Thanks Reggie!

I was there. I can always tell my kids that I was at Reggie Miller's final game. I saw him play his last game, his last minute, and I saw him hit his last shot (which was, of course, a three-pointer). I watched Michael Jordan's last game (the second time, when he hit the game winner over the Jazz in 1998) and I was personally at Reggie Miller's last game. It was an emotional night.

We did our best.
We had ups.
We had downs.
We had suspensions.
We had injuries.
We fought.
We overcame.

"There's always next season," Right?

But, it won't be the same. Because the Pacers starting line up will be missing the number 31. I assume the first home game will include the retiring of his number, so we'll get one more glimpse of Reggie on the court of Conseco Fieldhouse, but never again in his white with blue pinstriped jersey.

The good news about tonight was that the Pacers at least showed up at the game. Unlike game four and game five, the Pacers played hard tonight. We lead for most of the game, but once they got on a roll near the end of the third, it was just kinda downhill for us, and begin down by only three with five minutes to go made me think we were actually going to pull it off. Alas, we fell short.

Jermaine had a great game, and got his shot going early, which helped out a lot. Reggie was amazing, he got some good looks and made a great deal of shots, which cause the entire crowd to explode. Foster and David both worked hard. Unfortunetly, Jackson and Tinsley just didn't have their best games. Jackson missed a couple of wide open three-pointers, and I'm sure that effected him mentally.

Next year, with the return of Ron Artest, we will have a Championship Team. It will be perfect.
Move Stephen Jackson back over to Shooting Guard, stick Ron Artest back at Power Forward. Leave Jermaine, Dale/Foster and Jamaal alone, and we'll have an amazing team, with an ever-impressive bench. There's only a few people I think we can get rid of. David Harrison and Jon Edwards never really lived up to their potential for me, even though they were playing a good amount of time during the suspensions. They just didn't produce for me. And I strongly believe we need to get rid of Bender. He hasn't done ANYTHING this year! He missed more games than Ron Artest did! He's dead money that could be spent on another Fred Jone or James Jones, another player who has amazing future potential. I don't think we need him around.

There's always next season. And I'll be there again. I only missed one Playoff Game this year, and during the regular season, Kristen and I made it to about 20 or 22 of the 41 home games. At least half, if not more, as long as nothing else was going on that night, or if tickets were already sold out. We're considering season tickets next year, we've just got to watch our finances this summer. Next season, and what a good season it's going to be. GO PACERS!

And Reggie, Thank You for everything you've done. All the memories, all the highlight reels, all photos, all the attitude. Thank you for making us love Indiana Basketball. Thank you for being someone amazing to watch, someone who could always hit that game winner. Thank you for everything you've done. You're a hero in Indiana.

So, "Episode III" has opened. I'll be working on my "Spoiler-filled Review" and will post it in the next few days. It seems like most people enjoy the flick, which is good.

It's a sad night, so I think I'm going to head of and get some sleep before work tomorrow.

I have realized that I enjoy this blog thing, just because I like talking so much. I enjoy babbling and not allowing people to stop me. This is so cool. My mind can run wild and no one can stop me. Woo-Hoo! I'm out.