An NBA rain delay

I was at the Lakers-Cavaliers game on Sunday, and witnessed NBA history.

The game was delayed for 12 minutes because the Staples’ Center roof was leaking. The game was essentially delayed because of rain — a rain delay, just like baseball.

The game was delayed for 12 minutes late in the first quarter because of a small leak in the Staples Center roof. It resulted in a steady flow of drops falling under the north basket — out of bounds but less than a foot from the baseline.

Arena spokesman Michael Roth said a roofing company inspected the roof Sunday morning and when the inspectors were finished, they removed their rain gear and left it along with some equipment on a catwalk over the north basket. The leak came from the clothing and equipment through slats in the catwalk.

I can’t imagine there’s been too many rain delays in the history of the NBA (it is an indoor sport after all). It sounds like it was an internal leak, not an external leak, but don’t ruin my fun. It was a rain delay, dammit. The inspectors wouldn’t have been there without the rain, right?

I’ve been to dozens more baseball games than basketball games, but have never seen a baseball rain delay with the exception of winter ball in little league. This is Southern California after all — it doesn’t rain all that much. But to get a rain delay in an NBA game — that’s history.

Excellent work, inspection crew.

63 days ’til Opening Day

There’s 63 days left until that best day of the year, MLB Opening Day.

63 is also the number of runs scored by Frank Thomas in 2007. The Big Hurt had a solid year in Toronto, but since the Blue Jays don’t get all that much attention, this is what many people will remember about Thomas in Toronto in 2007:

I thought it was hilarious. But a lot of people thought it was controversial. Here’s what the president of the Television Bureau of Canada had to say: