I was born and raised in Los Angeles (the suburb of Van Nuys to be specific). We were Lakers fans. I remember back in 1972 hearing they had won another game and another and another and following their 33 game winning streak. I remember going to games at the Fabulous Forum. I remember listening to games on the radio, with Chick Hearn the play-by-play announcer for the Lakers, and cheering for Wilt Chamberlain, Pat Riley, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Happy Hairston, etc.
One day we saw Wilt heading north on the 405 freeway and my mom followed him to his house in Bel Air (we were paparazzi minus the cameras) and we watched in awe as he drove his sports car into the driveway, the electric gate closed behind him and he got out of his little car (all 7' 1" of him).
The east vs. west rivalry existed way back then in Van Nuys. I'm not sure why, but my brothers HATED all of the Boston sports teams (well, they still do). We had a neighbor who LOVED all the Boston teams and my brothers would "trash talk" non-stop with him. They probably pegged me as disloyal when I moved to the east coast.
When I moved here 20 years ago of course I started cheering for the Celtics. One of my friends had one ticket for half of the Celtics season. He worked nights so a few times offered me his ticket. I jumped at the chance to see the Celtics play in the famous Boston Garden! I took the subway into the city by myself and thoroughly enjoyed the games (and it was a good seat--5th row on the floor; baseline between the Celtics bench and the basket!). The Garden was old and dirty and didn't have air conditioning. But it did have a lot of championship banners hanging from the rafters! And wild fans! And plenty of history.
Game #1 of this year's NBA championship series is tonight and I'll be cheering for my Celtics.
Game #1 of this year's NBA championship series is tonight and I'll be cheering for my Celtics.
13 comments:
The game after Rambus got clotheslined I smuggled into the next game 10 feet of clothesline. It came from my mothers backyard along with 8 clothespins. My chance came when Kurt was going to the free throw line and there was a tv timeout. Perfect amount of time to set up our display over our heads right behind the basket he was shooting at. A camera came right over but because of so much attention, a small army of crazies stormed to get on tv. We never got on tv but we were mentioned in 3 newspapers the next morning. I still have the clippings. Good times...
You are such a traitor. Once a Californian, always a Californian. I can't believe your brothers are still going to talk to you :)
Go Boston!!
I agree with Anna, Ellen Benedict Arnold Patton. I am rooting for my hometown players, the LAKERS!
woohoo!!!
Start the wagering, Anna and KJG!
Great post ep! I love a good rivalry & some trash talking is fun to read. Go CELTICS.
John always said he didn't need a Laker-Cletic rivalry to trash talk EP. Brotherly love.
I guess it's true what they say; you can never go home again.
Well, maybe you can't go home again, given your sports-fan traitorous ways. I still can, knowing that I've remained true to my LA teams.
Just don't talk to me about the Rams or Raiders. Ugh. . .
I remember the "field trip" to see Wilt Chamberlain's driveway. A big hit when we went to visit the Patton cousins...
Cousin Anita
I think it's too early to call the series - let's see how the Lakers do in game two and three.
I'm not sure what was worse, the Rambus clothesline or the Paul Pierce fake injury.
Lakers in six.
I think I will just wish both teams well.
GO Celtics!!!! I even was able to watch part of the game. (I couldn't watch the whole thing, too nerve racking!). I remember listening to the Celtics as a little girl on the radio and wanting to play for them!
Love the Jazz! Love the Lakers!!
Adore the Celtics for 40 plus...
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