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A guy can go nuts looking
for a Laker-prone tavern
By BUCKY FOX
of TheColumnists.com
Laker fans have it rough.
The basketball is flat enough. L.A.’s favorite team just won its third straight. For the first time all season.
The players are hardly tall enough. Kobe Bryant skies amid the rafters, as does Lamar Odom on occasion. But man, do we miss that Alp named Shaq.
The coaches have had enough rotation to last four seasons. Phil Jackson out by summer, Rudy Tomjanovich in by fall. Rudy T out, Frank Hamblen in by winter. Jackson maybe in by spring--in a love-hate triangle involving girlfriend/owner’s daughter Jeanie Buss and Kobe.
Talk about made for Hollywood.
But enough about the Lakers’ performance and cast.
Here’s what makes the Lakers such a rough ticket: seeing them.
Oh, sure, you can catch them at Staples Center. And on your home TV. And on the radio.
But how about at average L.A. sports bars? You know, the ones that bulged with Laker fans during the three-title sprint of 2000-02. The ones that got away with charging admission to the Jackson-Shaq-Kobe show.
Well, that show faded fast. Those same sports bars have all the buzz of a disco at noon.
Laker fans barely appear. And those who do have a tough time finding bars that show off their team.
My buddy Ken Anthony and I are that rare breed of Laker fan. We like to watch every game. We know the team is barely in the playoff hunt. We know the team has strains of Rudy’s no-D, shoot-3s mess. Still, the Lakers are starting to feel Hamblen’s push toward defense and even his old boss Jackson’s triangle offense.
Which gives us hope for (1) upside and (2) Phil’s return this season or next.
So in the dead NBA month of February, Ken hustles from his office at RadioandRecords.com, where he’s a rock writer. And we meet to try to find a sports bar showing the Laker-Portland game.
First shot: I call Tony P’s in Marina del Rey. The place has enough flat screens to match their stacked nachos. It could be a sports bar you could easily live in.
Only one problem: attitude.
The manager gives the Lakers zero priority. He often fills the
bar with music and not play by play. When I ask him whether he
will turn up the broadcast for tonight’s game, he treats
me like a Piston fan: go home.
Forget that place.
Second shot: We meander over to the Courtyard by Marriott, also in the Marina. Nice sports bar. Nothing dramatic. But a big screen, free popcorn and nice service.
Only one problem: out of it. The bartender can’t find the over-the-air channel showing the Laker game. Neither can the hotel desk clerk. We’re out of there.
Third shot: around the corner to Jerry’s Deli. It’s not a sports place. But it has a bar. And a TV.
Only a couple of problems: It’s out of bar stools. And some other game is on the screen.
We do find a booth. And convince the bartender to find the Laker game.
So we’re in by halftime. For the rest of the game I go nuts and Ken tries to calm me down--relax, it’s February--as the Lakers fight back. They play tight defense and inside offense. And beat the Trail Blazers.
We look around the restaurant. In the second biggest city in America, we’re the only ones watching the NBA’s franchise team.
We dream of opening our own sports bar and doing it right: Laker games on megascreens, loud play by play, hot waitresses. And not necessarily in that order.
Laker fans sure wouldn’t
have it rough anymore.
©2005 by Bucky Fox. The cartoon is from IMSI's Master Clips
Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506,
USA. This column first posted Feb. 28, 2005.
You
can comment on this column online. Please address your message
to either "The Editors" or Bucky Fox. To send an email,
click here: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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