Oshawa's Power

I took my little guy to see a professional basketball game the other night, partly because Jake likes basketball and partly because I wanted to hear “squeak, squeak” on the GMC floor.

We had a blast.

It’s too bad the Oshawa Power seems to be another one of the city’s secrets, because the team could stand a little bit of publicity.

The General Motors Centre holds nearly 6,000 spectators for Generals games and considerably more for round ball, but attendance for Wednesday’s tip-off against the Montreal Jazz was maybe 120 people, and nearly half of that number was friends and family and assorted VIPs.

The bright side for those in attendance is the fact that everyone can get real close to the action. The ‘lower bowl only’ format of the arena means there are no bad seats for hockey games, so you can imagine the sightlines for basketball. Jake and I had front row seats – I had my feet on the boards, just so you know – and they weren’t the best seats in the house. Those were reserved for the forty or so courtside seats, and the occupants of those could high-five the players as they went down the court, if they so desired.

That kind of access is a pretty nice perq, and the players, coaches and various game personnel made sure the courtsiders got special attention. John Wiggins, the vice-president of operations for the Power (and a man who bears more than a passing resemblance to former Raptors coach Sam Mitchell), seemed to know most of them and did his best to say hello to those he didn’t.

The relaxed atmosphere for the game is worth the price of admission as well.

There’s a DJ spinning some beats, for one thing (Wiggins said hello to him, too), and the music is almost non-stop. Loud music is no stranger to hockey rinks, but when the puck drops, the music stops. Not basketball, where the players don’t seem to mind the pounding rhythms as they play.

The crowd, such as it was, was a little different from what you see at a Generals game. Maybe a little younger, possibly a wee bit hipper (debatable) and definitely more multicultural, though I’m sure many in attendance were there for the curiosity factor.

And Oshawa kicked butt in a big way, thrashing a cellar-dwelling Jazz team (that can’t rebound), 125-102. The Power used a monster 46-point third quarter to stake themselves to a 33 point lead and coasted the rest of the way.

With lots of giveaways and on-court events for the fans, it’s a pretty fan-friendly event, and there were also, if I may say, quite a few very beautiful women in attendance. The WAGS of the players, I would guess.

Now that I think of it, never mind what I wrote in this column. I think I’ll keep this Oshawa Power secret to myself after all.

Go Power!