Opening Night!!!

Editor's note: I cannot possibly get and retain everyone's names without some help. If you see a picture where you are not named or where I have not named someone whose name you know, please email me that information. Also, please let me know if you don't want your name in the blog at all. --A

The Rowdies were in and outside the Toyota Center tonight as we torched the Mavs. We started out by welcoming the fans walking into the LaBranch street entrance. We started about 5:45 and lined the red carpet that was rolled out from the entrance to the security gate. The turnout was awesome as we were 70 strong tonight.

We had a great time jeering the Mavs fans as they entered and high fiving and cheering for the fans as they walked into the Toybox. Once we were inside, we split up for our Romp and walked through the concourses firing the crowd up even more.

We rolled out some new chants including the Greek word for "Defense," Amina! Ah-mi-na, Ah-mi-na. I think that this will be our standard defense chant when Spanoulis is on the court.

Overall, I think we did pretty well considering we had just integrated 20 new Rowdies into our group. The new Rowdies were AWESOME, one brought a drum to help us keep time on our chants, the "Three Amigos" are fantastic, and together we make a great boost to the noise and energy level at the Toyota Center.

The one bummer came when a Rockets employee came up and told us that we would have to sit down except for "big plays," not realizing that every basket and every successful defensive stop is a big play to us. I can actually see how we might have more impact if we are sitting (still yelling and chanting, just in our seats) and jump up when we score a basket or get a stop. However, there was at least one non-Rowdies fan who came down and told us not to sit down for anyone, to make them explain to JVG why they kicked the Rowdies out. This is the guy... http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rocketscom_visits_with_this_w-194356-34.html

All in all, it was a fantastic game and we really brought the noise tonight. I can't wait for the Knicks game on Friday.

Here are some pics from the red carpet.

In the pics above, you can see us holding some white sticks. These were styrofoam with chemical glow sticks inside. When they turned the lights out in the Toybox, I got a picture of thousands of these glow sticks being waved...

Here is a pic of the new Rowdies in their seats.