A Spanish Consolation Prize

Being a Bulls fan has been trying over the last five years. Not trying in the sense of what someone who likes Sacramento or some other shitty team that hasn't made the playoffs in years, but trying because I thought there would have been at least one championship by now. While Chicago has been a gritty, tough-minded team that has been easy to cheer for, ultimately they've failed to deliver what they were assembled to do. It seemed as though as little as a week ago the team was poised to add a proven veteran scorer that they sorely needed, someone who can create his own shot and generate offense without any help. But Carmelo Anthony decided to choose money over rings, which led to the team signing Pau Gasol away from Los Angeles. Much like in the summer of 2010 when the team signed Carlos Boozer after missing out on the free agent prizes of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, this feels like settling for a secondary option. Gasol brings a good number of positives to the Windy City however, and the Bulls can still win the East with him on board.

Empires in Decline: Henry Kissinger on the Los Angeles Lakers

The following three paragraphs were adapted from an adaptation, in "The Wall Street Journal", of Henry Kissinger's "On China", to be published Tuesday by the Penguin Press (we made them about basketball):

In Theaters Now: Waiting For Gasol

After beating the Hornets in the first round, Phil Jackson announced he would be leaving the team early to start his new career. That new career, acting. But for those of you thinking he's leaving some unfinished business on the court, don't worry, because the whole team has helped him in his new venture on stage. The first gig is a re-imagined version of Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting on Godot," the plot line follows:

"Two men, Phil and Jack, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Gasol to arrive."

The show opened in Los Angeles and Dallas to middling reviews. According to sources, two of the first three nights were stunning with last minute plot twists that could make you cry or hurl. And for some, both. The other night, a bore. Absolutely no emotion out of the actors, as if the actors didn't even want to be there. Now, there are four more nights scheduled, but according to rumors it might not last through today's show, which will be available on telecast by ABC at 3:30. 

NBA Finals Recap: Jumping to Conclusions

I want to start off with a sincere apology for the extensive delay of my recap for the NBA finals; however, this delay did not come without reason and was partially done for the sake of sanity or at least the illusion of sanity.  Had I written this on Thursday, or even yesterday, I would have come off as a psycho, drunk on the successes of men I don't know and will never meet. Ever since the Lakers notched their second straight championship I could barely contain myself from grinning for more than a minute at a time. Now that my excitement has waned and I have regained my ability to withhold from smiling like a jackass, it's time for me to expound on an ugly game seven.

Career Metamorphosis: Pau Gasol, Jack Of All Trades

Pau Gasol is a man of many trades, his flesh and his bones born from an age that required its sons to house the Renaissance in their very souls.  He is a tortured artist, often overlooked and sometimes misunderstood, who in an effort to support his life's work has had to delve into many laborious occupations, all the while stretching and pulling at his own bone structure and skin, until it reached the height of seven feet, in order to bear his screaming genius.

Faith renewed

On Saturday night in the LCG's living room, I was basking in the recent throttling of the Florida Gators by my beloved Vols. As I was finally getting hope in a disappointing season for UT, a special break from the highlights came on ESPN. That break was to let me know Andrew Bynum had injured his knee. That disheartening news was followed yesterday with more bad news came as they announced he would miss 8-12 weeks. So later in the day I decided to post on the breaking situation, I tried to play coy and act unattached or unmoved by the story. But in reality, I saw another Laker season being thrown to the wayside. When I heard the injury news I realized I was no longer the typical optimistic fan, but more of the annoying fan who moans and drones about the bad luck of his team. I had become a fanatical-pessimist. So at 7:30 p.m. est when I tuned in to the Laker-Knicks game I was anything but the typical barrel of fun I see myself as; instead I was about as upbeat as a Thomas Hardy novel. I was so dejected that I wrote a poem, something I hadn't done since 8th grade English class with Mrs. Willis.

The colorless thoughts engulfing me
the thoughts of another banner quickly drifting from my senses
the thought of another manhandling on the parquet floors
the thoughts had me sinking in despair
the thoughts had me sinking in my chair
Yet I could do nothing
but hope and cheer from afar

Shameful I know, but what was I to do? Join the others on message boards and talk trash because the future of the organization was out for a couple of months. I was embarrassed. How could I be woeful about a basketball team, when there is a lot more going on in the world that holds actual importance. With the economy, the war('s), families struggling to pay their bills, cities struggling to survive the harsh winter, and the all-around despair of the Motor City. How, with all that, could I possibly be down about a GAME? I was, and there is no excuse other than I have an irrational love for sports and it will not leave me. Despite the real world issues and the negativity those issues bring, I will always have an irrational love for American sport. I could say sorry, but what would be the point. This irrational obsession is what makes me, me. But I digress.

Once I saw that forum blue and gold take the court at MSG, I couldn't help but smile. Kobe quickly vanquished any negative thoughts still lingering, and the fanatical-pessimist swiftly vanished thanks to the show he was putting on for the New York crowd. Scoring 13 of the teams first 16, teeming with Gasol to score 30 and the teams 31 first quarter points. The two ended up combining for 92 of the Lakers 126 points (with 31 for Pau and 61 for Kobe), in the win over the home-town Knickerbockers.

This was not a team that will fall to the wayside, not with two four and one six taking the court. This is not a team to be worrisome for; not tonight, not with Kobe taking center-stage, not with Phil pulling the strings. This is a team that has more reason to come and play every night. This is a team that needs to prove day-in and day-out, they are still a force. It is a night like last night, that reminds us all of his greatness. It is a night like last night that Laker fans realize how much they take that greatness for granted. It is a night like last night where faith is renewed.