Just another game? Or something more sinister

It was the day after the day after Christmas when a deep funk set in on the beast lair. Gone was the ebullience from our sweet 19th straight victory over Philadelphia, when Beef and I took turns trying on the championship ring and whispering sweet beastings into Perk’s ear, “Shit on them for us Perk. You gotta kill Bynum.”

Gone was the Christmas cheer, the anticipation of victory in Los Angeles, the tidings of the holiday season.

All of it gone; stolen by Steve Javie’s incompetent refereeing (one trip to the line in the entire first half?!?!?!?), Ray Allen’s unseasonable coldness from deep waters, and Pau Gasol’s three straight power moves. However, notice fans that we have said nothing of the great hype machine known as Andrew Bynum. Perk played him straight up with a bad shoulder — so much for your wunkerkind! It was a disgusting game, a league mandated win to season the pan for a potential June matchup and we lost. This is why I hate the NBA.

So there I was, standing in Barnes and Noble trying to do a little retail therapy, still smarting over the image of obnoxious Los Angeles fans celebrating like it was the Golden Globe after party, when I picked up a book from the shelf. And that’s when it all hit me. The book staring me in the face was written by the guys at FreeDarko. Ugh, what a kick in the nuts. FreeDarko?!? Our arch enemies, celebrating a two-fer on our soul with their very own hardcover book. What have we done to deserve such a punishment dear lord?

So, I put the book down — Hell no, I wouldn’t buy it — and said to myself four simple words. “Maybe they are better.” And you know what, I started to feel a little better. After all, isn’t it better to be the underdog once in a while? Isn’t it better to fight the power instead of being the power? And, isn’t it better to be gunning for someone instead of being gunned for?

Maybe they are better? All of em’ the Lakers, the Cavaliers, FreeDarko….so what. Maybe this is a call for all of us fans to step up our game? We gotta be mean. We gotta be hungry. We can’t let ourselves become fat and complacent. We can’t rest on our laurels. Let the Lakers be champions of December, let FreeDarko win the Pulitzer prize of illustrated basketball books. Let the world think we are weak and wounded and damaged. Let them feel superior and proclaim our untimely demise. Let them drink their blood, while we go back into the cave and grow darker, angrier, and more focused.

Maybe the are better?

But we will still have our say before this is all done.