Jacob's Early B-day Gift

I've successfully convinced Jacob to be a Chicago Bulls fan. Of course, with Derrick Rose and a team full of likable players that win at an impressive rate, it hasn't taken much coercion. For some odd reason, we get WGN on our very limited TV channel menu, so we're able to see an occasional game from home plus those that are shown on ABC. I knew months ago what I wanted to do for his birthday this year and it worked out that the Bulls would be in Charlotte on a Friday night this season. Therefore, on February 2nd (1 month before his birthday), we gave him gift #1.

This past Christmas, Jacob had announced that he wanted a D-Rose jersey next Christmas. Fortunately for him, he also has a birthday! After trying it on, we asked where might be a good place to wear that jersey for the first time. He quickly understood what we were inferring, so he had a week to eagerly anticipate this past Friday night.

After picking him up from school on Friday afternoon, we made our way towards Charlotte with a stop in Concord, so that I could see the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the first time. Jacob, having been there with Jennifer once, had fun showing me around. It was pretty thrilling to see that venue from the inside with basically nobody else around. Anyway, we soon made our way to downtown Charlotte and were in line (with hundreds of Bulls fans) at 5:30, so that we could watch the teams warm up until tip-off at 7:00.

Jacob had a blast. Even with the Bulls up 30 in the 3rd quarter, he was cheering like it was a 1-point game! Oddly, he was wearing one of about 500 D-Rose jerseys we saw Friday night. They were all over the place! It was NASCAR night at the Bobcats game, so he got to see Jimmie Johnson's 48-car.

In the end, the Bulls destroyed the Bobcats even without an injured Derrick Rose.