans. I acknowledged them by nodding and tried to act cool. I told myself, maybe they think I am a big shot too from so and so company. I also told myself that maybe they also got their tickets for free. This was the view from those seats.

Can you imagine my horror of horrors when a guard approached us and asked for our tickets? Worse, we were not supposed to sit where we were at. I felt like melting in the middle of the game while people were looking at us. It felt like I was a fraud. But then the wonder of wonders happened. Our tickets were only a few seats away - in the middle of the court! As in, the middle. Can you see the line in the picture? Yep, in the middle. I gathered my composure and acted like I was cool. But deep inside I was nervous. Inside my sweater, I was sweating like crazy. Can you imagine that?

Anyway, at this point we were already deep into the game. The Warriors were 20 points ahead. The visiting team almost got close but the Warriors won that night by a slight margin. Whew! Congrats Warriors!

The cheerleaders of the Golden State Warriors. They look really pretty and really petite up close. 

This is what is above us. The jambox. If you watched the game that night on TV, you would have seen our backs.

This is the half time show.

It was such an experience to watch an NBA game in person, this close. The players who look like larger than life on TV look like normal nice looking dudes up close. There were times I thought the ball would get past the players hands and go straight at me. It was nice of my employer to award those tickets. Thank you! Please pick my name again. :)

Go Warriors!

~rl