So Massive, Part 1

So massive I couldn't see its contours because it was everywhere, all the time. Took it for granted AND knew how lucky we were.

What could "it" be?

The Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaking casually about them last night with a friend of a friend (rather than seriously, as is the norm), she remarked that this year's loss in the Western Conference Finals seemed like the end of things, and how could it be like this again?

Well, I thought, I know it can be--it took 9 years last time. Nine years from a loss to the Bulls in the 1991 Finals to a title in 2000, the first of 5, after 5 in the '80s. I can handle another 9 years, believe me. Because 9 years, or 19, even 59 can't diminish what I got to see, feel, think about, read about, daydream about from '83 (age 9) through '88 (age 14).  And what those years came to mean to me after '89-'91, and then '91-'99.

Now, a Laker fan recounting those glory years is uninteresting, and probably kind of a dick move, if not downright lame after how Dallas did us this year, I know. So it surprises me too that I'm writing about it what it means to me, because really, in my mind, for all these years, I thought I was a Dodger fan first, a Laker fan second. If you'd asked me then, that's what I'd've told you without hesitation.

I can see why, now. First, I played baseball. So while I enjoyed watching it--and listening to it--baseball was a seriously big part of my life then. But basketball? I stunk, but I liked playing at school in p.e., after school with friends, shooting by myself in the backyard. I practiced baseball but I played basketball.

Second, the basketball season tracked the school year. Starts in the fall, ends in the summer. That's how years passed when you're a kid: not January to December but September to June. So when the Lakers were building that momentum at the end of April, and into May, and then June? Shiiiiit. You were already getting ready to jump out of your skin with excitement for the school year to be over. It was almost too much.

Third, the Lakers were Los Angeles. Showtime was a nickname earned. Yes they won, which is what you want your sports team to do, but they entertained, which is what Los Angeles does, and that's important because no matter how good the Dodgers were, no matter how much I loved baseball, they were just a baseball team. Ain't no showtime in baseball.

No look behind the back passes? No baseball equivalent. Magic's smile? No Hollywood equivalent. AC Green's ability to not have sex during all of this? No earthly equivalent.

And those freebie Laker calendars, with the Lakers all on a boat with sunglasses? The promos with the Laker Girls in bathing suits? C'mon, man, that's gonna leave a mark.

Stay tuned for Part 2.
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