A savvy University of Texas sophomore revealed how he was able to sneak into Game 7 of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena with nothing more than a little confidence and some photoshop skills.
Micah Poag was so confident in his plan that he bought a plane ticket on Friday night, crafted a replica Bleacher Report press pass on Saturday morning and then boarded a plane headed to the Bay Area.
Vocativ.com recently caught up with Poag to learn of his step-by-step process to Game 7 glory.
“I’m pretty good with Photoshop, so Friday night I went ahead and bought a plane ticket with the idea that I’d go to this game and make a press pass and see if it would work,” Poag said. “Saturday morning I woke up and made this press pass and spent so much time on it I almost missed my flight.”
So how did he know what a legit press pass looked like? Google, naturally.
He made a generic sporting event press pass styled in Warriors' blue and gold with a picture of himself in a suit. He then got dressed in a button down and some khakis so he looked the part and arrived at Oracle Arena about five hours early to scout a point of entry.
On his second pass around the stadium, he found an open door where a window washer had stepped out of the stadium. He walked up and started talking to the guy, when a security guard walked over.
“I kind of stepped up and showed the guard my press pass real quick and she didn’t really say anything and sort of gave me a nod in, and I proceeded to walk past her. When I was about 15 yards past, I heard her say ‘Hey,’ but then I didn’t look back.”
After that, he waited. “I walked into the men’s bathroom and I took a stall and I literally pulled my pants down like I was taking a shit,” Poag said, “because no one is going to bother a guy taking a shit, and then I sat there for two hours.”
At around 3pm, when fans were starting to pour into the arena, Micah came out of hiding, threw on his Warriors jersey and snagged some seats in the nosebleeds without any hassle.
“Looking the part is a huge part of it. I think it’s pretty easy when you’re a white kid dressed in khakis with a suit on,” Poag said. “I think if you’re confident it helps.”
[Via]