I went to Game 4 of the Orlando series. I was one 18,000+ who showed up for a party and ended witnessing a battle of wills.
We were all disappointed in the end result, but I have to say, not having been to a ton of games in recent years, it was easily the most electric crowd I've been a part of.
I keep thinking back to the moment the Celts grabbed a rebound with the game tied and about 12 seconds left. Quickly the crowd chants switched from "DEFENSE, DEFENSE" to wild cheeering at gaining possession, to "HOLY CRAP THEY'RE NOT GOING TO CALL A TIMEOUT", to absolutely craziness in anticipation of a last shot(we'll leave the collective sigh when Pierce slipped out of it)...The moment I keep replaying in my head is the craziness right after we all realized the game could be over, and a conference title could be clinched RIGHT NOW.
Those are the moments you simply can't replace in front of a TV. It was an unbelievable scene. Yes, they lost, but the moment of pure exhilaration still sits with me - especially now that they have finished up Orlando.
There were many points in Game 4 where the crowd was going bananas trying to will the Celts past Orlando when the Magic clearly had the better game going that night. Several times I felt a pure wild animal surge of adrenalin come over me trying to rally the Celts. Having 18,000 people to share that feeling with is incredible.
I envy those of you lucky enough to have seats for the Finals. May you have much to cheer crazily about - and if you don't DO IT ANYHOW - the team needs you.
GO CELTS!