Brooklyn's CAVs debut.

This Thursday I took Brooklyn to our first CAV's game of the year. It was a preseason game but I got some really good tickets for really cheap and couldn't pass it up. The kids really don't care if Lebron James isn't there anymore but just love to go and do all the kids things and watch the mascot. Well Brooklyn was selected to go down at halftime and participate in a skills challenge. They selected 4 kids and Brooklyn was the only girl. She was also the youngest as the boys were between 10 and 12. I think her height must have fooled the selectors as maybe they thought she was a little older. So at halftime she got to go onto the main court and show off her skills to everyone who was there. The kids had to dribble down the floor around some stationary players, then pass the ball through a tire and then make a layup. Then they had to come back doing the same thing. I was very surprised that Brooklyn even wanted to do it in front of all those people. She had no problem getting out there and even talked into the microphone a little bit. Well she was the third kid to go and did not disappoint. The announcers pumped up the crowd for her since she was the only girl participating and the place went crazy when she started. She took her time going up the court but was the only one who made her basket on the first try. She then took her time coming back down and it took her 5 tries to make her final basket. She ended up finishing 2nd out of the four boys and only lost by 2 seconds. The winner was a 12 year old boy who finished in 39 seconds compared to Brooklyn's 41 seconds. If she would have made her final layup in 3 or less tries she would have beat all the boys. I was very impressed by her skills and proud that she did as well as she did. She had a lot of fun and was very excited about her accomplishment. They gave her a bag full of CAV's merchandise as well as 4 tickets to the Barnum and Bailey circus for her efforts. I am just glad that I was able to get it all on video. She was very excited to call Jennie afterwards and tell her what she had done. I will tell you that if you ever go to a game make sure to bring a child and get there a little early. Every time that I have taken one of the kids we have gotten to do something. Whether it was being on the court to take pictures, getting a ball from the players, having our seats upgraded or getting to play on the main court, the kids have always been chosen to do something. It was a very fun night and one that Brooklyn will remember forever.


Here is Brooklyn with all her loot after the game. She was also given one of the t-shirts that they throw out during the game by the CAV's play-by-play radio announcer. He ended up getting one and threw it right to her.


Here is Brooklyn's favorite player, Anderson Varejao. Both times Brooklyn has got to go onto the court to get game balls he was the player who gave her the ball. He has crazy hair and is called the "Wild Thing" because of his hustle and effort.


Here is the team mascot, Moon Dog, who the kids are probably most excited to see at the game.


Brooklyn up on the Jumbo-Tron right before her skills debut. You will notice the big guy taking a picture right behind the kids, that is yours truly.

Anyways, I look forward to taking the kids to some more games during the season and hope our run of good luck will continue. It makes the game and their experience so much better when they can be a part of some of these other activities. I think I may be just as excited when they are chosen to participate.