Game one was great, Paul Pierce being helped to the locker room in a wheelchair with a sprained knee only to make a Wills Reed like return in the 3rd quarter, Garnet's two handed putback over Paul Gasol to put Beantown up by 8 with less than two minutes to go, it was very exiting basketball. But this is supposed to be Celtics-Lakers, this is one of, if not the best sports rivalries of the past half century, something seems to be missing.
It must be the hate.
I remember being a big Lakers fan back in the 80's, that was before the Kings came to town so don't give me any grief about it. I thought Magic Johnson was the best player I had ever seen. With Kareem in the middle and Worthy and Cooper on the wings, the Showtime era of the Lakers was absolutely amazing to watch.
Then there were the Celtics. I flippin' hated the Celtics. I hated Danny Ainge, I hated Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale with his arms hanging down to his knees, and I hated Larry Bird too.
The two teams did not like each other and it showed. The Celtics were everything the Lakers were not, while Magic would run the floor and make no-look passes for dunks or kick out to the corner to Cooper to drain a three, the Celtics would grind you down with their half court offense and grab, hold and mug on the other end of the floor. Hard fouls and a few stitches per game were about average. Two different styles, two different towns and two different stars.
Larry Bird looked like a very tall mail man or auto mechanic, pasty white skin and very limited sense of fashion. Magic on the other hand was born to live in L.A. You could see his smile from across the room, he was a rock star in high tops.
My hatred of the Celtics began to fade after the Bird era, and with the Kings rolling into town in 85' I started to root for the hometown team. With my new team in the West, I started to dislike the Lakers.
When Shaq and Kobe came to L.A, and the Vlade, Webber, J-Wil, and Peja Kings becoming real contenders, Oh my goodness I wanted the cocky Lakers to loose almost as much as I wanted the Kings to win. Don't talk to me about Game 7 in 02', I was there at Arco Arena, and I am still not over it.
Oh grow up you say, just get over it. Not a chance.
I was rooting for the Celtics tonight, that is how 'not over it' I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment