Dear diary

Indianapolis -- This is a running diary of my first media experience in the professional world of sports. It is a journal of my thoughts throughout the Indiana Pacers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game Friday.\n6:01 p.m. -- I arrive at Conseco Fieldhouse excited and ready to go. After a challenge finding the media door, I finally get my credentials and enter the media room, a place as close to heaven as a journalist can get.\n7:01 -- Pacers coach Rick Carlisle does a small interview with just a few people (the big media reporters and me). Carlisle addresses the starting lineups and how to defend Cavs star LeBron James. I personally got a kick out of him saying that Jamaal Tinsley's goal for the year is to play all 82 games. That is about as likely as Stephen Jackson making more than half his shots tonight.\n8:06 -- I get to my seat and start looking around. Jared the Subway guy walks to a center court seat wearing a Cleveland Scott Pollard jersey. Looks like the jersey size is an XL. He must have had too much turkey.\n8:14 -- It has been a slow start since tip-off. It takes the Pacers about three minutes to finally score their first point.\n8:16 -- It's retro jersey night for both teams. The Pacers are wearing jerseys from the 1967-68 season. The Cavs are wearing some orange things. I can't find a way to describe what exactly they are.\n8:17 -- LeBron makes a sick dunk. Am I the only one who watches sporting events and grades nice plays based on how high I think they will be ranked on SportsCenter Top 10? This dunk is probably about No. 6.\n8:32 -- Jackson gets a \ntechnical foul. I'm not sure what he said to the ref, but I'm sure it's not Indiana Daily Student appropriate.\n8:37 -- The Pacers look full from Thanksgiving as they end the first quarter down 15 points (27-12). I don't know what is wrong with the team. They seem to start every game slowly, so I'm really not worried.\n8:57 -- Tinsley gets a technical foul for talking trash. First Jackson gets a tech and now Tinsley. Am I lost at Club Rio, or is this just a preview for that "Deja Vu" movie?\n9:13 -- It was quite a slow first half for the Pacers. The Cavs lead 56-44, and LeBron draws fouls every time he was touched. I know he's a superstar, but it's getting excessive. When he walks down the tunnel to the locker room, a little kid gives him a high five and immediately gets called for a flagrant foul by the refs. On a side story, the crowd erupts when it is announced that Butler won the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament.\n9:38 -- Finally something entertaining happens. Cavaliers guard Eric Snow drives the lane for a layup and is blocked badly by Jermaine O'Neal. He turns to the Pacer bench and says with a huge smile, "I should have dunked it."\n9:45 -- Snow drives the lane and actually tries to dunk it on O'Neal. He is blocked again and complains to get his technical. It's funny how things work like that.\n9:56 -- My dad finally tells me how LeBron described the Cav's uniforms: "orange sherbet." Not a bad description. The Cavs only score nine points in the third quarter, and the Pacers now lead 69-65. \n10:13 -- Sarunas Jasikevicius and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are finally on the floor together. It's nice since they are longtime friends, but this got me thinking: What if the NBA did the all-star game like the NHL use to do with the USA vs. the world? This would be a play-by-play nightmare: Jasikevicius passes to Manu Ginobili. Ginobili kicks it out to Dirk Nowitzki, who dumps it down to Ilgauskas, who alley-oops it to Wang Zhizhi for the dunk.\n10:20 -- Tinsley steals a pass from LeBron, which leads to an O'Neal layup. LeBron fouls out right after with a quiet 30 points and only one highlight dunk.\n10:40 -- The horn sounds, and the Pacers win 97-87. I go down to the media room to get the final stat sheet and then head to the press conference room.\n10:53 -- Carlisle comes to the podium and talks about the game but more about the teams' slow starts to games. In a shocking display of humor, Carlisle said, "I need to call (NBA executive) Stu Jackson to see if we can start the games in the third quarter." He continued to talk about the tough road stretch the Pacers will face as they travel west for five of the next six games.\n11:01 -- Since players don't do podium interviews during the regular season, my night is over. It has been a great experience, but I'm ready to go home to eat some Thanksgiving leftovers.