Oh no, what if I become a Lakers fan?
I’m a die-hard Kansas Jayhawks basketball fan. I have been since 1986, when I was eight years old and the sophomore Danny Manning-led ‘hawks lost in the Final Four. 1988 certainly helped my fanaticism, and with the arrival of Roy Williams in 1989, the Jayhawks became not only good but also really fun to watch. The most fun Roy Williams years were the earliest (Downtown Terry Brown for three!) and the last two (the class of 2003 with Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden and Nick Collison has to be the best recruiting class in KU history). The mid-nineties were a blast, even if a few of the most loaded teams of the decade underachieved in the postseason. Paul Pierce was in my graduating class (even though he left a year early), and I had a Modern Chinese History course with Raef LaFrentz. Even today, the Bill Self-led Jayhawks are still near the top. Just yesterday, I watched the #9-ranked sophomore-led team dismantle South Carolina on the road.
But I also went to a Lakers game yesterday.
And it was a lot of fun!
I’ve made it a personal sports-mission of mine to root against the big, corporate evil empires (Yankees, Cowboys, and yes the Lakers). While living in New York, I eschewed the Yankees. I’ve been a
half-interested fan of the fairly hapless KC Royals in baseball all of
my life, and they are the polar opposite of the high-rolling Yankees.
But what if I become a Lakers fan? Am I a total sell-out? The problem is, I actually like many of the players. I even went to high school with Lakers’ sixth man Maurice “Mo” Evans. And my high school wasn’t big…I had 42 people in my graduating class. Mo was two years behind me in school.
I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon yet…it was only one game. And I’m not sure that my schedule can allow for more than one sporting spectator hobby (KU fandom takes up enough time already!). But if last night was any indication, it could happen…
Oh, and the Lakers won over the Mavericks, 101-98, on a fun fourth quarter rally led by some killer slashing drives by Kobe and deadly three-balls from Luke Walton.
