The Pacers Season Ticket Experiment: Game 1 (Home opener)

I didn't mean Packers...should I have?

Season opener! Pacers! Heat!

The return of Jermaine O'Neal! A gimpy Danny Granger! A half full arena! A free Third Eye Blind concert outdoors in the pouring rain! Can basketball in Indiana get any better than this?

Yes. Yes it can.

Thanks to the rain and congestion due to the Pacers block party (featuring 3EB playing inside what looked like would have been a pretty crowded tent...if only more than 100 people showed up), it took a solid 45 minutes to drive the approximate mile from my office to the Conseco Fieldhouse. Rather than wait around for the concert in weather that would have made a circus depressing, we decided to get drinks and food nearby. In fact, one of the best things about the Fieldhouse is its proximity to decent bars downtown.

Unlike most other modern arenas that are surrounded by opportunistic restaurants/bars/grilles that have jacked up prices, you can drink pretty cheaply about a block from the Fieldhouse (~$2.50.beer). For the two hours before the tip, we put down dinner and ten drinks for about $40 after tip at Coaches', which always has good music and lots of TVs. Sadly, however, this meant that we'd miss the Third Eye Bling encore set, which I assume would have just been "How's it Gonna Be?" three times in a row, followed by some polite applause and the teenage version of myself trying to figure out how to put it on a mix tape for this girl I know.

Actually, that's not a bad parallel for this Pacers season...

It's like they sing the words my heart can't say! Also, is that Paul Rudd?

The game itself seemed to be a bad omen for the Pacers' season. The team fell into a repeated pattern of falling behind, then using spurts to get back into the game, and then falling into a deeper hole. Key players disappeared for extended periods - Troy Murphy pulled down 12 rebounds in the first half, and then faded into the background for the 2nd. Brandon Rush couldn't find his shot and barely played due to foul trouble. And Danny Granger found himself the focus of the Miami defense and put up an Alex Gordon-esque 12 three-pointers, many in bad situations. And much like Alex Gordon would have, he only made three of these.

Danny Granger: Winner of the first ever Alex "Fucking" Gordon award for Poor Decision Making.

Solomon Jones and Roy Hibbert split the minutes at Center, contributing 12 rebounds...and 11 fouls. They made Jermaine O'Neal look like he was 25 again, giving up 22 and 12 to him in just 32 minutes on the court. And T.J. Ford was...invisible. I honestly have no recollection of him having any impact on the game, positively or negatively. The only bright spot was Luther Head's play, and although he's a bit of a gunner and makes bad decisions, he's still a rotation caliber NBA player who can score and play defense.

So it was a bad start to the season with few silver linings. The team looks worse than last year, and improving on 36 wins seems...unlikely. But on the plus side, at least the team gave out free flags to hang off your car window for your depressing drives home from the Fieldhouse!

Thanks, Pacers! I feel better about my season ticket investment already!

Next game: vs. Denver 11/3 (Tonight...yeah I know that this is late as hell...)

Level of Excitement: 2/5

(Editor's note: level of excitement for Pacers games depicted by Achewood characters along with a scale of 1-5)