When people ask me what Houston is like, I tell them that it's a lot like LA...only without the beaches, nice weather, and beautiful people.  Yet in spite of the fact that I may be stuck in this humid urban sprawl for the next X months, my currrent project did give me the opportunity to catch playoff basketball at its foulest.  In a seemingly fortuitous gift from the NBA scheduling gods, my project happened to coincide with Game 6 of the Lakers-Rockets playoff series in Houston.  So while I did have to spend my Thursday in a hotel room 2000 miles from home, I did get to trek over to the Toyota Center in Downtown Houston to watch my beloved Lakers try to close out their series against the Houston Rockets...

Now, 12 hours after having watched the Lakers throw up all over the themselves, losing by 15 points, I only have a few questions.  How on earth does a team that won 65 games in the regular season lose to a team that is missing two all-stars, and starts a 6-0 guy at point guard and a 6-6 guy at center?  How does this Laker team go from beating a Houston team by 40 points, to falling behind the same team, 19-1 in the first quarter?  And no, that's not a typo, it was really 19-1. 

Honestly, being a Laker fan this season is like having a really hot, but emotionally unstable girlfriend.  On a good day, when the Lakers are at their best, it's like watching the second coming of the Magic Johnson Showtime era.  Passes are crisp, defense is tight, and shots rain in through the hoop from all corners of the arena.  But two days later, and it's like I'm watching a different team.  Players are tentative, all-stars are getting beat to rebounds and loose balls, and 6-6 Europeans with long hair are dunking on our TWO 7 foot centers.  Problem is, on a day to day basis, you never know which team you're going to get.  And really, that's the problem with being a Laker fan these days.  Like the hot girlfriend, you know exactly what you're getting yourself into when you make a commitment.  Yes, she has the ability to dazzle others and make your less fortunate friends in cities with uglier teams jealous of how lucky you are to have her.  But at the same time, you never know when she'll completely wig out on you and crush your spirit  Only the next game, she'll "apologize" by absolutely blowing out the opposition and reminding you of why you love her in the first place.  And if this last paragraph mixed a few too many metaphors, that's probably because I'm still a bit hung over at watching the Lakers forget that opponents won't simply forfeit at the sight of them taking the court. 

But in spite of the drubbing my beloved Lakers took at the hands of the completely shorthanded Rockets, I still had a pretty good time.  For one, my seats were great and the crowd was absolutely fantastic.  Of course, 99.9% of them were wearing red and cheering as they watched my team get pounded into the ground.  But the atmosphere was truly electric, and showed me what a real playoff crowd should be like.  And nothing quite beats the excitement of being less than 50 feet away from all of your basketball heroes.  Even if they are in the midst of breaking your heart...