Basketball

Our AOL greeting window this morning featured a poll of members asking if it was a good idea for Coach Phil Jackson to return to the Lakers. The AOL Editor made a smart ass joke that he'd concede dating the Boss's daughter, Ms Buss, was a positive factor from Phil's POV. Actually it's not possible to describe the "Editor's" use of language without quoting him, and that I will not do.

The poll results from across the country and abroad, I assume that's where the votes come from - AOL isn't up to slanting poll results is it? - indicate that the Lakers won't win anything until the year 2012. Must be wishful thinking. Here's what's bothering me: AOL's poll results do not jibe with what can reasonably be deduced from ABC's abysmal ratings for the NBA Finals (is that the right lingo? I'm an amateur fan) with the down home, lovable teams, the Pistons and the Spurs.  Are the Lakers, across the country, the team people love to hate even while they watch them winning?

Why do so many sports fans dote on calling Phil Jackson the "Zen Master"? To be enlightened is UnAmerican? Or, is the irritant the simple fact the Lakers have won too often, and it should be someone else's turn? Maybe Basketball should be handicapped like a horse race with the hot players carrying lead weights in their pockets?

Let me confess here that everytime I've ventured a few comments on the subject of the NBA I've stirred up a hornet's nest. So I'll make this short. The subject of race, race and basketball, was handled neatly by comedian (who I love!) Chris Rock. He said in his routine on HBO, "Shaq is rich; Bill Gates is wealthy." His semi-hidden message is actually, 'Don't imagine racism is proved handled by the spectacle of some high-earning, high profile African Americans who otherwise are in reality still denied jobs on the basis of race even though it is illegal. (It's no accident that Shaq has a degree in criminology; he needs a backup profession!)

What I wish I could write about knowledgeably is the phenomenon of loving to root for the Home Team. Is it merely identification? I was crushed when the Lakers lost to the Pistons last year. This year I watched none of the Spurs/Pistons games. I care zip about the outcome. So it's not Basketball I'm interested in, it's competitions in which I have some irrational emotional stake in the outcome. Phil Jackson is a wholly admirable man. He's huge. His girl friend Jeannie (?) Buss, the owner's daughter, is beautiful and smart, and tiny. LA Sports writers insist that even during an important game Phil can't take his eyes off her sitting across the court even during a game he should be rivetted on. They exaggerate. He sneaks  peeks.

'All the world loves a lover,' except AOL's greetings Window Editor.

Barry