I had to go to a sales demo thing this afternoon. I was kind of looking forward to it. Polycom is a good company, and I knew they had some new stuff.

They had a raffle at the end. I had almost left, cause I had a conference to kick off. But I didn't leave and I'm glad.

I WON LAKER TICKETS!

Lakers v. Celtics at Staples Center.

I get to see Shaq and Kobe in person!
From the VIP suite, even.

This is my fourth season as a lakers fan. I was introduced to them by my cute boyfriend. I was a huge SNOB about sports. Sports, as with all TV, was only for the loss masses who didn't read.

SNIFF

But my cute boyfriend could read, so my theory was on shaky ground. He said he could intruduce the sport in such a way that I would enjoy it.

At first I thought that it was good, because it was couch-cuddle time. But he had been a fan for long enough, he knew all kinds of detais about the players. He told about their lives, and introduced the drama to me.

I am hooked now.

I like to give different players nicknames. Naturally, anyone who is not a Laker is assumed evil. Stoudemire of the Portland Blazers is the Sodomizer. Ostertag of the Utah Jazz is Osterwuss. Reggie Miller is so amazing to look at. I think he is beautiful, every single sinew in his body is visible to the naked eye. And he is FAST! I call him the Ethiopian chicken, because of that joke i heard in grade school: "what's the fastest animal on earth?" He is honorarily un-evil because I love watching him move.

Of course, the former lakers I have known still hold a place in my heart. I think Lue (aka Glue) is adorable.

Shaq and Kobe are the stars of the Lakers. But I have respect for the other players. Madsen is the dork, but he's a serious player. Old Man Horry comes through when you need him. Fisher has lost his headband. What happened, man? I hardly recognize you! But he's very nice to look at too. He always looks very serious, and he has those big round muscles. He's solid.

I was very sad when Chick died. It's not the same without him.

And I have been creating a theory that Phil Jackson's little underlip shock of white hair is his attempt to evolve into baleen. It's quite useful to be able to eat plankton!

Well, I could go on. But I'm quite excited about the game. The 21st! In the VIP suite. Yay me!