A Wizardry Night!

Last night seemed like the end of the holiday season. College students are most likely still home, and the calendar shows the Epiphany is tomorrow. So, who knows? The beginning of a new year may even have some "wizardry" in store, a seemingly magical, transformative power of influence. Based on the final score in last night's game, the Wizards had no transforming power or influence, but the opposing team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, sure did, beating the Wizards 141-114. When did the NBA start having these big final scores? Maybe when so many players can swish a three-pointer? In fact, some guys on that gleaming hardwood floor did show wizardry and power to the delight of the crowd at the Capital One Arena.

It's been a while since I last attended an event at the arena, and I was impressed by the updates Monumental Sports has made over the past couple of years. The scoreboard is gigantic, and the seats were all updated with easy-to-clean black upholstery.

When hubby Bill worked in the entertainment industry for close to 20 years, we attended many NBA basketball & NHL hockey games, concerts, and other events in Washington, D.C., provided our son Ryan had blood counts high enough to attend.

For last night's game, we were invited by one of the team's announcers, Glenn Consor. He’s joining the board of Special Love, Inc., for kids with cancer, and was “mentored” by Bill for a couple of months before his start day on 1/1/2026. So, this was a fitting occasion to celebrate with him and go to the game Glenn loves so much (he's been in the announcing industry for over 30 years as an NBA and NCAA color analyst, and is a former Boston University standout and professional player).

Glenn surprised me, and perhaps not my guys, when we got down on those gleaming hardwood floors with the players as they were warming up. We met a couple of them, and man, are they all tall! Watching on TV, or in the nosebleed sections of any arena, it's hard to comprehend the height of many of these young guys. A few were just at or a little over 7 feet tall! I noticed that some of the sweatpants they were wearing went as far as the calf (barely), and nowhere near the ankles. That's saying something.

So maybe wizardry doesn’t always show up on the scoreboard, or in a final score that makes you wince (it seemed like a beating to me on the home team). Sometimes it’s in the invitation, the people, the memories stirred by a familiar place we've spent many evenings and nights in over the years, and the simple joy of being close enough to the action to really feel the electricity in the air for a few moments (I love this feeling!). As the holidays officially tip their hat and the new year starts once again, I’ll take that kind of magic as we had last night, the quiet and manufacturing sunshine kind, any day of the week.

bSoleille!

Terri

Photos: on the arena floor with Glenn Consor (our host), players warming up, and with one of the scrappiest players on the team, Justin Champagnie.