I adore the Florida Gators, but they weren’t my first sports love. That honor goes to the professional basketball squad in Massachusetts: the Boston Celtics. The Cs were the first team that I remember choosing for myself to like and not because I had a little souvenir bat (Boston Red Sox) or a kids’ green bathrobe (New York Jets). I was 10 when Celtics fever hit me.

So, when I found a steal on Celtics tickets on Slickdeals, my eyebrows were raised as high as the team’s 17 championship banners. I’ve always dreamed of seeing the Cs play in person. The catch was that the cheap seats were single ones, which are obviously harder to sell than groups of seats because normal people go to sporting events with friends. Obviously, I was sold.

I hatched a brilliant plan:

1. Buy cheap ticket.
2. Rent car and go to Boston with the Cool Fam for the weekend.
3. Attend the game with Cool Baby on my lap. Father and son’s first sporting event. Tears of sentimentality will be shed as our faces are shown on the big screen.

And what’s that they say about not counting your eggs?

1. Cheap ticket bought – incredible $116 seat bought for $30.
2. Renting a car and paying for gas was going to be pretty expensive.
3. The game started at 7:30, 30 minutes after CB’s bedtime. He probably wouldn’t be a happy basketball fan, exhausted and sitting on my lap (most basketball fans wouldn’t).

The hundreds of dollars to rent the car and gas and the four-hour drive were the deal breaker. I bought the ticket knowing that I could sell it easily if we didn’t make the trip. So, I put the ticket up for sale online. And I checked the view again. And then I took ticket down. I couldn’t pass up a great seat to see the Celtics play in Boston. I talked with Cool Mum, and last Friday afternoon, I boarded a bus to Boston.

It was a four-hour ride that was quite comfortable. Big seats, lots of legroom, free wi-fi. I met our friends Nate and Wendy, and they generously treated me to dinner in Quincy Market. We walked to the Celtics’ arena, TD Garden, and they saw me off. I entered the horde of green-clad Boston fans alone and in awe.

I had visions of me having the best time ever, despite attending the game alone. I would strike up a conversation with the people next to me, and we would bond over our love of the Cs. They would celebrate my first game with me and maybe even exchange Twitter handles.

In reality, I had a great time, but I kept to myself. I got there early and took it all in in peace for a while. My neighbors eventually arrived, and they were a couple that didn’t seem interested in getting to know the weird brown guy sitting by himself taking pictures and wearing a Gator shirt (it was the only shirt I had that had green on it). When the guy sat down, he put his arm around his gal and turned his back to me.

The Celtics seemed to have the game easily in hand, which meant that it was going to be close at the end. They’ve had a few late-game collapses this season. This game was no exception, but I honestly enjoyed the tight game a lot more than I probably would have a blowout.

After the game, I navigated the Boston subway line with surprising ease, got back to the bus station, had an Auntie Anne’s pretzel, and waited for the bus to pull out at 11:59pm. Again, comfy bus, so I pretty much slept until we arrived in NYC at 3:45am. Got home a little after 4:00. CB woke up at 5:00 (CM, a saint, let me sleep in).

An $80-dollar, 14-hour trek to see a basketball game by myself. Is it cool? Probably not, but I’m happy to check off one more dream as ‘done.’

My attempt at being a sports cameraman.