Real World Observations

On the weekend of November 9th, 2007, I had the opportunity to join a couple of my friends to watch the Houston Rockets vs. Milwaukee Bucks basketball game in a box seat reserved for the lawyers and clients of Vinson & Elkins. The game wasn't expected to be the best game of the season but it was the first game where players from all 6 continents [including two players from China] was to be playing on the court. It took place in Houston's own Toyota Center downtown where thousands of people gathered to cheer on the Rockets and watch them win their 5th game of the season. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to observe communication and language for my real world observation project, and thus I quickly agreed to join my friend when he invited me to go. Little did I know that I would not only be learning about the different communication levels that takes place in a basketball game but also the rules for which one subconsciously follows in being there.

When my friends and I showed up to box, the game was already into the 2nd quarter and 7 people were already settled in the box seat, 4 Caucasian men who were sitting in a bar like table looking towards the court, another Caucasian male who was already seated in the lower section of the box, part of the crowd, and a man and woman (who were also Caucasian) standing while conversing with one another in an aisle section of the box area. While my Chinese and Mexican friend were admiring the seats in the lower section of the box, I seated myself behind the 4 men at the bar, in an island-type table, to get start my observation. The clock showed 8:07 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Rockets: 24; Bucks: 25.

The four men were seated, all facing towards the central area (which was the court) but still leaning into each other to engage in conversation about the players on the team. I assumed that all four of these men were either lawyers or clients of the attorneys given that the box was bought out by Vinson & Elkins for the purpose of socializing and building relationships with the clients. However, I myself was an exception to this general rule, and thus I will not make any statements as to their occupation or status other than that they worked at some office (which I know because one of the men asserted "I'm going back to the office" and immediately asked a man next to him "Do you need a ride back?").

Honestly, I don't believe that this was the most ideal situation for language observation because all four of these men were faced towards the court (which means away from me) and the roaring of the crowd was so loud I could barely hear what they were