Tonight was an emotional rollercoaster.

I felt the Warrior highs, the Warrior lows, and most importantly; the Warrior mediums. What are the Warrior mediums, you say? Well dear readers, I don't know. I'm still kind of drunk from the Bombers at the game. ($9.50 each?! Good lord!)

Boxscore | AP Recap

Yes Mike. You're supposed to be going for that round orange thing too.

So let me begin this epic journey. It will consist of two parts which I will carefully intermingle together. And by "carefully", I mean "carelessly".

One part shall detail my experiences at the game. The other will be general commentary on the players' performance. If my writing gets bitter and harsh towards the end; fear not. It's probably just the hangover setting in.

The setting was perfect. I picked up my friend in Walnut Creek and we hit the road for the Arena. Not even the ridiculous weather could dampen my spirits as the only thing on my mind was Garlic Fries, Bombers, and Warriors girls. Oh... and I heard there was going to be some sort of basketball game played there as well. Good times!

Alas. Tonights game was nothing more than a tease. Coming from a terrible first half, the Dubs managed do to the Jazz what so many of our opponents have done to us in the past. They executed a stunning comeback. They also managed to do something else to the Jazz that was not quite as rare. We gave them a win.

Despite the loss, the Arena was electric tonight. Even from the start the fans were losing their minds! Now, granted this probably came from the fact that we were playing the Jazz, and in so many minds we were going to finally come away with a win. Or it could have come from the fact that TWO Golden State of Mind writers were in the house! (YaoButtaMing as well!) Either way, I haven't seen the Arena so fired up in a while.

Keeping that in mind, you can imagine what a damn shame it was to give up that three in the closing seconds; then follow it up by crumbling in overtime.

Speaking of Warriors girls; tonight I actually talked to two of them! Well, to be fair, I've talked to Warriors girls before, but I wasn't actually speaking English; rather I was drooling all over myself until my embarrassed friends dragged me away. But tonight; tonight was different.
My friend and I went through the tunnel at halftime to get up to the Smirnoff Club. As we made our way through the back hallways, two of the hottest girls I have ever seen started walking in front of us. Oh man. They were still wearing their Warrior Girl outfits. They looked ridiculously fly. As we made our way down the corridor, my friend and I realized that it would only be these two goddesses and ourselves in the elevator! Something had to be said. I couldn't pass this up.

Hash: (turning to one of the girls) "I don't know what to say."
Warrior Girl #1: "Huh?"
Hash: "Well, I've seen you guys perform tons of times, and I've often thought to myself, "What would I even say to one of those girls if I ever had the chance to talk to them?" And now, here we are in an elevator together and I'm totally blanked out."
Warrior Girl #2: "You're cute, let's make out."

(Theme to the movie "Shaft" starts playing)

Hash: "Aw now girl, you know Hash don't do it like that. I'm all about commitment. Come my princess. Let us retire to a private booth in the Smirnoff lounge where I shall lavish you with diamonds and puppies. What's that you say? You don't like dogs? Very well then. Kittens.

Okay. That's not entirely how it went down. After I gave them my elevator speech they laughed a little (probably at me), and then I told them that Fantasy Junkie works out at the same gym as them and he clues us in to their new routines. In retrospect, that's something a stalker would say, isn't it? Anyways, they did say "bye" to me as we exited the elevator though! SCORE!

Okay props time. Yes, we gave this away in the waning minutes of the game. Yes, our free throw shooting can be packaged and sold as an over-the-counter expectorant (induces vomiting). But through this rubble, JRich came out with a vengeance tonight. Despite a scary part of the game where I thought we would have to go Baron-less and Rich-less for a few games, Richardson blasted back with 35 points, 7 boards, and 6 dimes. That guy was all energy out there. When no one else could get it done, he was knocking them down.

Supporting cast mates out there included Biedrins with a double-double (10 boards and 14 points), Fisher with his own In N Out #1 (10 dimes, 21 points), and Ike with some explosive energy. (16 points, 5 boards, 2 swats) We need to see games like this from Ike on a more consistent basis. Truth be told, I'd love to see more boards, but those who saw him tonight can attest to his aggressiveness. The kid was hungry.

Also, mad props to Mike Dunleavy for giving my entire section someone to yell at together. We really felt like a family at the end of the game. Dunleavy was in rare form today. And by "rare", I mean, "common". The entire team deserves to run sprints for their free throw shooting tonight but it was IMMENSELY disappointing to see Dun being given the chance to seal the game; then watch him whiff his last free throw. Now, again, I'm not saying that this loss was his fault. But if he truly wants the Warriors Nation to embrace him then delivering in the clutch isn't a bad way to start, is it?

After our run in with the Warrior Girls, we headed to the Smirnoff Lounge. While my friend was ordering a drink it hit me. This is where they film the halftime show! As much as I made fun of all the douches that stood behind the camera while I watched from home, I had to try it. So I positioned myself behind the lens, saw the red light, and went for it. Well, actually I just stood there looking at the guy next to me throwing up a big "C" with his hand. I assume that the "C" stood for "Crunchberries". Those things are awesome. I can understand his need to represent them as the dominant breakfast cereal on the market. All bow before Crunchberries.
Two seconds later I received a call from Atma Brother One. I had made it on TV. AND in high def! That's right. High Def Hash!

...Booyakah.

All in all, it was a bad loss. But thinking back to when we were down by 14 points, I can't help but take solace in the fact that the team DID really pull it together in the second half. And until Harpring's buzzer beater 3 pointer, it was a hell of a game to watch. (We're not even going to talk about that pitiful excuse of an overtime.)

Warrior Wonder: Who else? JRich! Fool came back off a rolled ankle like it was a Disney Movie out there!

Oh by the way, I managed to snag an old Dunleavy poster tonight! I'm happy to use it as a prize to bring back the Commenter of the Month award. It may be a little wrinkled from the weather outside being so bad while I was walking to my car. Oh, and I also urinated on it. Overall it's still in decent condition.