I've got to give a shout out to my favorite sports team on the planet, the Detroit Pistons. Yesterday the announcement was made that we've landed four players out of our starting five on the NBA All Star Team. The All Star game is February 19.
I've loved the Pistons as long as I've loved basketball. The first year that the Pistons went to the NBA Finals during the Bad Boys era, in 1988, my dad took me to one game out of all four playoff series.
Round 1 vs. Washington Bullets (Pistons won 3 games to 2)
Round 2 vs. Chicago Bulls (Pistons won 4 games to 1)
Round 3 vs. Boston Celtics (Pistons won 4 games to 2)
After the Pistons beat the Bulls and the Celtics, the energy was off the hook. The Bulls were just starting to peak with Michael Jordan, and the Celtics had been the roadblock that in the past the Pistons couldn't get through.
When Pistons landed in the Finals against the Lakers we didn't think we would be able to get to a game. Fortunately, that was before the Palace of Auburn Hills had been built and they were still playing in the Pontiac Silverdome. In other words, there were alot more tickets available.
The Silverdome was huge when the Lions played there, so you can imagine how big it was for an NBA game. Most NBA arenas seat around 20,000 fans. The Silverdome could seat more than 80,000. So the day of the Finals game, my dad came across tickets for seats that were in the top row of the top deck of the Silverdome. We debated whether or not to go, but the memory was too great to pass up.
I still remember walking up to our seats. The altitude made my ears pop! Everyone up there had radios and handheld televisions. Trust me, we weren't up there for the view. We were up there for the memory.
The Pistons lost the Finals in 1988 in seven games. But the Bad Boys came back in 1989 and 1990 to win the next two. I'll never forget sitting in the living room of our home with my dad in 1990 and watching Vinnie Johnson hit the game winner against Portland to ice the second championship.
I don't know that I've ever looked at 1988 in these terms, but it was a big year for our family. My dad was the pastor of a great church in Adrian, Michigan for 17 years. Adrian, Beech Street, and Bethany Assembly was all I had known for 10 years of my life. In July of that year, my dad was elected to a leadership position in Michigan for our fellowship of churches. In August we moved to Dearborn Heights. In September I started over at a new school.
Looking back, I think change was less threatening to me than it could have been because my relationship with my family was so solid.
In 1988, the NBA playoffs started on April 28. The Pistons lost game 7 to the Lakers on June 21. A few weeks later I learned that because my address was changing, my life was changing. That prospect can be daunting to a 10 year old (although I wouldn't have used the word "daunting" 17 years ago). But when my dad told us that he believed it was God's plan for us, I didn't sweat it. He was my hero. I would have moved to the moon for him.
My relationship with my dad wasn't the result of two months of basketball games. It was the culmination of 10 years of spending alot of time together, from playing tee-ball in the yard, to Super Mario Brothers on my first Nintendo, to following him around the altar on Sunday nights at our church in Adrian.
I think relationships depend on memories, especially between a father and son. It doesn't take alot of money to do it. There are ten thousand more options than attending basketball games. But it does take time.
Because my father made the time, all the memories from my past make my future seem much more conquerable.
I remember that year when you moved. I was in the fourth grade with you. What memories we made in Mrs. Duncan's class!
Posted by: Justin | February 10, 2006 at 12:20 PM