#17 rooting for a west coast team in an east coast sports bar

i.
love.
winning.


i have always loved winning. i don't know when that started in me, but i'm certain it comes from my father who is one of the most patient, gentle men i know but becomes a smidge crazy on the playing field. or court. or our front yard. my sister, jenna, and i most enjoyed it when he was playing tennis, made a mistake, and very seriously shouted at himself "COME ON, TIM!" i sometimes shout the exact same thing when i'm frustrated.


how convenient, therefore, that i grew up near a winning team. the lakers have won more nba championships in my lifetime than any other team. (the bulls trail by one championship: lakers have had seven, bulls have had six.) i was obsessed with them from 99 - 01, but then i went to college and i haven't lived with a tv with cable since, which has really hindered my game watching ability. 


last night, jenna and i decided to revive our laker spirit and watch a game at a bar here in virginia beach. she wore laker colors, i wore my 1988 nba championship shirt (those were magical times. ha.) and we boldly sat ourselves near the bar, prepared to defend the honor of derek, kobe, pau, luke, lamar, ron and those other guys that we don't know very well.


well, it turned out to be less than thrilling. half the bar was cheering for the lakers already. and there was very little suspense in the game - we were up by at least 17 the majority of the time. my favorite moment was probably when something like this happened (except there were befuddled celtics surrounding him instead of a king behind him): 

this guy almost makes shannon seem like an acceptable name for a man. almost.


in conclusion, rooting for my west coast team in an east coast bar was not as entertaining as i thought it would be; however, i still enjoyed all the winning.