Staples Center: NBA and NHL

Wednesday, October 05, 2016


  
Staples Center is a major sports arena located in downtown Los Angeles where most sports games like NBA and NHL are being held. It is home to NBA teams Lakers and Clippers. It is the home court of Kobe Bryant - whom most people are familiar with, I guess.
I used to only watch this arena on television and haven't even dreamed of going there. But when Ross wanted to watch an NBA game and asked me if I wanted to come (at my own expense of course), I said 'yes' without any hesitation. I thought it was a once in a lifetime chance that may never happen again, or I might never opt to do again since I have already experienced it.
When I looked up the prices online, I saw there are seats which costs $40ish and that seemed fine to my wallet. (Eto yung mga seats na sa dulo na ng arena, hehe...kuripot eh). So I was kinda surprised when Ross said that he wanted a seat near courtside -- and that costs $168 (7,000 pesos)!!! HAHA. Being an NBA fanatic himself, he also thought that it might be a once in a lifetime chance so he might as well make the most of that experience. I was hesitant but I eventually agreed.
And so we reserved our seats and bought our tickets before our trip to the US. Game day was the day that we also went to Santa Monica beach where I met my friend Joanne. Separate blog here.
 
What the actual game looks like 'live'. The experience would have been great but I wasn't able to focus completely on the game. Nalate lang naman ako ng dating --haays! Sayang ng pera, I know :( I met with a friend before the game and she arrived very late na. Add to that, our meeting place was far from the arena so I arrived almost 3rd quarter of the game na. Nauna na si Ross sa arena and has been texting me since the game started.


I started watching NBA in 2010 where I used to place bets with my friend in Cebu. The one who wins would either get money or in my case, I ordered something online and she paid the cost of the product and had it delivered to my place. I was a Dallas (Nowitzki) or Thunder (Durant) fan back then. She was always a Lebron fan.

Lakers vs Jazz. Kobe wasn't on his best that season and the team has been slacking behind other teams. Still he was a legend and watching him play was worth it.

 
We were seated at Row 8 -- close to the court like what we wanted, but not that close I think. Still thinking about it, ang mahal pa din ng ticket and nalate ako..waahh.  

 
The audience was still full despite that not-so-adrenaline rushing game. Mostly were Lakers avid fans I think. I remembered myself ushing my way to my assigned seat when I arrived. It was in the middle of the game and I didn't know that there's a game ettiquete when a game is still ongoing. Somebody advised me that if you wanna go to your seat (especially if it's in the middle part of the row), you must wait for a game break or timeout. This is so that you won't inconvenience other people that are watching the game. I remembered receiving mild scowls then as I made my way to my seat. HEHE. I apologize for being an ignorante at that time.

Watching the actual game is so different than watching it on TV. The crowd tends to go wild and during breaks, people are still enjoying. They even have this noise level monitor. I also got to watch the cheerleaders performing which they often cut out on tv.

The must have pic with the Staples facade.

 It turned that it wasn't my last time going inside the arena after all. In 2014, I watched an NHL game there with our clients. It was LA Kings vs Chicago Blackhawks. Our clients were generous enough to treat us to a hockey game one day after work hours. Our client by the way is into insurance and they oftentimes have famous sports teams as clients. I heard that sometimes, they get to enjoy free tickets from these teams. And mind you -- they are not the usual seats. Usually they are seats very near the court. Lucky us we were invited to watch with them.

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