A couple of 'crazy old ladies' who just love NBA basketball

Last update: April 12, 2008 - 3:53 PM

Her younger sister cashed in some frequent-flyer miles, so Judi Gleeman boarded a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday afternoon, arrived in Milwaukee a few hours before the opening tap and prayed Kevin Garnett would play for Boston in an otherwise meaningless, late-season game. He scored 21 points in 20 minutes before sitting down in the third quarter of an overtime victory over the Bucks.

She's 58 and a controller for a mortgage company. Her sister, Jane Gallop, is 55 and lives in Milwaukee.

"Somebody should know there's these crazy old ladies who love NBA basketball," said Gleeman, who describes herself as a "Jewish broad living in Minnetonka."

She has been a Garnett fan "since the beginning" and remembers taking her son, Aaron, now 25, to Wolves games when he just a boy.

Her sister bought $121 tickets for Tuesday's game. "You've got to be able to hear the squeak of their shoes," she said. "I don't take a vacation very often. I wore my Timberwolves [Kevin Garnett] MVP shirt with my green Celtics beads. It was great."

JERRY ZGODA