Staples Center!

There is something you should know about me.. I'm a sport fanatic! My Grandad told me from a young age that I was a natural sportsman, eye-hand co-ordination came easy to me, which was good because I never really believed I was very academic. I thought my life would take a sporting route. Like any boy growing up in England, I wanted to be a Footballer... how cliche! I quickly realised that this was a dream I couldn't achieve. I accepted that thousands of boys my age all had the same dream, and that unfortunately, I just wasn't that good!

I continued to play football for a number of years. Moving into secondary school, I found a love for Basketball, it wasn't too popular at my school as not many people in my year group played, I saw this as a positive as it allowed me to mix with the older guys. It was at this point I found my love for Kobe Bryant, a true artist of the game. I remember sitting in my room after school watching videos on YouTube of his mixtapes. I was amazed at how easy he made the game look, the way he moved with the ball, and without it. It looked like instinct over skill, but I was being naive. I would go out and try to replicate the tapes in my back garden, as my parents brought my a hoop to practice on. I joined the Shropshire Warriors Basketball Programme in my early years at secondary school, I was part of a fantastic team and travelled around the country playing competitively in the national league, some of my best sporting memories were at this time of my life.

Now, let's fast forward slightly, I'm a New York Knicks fan... I know.... Not the most normal behaviour from a guy who loved Kobe Bryant and the Lakers for most of his life. This was because I also had a strong admiration for Carmelo Anthony, but that's a different story.

Anyway, I was looking around for presents. As the birthday girl is Canadian, she has a strong love for Ice Hockey..naturally. I started to hunt through StubHub for any preseason tickets and struck gold! A preseason game between LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks, a local derby as us Brits would say, similar to the relationship between Liverpool and Everton back home, just for some context. I didn't hesitate and booked the best seats I could find!

The day arrived, and we were excited! We parked the car and started walking towards the arena. This is a journey that I'd done numerous times in the car, but I never really got a sense of the size of the arena until I was stood in front of it.

As you enter the arena, you're greeted with just about every food and drink you can think of, and it isn't cheap! Two beers will set you back $25, but this is stadium food, which I'm sure all you Football fans from home can relate to!

As we stepped out into the main area, my jaw dropped... I'd dreamt of coming to this place since I started playing Basketball. The retired jersey numbers from the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and WNBA were hanging from the rafters, the fans, the noise... everything was exactly how I imagined it. We took our seats 8 rows from the ice and began to watch the game. LA won that game by 6 goals to 1 against Anaheim, a truly memorable experience.

Now I just need to watch the Lakers there!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Regards, Dan