I caught the second half of the Long Beach State men’s basketball scrimmage Saturday morning and early afternoon in the Walter Pyramid.
I’d have watched the first half, as well, if I hadn’t screwed up and arrived an hour later than I should have. Oh, well.
Aaron Nixon (whose broken jaw is still on the mend) didn’t play. But the other projected starters – Kejuan Johnson, Kevin Houston, Louis Darby and Mark Dawson – all performed reasonably well.
Coach Larry Reynolds has four freshmen, one of those (center Andrew Fleming) of the red-shirt variety having spent last season practicing with the team with the focus on getting stronger (check) and polishing his most moves (still to be determined).
The others are Nick Porter and Lane Whitney (June graduates of Millikan High) and Chris Peys (a 2005 Poly graduate who was at an East Coast prep school last school year).
Porter and Whitney seem likely redshirt candidates but the 6-4 Peys, who looks about 20 pounds heavier (at about 190) than he was as a high school senior, could get some action this season. He didn’t miss a lot open jump shots Saturday.
OK . . . now I’m about to veer away from “sports�, per se.
Do you want to know why attendance at movie theatres is slipping?
Let me explain why, in case you were wondering . . .
After watching the scrimmage Saturday, and with my fiancée out of town, I decided to go check out “The Departed�, which is directed by Martin Scorsese and has the most impressive cast (including Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin) of any movie cranked out so far in 2006.
So this is what it cost me to see “The Departed� in a Regal Theatre in Aliso Viejo:
Admission: $6 (and that is with a $2 discount courtesy my Home Entertainment Book);
Small popcorn: $5;
Small Diet Coke: $4.25.
Total, for one person: $15.25
Now, if Julie (my fiancée) had attended with me, we would have been looking at another $10.25 (admission plus Diet Coke).
My guess is that “The Departed� will be out on DVD in January. And it will sell at Costco for about $18 or so.
And that’s why a lot of people, especially those who have invested in flat screen/Hi-Def TVs of late, are opting to wait until movies are released on DVDs before enjoying the viewing experience.
And I’m sure you’ll agree that a whole lot of popcorn and soda can be purchased and served at home for $9.25.
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