UCLA vs. Oregon

Camille was awarded as Student of the Month. Yay! 

And there was a Major Award that came along with that. Wait...what?

Okay...I mean, she's great, certainly, and everyone loves her and she's helpful, bright, and kind. But when she was awarded with four free tickets to Pauley Pavilion to see a UCLA game, against Oregon no less, I was like...what? She's my daughter and she's great, but for being an awesome kindergartner we get $200+ worth of basketball tickets for free?

The seats were high up, but so what? Because of a silly error with the parking app and the (angry sigh) QR code needed to pay for it all, it only cost us five bucks to park (haw-ha). Plus, it felt a lot close. Plus plus, you could see all of the UCLA banners and championship detritus:

After Oregon took a 2-0 lead, UCLA sank a three-pointer and never relinquished the lead. They bloated it up to 18 points, and frittered it away down to 2 for a quick second, but a 7-0 run after that made it more comfortable.

Camille, having been the recipient of the award to come here, lost interest quickly, and besides making it onto the jumbotron, would rather have been painting or playing make-believe.

Above Corrie looks at the certificate. This particular Saturday was the "kids awards day," and hundreds of kids up with us in the "rafters" had the same certificate. The family next to us lived in Sun Valley, which, while I don't know exactly where it is, it sounds FAR from us.

Yankee fans are known for their knowledge of the game, or maybe that should be "the game." And I think I've heard the same about UCLA basketball fans. Anyway, during this game I was surprised at how, once an Oregon player would shoot an airball (it happened occasionally), for the rest of the game, whenever they touched the ball again, the crown would loudly chant "Airball!" over and over. I understand a hearty "Airball!" when you see it live from the opposition. But for the remainder of the game? It was rough and funny and made for an amusing conversation about sportsmanship with Cass. 

Besides the drive to and from Westwood, it was an awesome time. That, and besides forgetting to invite Auntie Peg and Uncle Dan...who knows if they would've come, and who could blame them, what with the traffic nightmare that comes along with evening basketball games with rivals...but I felt like I should've at least mentioned it. 

Anyway...it was a good time!