Going to See the Lakers

Kobe Bryant Smiling after Beating the Celtics on Christmas Day
Kobe Bryant Smiling after Beating the Celtics on Christmas Day. AP Photo/Jeff Lewis

Over Christmas with the family all of us “men” were in front of the teevee watching the Celtics-Lakers matchup. My uncle is really surprised that I can break down plays since throughout my childhood and teenage years I could really have cared less about sports. As the game was in the closing minutes one of my cousins remarked that he would really love to watch the Lakers in person. I also remarked that I had never been to a Lakers game.

Really. Growing up our family never had the disposable income to justify spending money to go to a game. The thought was if you could watch it for free on teevee, then why bother wasting money to watch a game?

Now having gone to sporting events in person (although I’ve still not been to a college or pro football game) I realize that witnessing the sport in live action is a completely different experience. The action is much more tangible sitting in the arena, park or stadium than it is just idly following the action on television. Not only do you create your own narrative of the game, you also are linked to every other spectator in the building.

Well I am taking three of cousins to the Sunday afternoon Lakers game against the San Antonio Spurs in a couple of weeks. Now two of them are over 21, but the other is only 12. So I’m sure he’ll have a blast and an experience that he won’t forget. It makes me wonder how things would be if I had gone to these things as a kid.

Oh well. I’m making up for lost time now.