This is the first in a weekly installment that Fatima Smith, Michael Beasley’s mother, will write for K-Stated. As usual, we want this to be interactive, so if you all have ideas, or something to say and can’t wait to hear what “Mama Sayz,” then fire away in the comments field below and she might address in a future “Sayz.”
This one is titled “Game Day!”
TGIF! It’s usually a term shared around the office amongst fellow co-workers on Fridays after working what seem to be a long stressful week, but today it meant something totally different to me. It’s GAME DAY, the first official game of the season was about to begin and I can’t get to Bramlage fast enough.
But first, I must make it through the rest of my work day which seems to be dragging by ever so slow. It’s finally 4:30 p.m. and it’s quitting time. I’m so excited I can hardly wait and I almost make it home before realizing that I was one passenger short in the car…uh oh, did I forget to make my daycare run? O.K., everyone’s in the house now and getting ready to leave for the game. It seems as though the wait in the house was just as long as, if not longer, as the wait while at work. Driving towards our destination I think to myself, “How can a drive that normally takes 5 minutes take an extra 20 minutes?” It reminded me of “rush hour” from back east, in D.C. Where is this traffic coming from in my new “hometown”? Then suddenly it dawns on me that I’m not the only one in Manhattan that’s ready for some Prime Time KSU Basketball.
We finally find a parking space and made our way to the entrance with the countless other Wildcat fans ranging from all ages and dressed in all sorts of purple apparel. I was walking so fast that I didn’t realize that I had out-walked my riding partners. Looking behind me in the dark I could hardly see the crowd walking towards me but I certainly felt the excitement that everyone shared, the same excitement that I had for the last few months. Finally familiar faces emerged and my family was back on track. After getting our seating assignments, I just wanted to stand aside and take it all in and with good reason, for you see, this was one of the “firsts” in my life.
Both games of the weekend were monumentous, something that I would soon not forget. The fans were great, the players were great, the atmosphere was great and the popcorn was even better. What more can I say except, Why does this weekend have to end? I can’t wait for the next weekend to begin.
Is it TGIF, yet?