2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 7

Well, not much more to say.

The Celtics need to play a perfect game offensively to have any chance at all. With their best rebounder and physical defender out with an injury, Boston needs to shoot lights out...and hope by some aberration that the Lakers have a cold shooting night. I think the Celtics need to score more than 100 points tonight to win, since you can't bank on the Lakers not being able to hit shots at home. And Boston will suffer on the defensive boards, so even if the Lakers miss, they will have plenty of put-back opportunities.

Boston either puts together their best game of the season, or they lose. So we'll see.

My wife is headed to a local bar to watch the game with a group of her friends, I will be at home. To be honest, I am going to be very relieved when this whole thing is finished. I just don't need the stress right now...and believe me, it's stressful. I can't wait to get back to both of us cheering for the Red Sox (but of course, it's Red Sox-Dodgers this weekend, just to #@*% with me, I'm sure). I feel like I've aged about 8 years over the past 2 weeks, and I'm done.

So whatever happens, at least it will be over.

At least for this season...

2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 6

Game 6 is in a few hours, and the Celtics have a chance to close out the series and the season tonight. We're on the road, but I am not as concerned about that as I would have been in prior years. All season long, Boston has been a better road team than a home team (one of the best road teams in the league, in fact)...but the Lakers have been the best home team in the league...so something has to give. All the Cs need is a split, but of course they want to end it tonight. No one in the Boston locker room is interested in a game 7 in LA.

They want to make sure tonight is the night.

To win, they need to bring the Celtics team that showed up for games 4 and 5. They need the team that plays up to their reputation: physical, defensive intensity, rebounding, hustle plays (getting to loose balls, getting back on fast breaks, beating their opponent to the spots, etc), high energy running game (with transition 3's...where has Ray Allen been for the past 3 games???), solid bench contributions and (controlled) aggression on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, the Celtics understand that Kobe is going to go off, but if they can contain the rest of the Lakers like they did in game 5 (and keep the crowd out of the game as much as possible), Boston is in good shape. Pau will play better at home, but they need to make sure the likes of Fisher, Odom, Artest, Bynum, etc. don't beat them.

Boston won't win a clinching game by 40 points like they did in 2008, but if they play up to their standard they can win this on the road...

My wife has commitments after work tonight and won't be home until around 10. When she gets in, we'll be making use of the same live streaming website as we did for game 5...but this time I'll be in the living room with the TV and she'll be in the bedroom with the laptop.

Now, the baseball-player-superstitious part of me wonders if I should repeat my viewing location from game 5 (since the Celtics won)...but I am trying to teach myself that my behavior does not influence the outcome of an NBA game in any way. (When the Celtics won the championship in 2008 I was on a golf course in Hawaii as the game ended...so since I can't repeat that I might as well just watch where I can watch...)

That being said, if the Celtics lose tonight, you bet I will be on the computer in the bedroom for game 7. No doubt.

But I have been avoiding the real issue about tonight...since there is a chance the series could end, the stakes in the house are extremely high. We could have the intensely awkward situation where one person is in full celebration mode, and the other wants to break everything in the house. And the house, remember, is a tiny, cramped New York City apartment. So it will be intense, so say the least.

A possible game 7 would ramp it up even more, since the inevitable end-of-game explosion (both of joy and disappointment) will be staring our marriage in the face the entire game. And though we understood that this situation was bound to happen at some point, of course, knowing that it could be tonight makes it much more tangible (read: "frightening").

Suffice it to say...when the series does end, someone will definitely be "going for a long walk."

Hold on tight...

And Go Celtics!

2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 5

We're back from camping (great time), and both of us are too tired to leave the house to watch the game...so my wife found a website that is streaming the game live (with about a 7-second delay...). Very intrepid of her.

So I am in the bedroom lying down, watching the game on the computer. She's out in the living room with the TV. Not a bad set-up, especially since I can tell when the Celtics are about to do something well (or the Lakers are about to do something bad) because I'll hear her curse at the TV...then 7 seconds later I watch what she was pissed about. It's when she's quiet that I know the news is bad for me...

This is a crucial game for Boston, since I don't think they are able to go to LA and win two in a row. If they can win tonight, they have a good chance of splitting the last two games on the west coast. LA wins tonight, I think it's over. So this game is the series for the Celtics...

My fear is that Davis, Robinson, T. Allen and the rest of the Boston bench will try to do too much tonight , after everyone telling them how great they are for the past 3 days (especially T. Allen--he is awful and Doc needs to limit his minutes before he single-handedly destroys Boston's chances in this series. Please, please, please...). They need to play their game, and not have the mindset that they are all starters now and should be taking every big shot. If Pierce, R. Allen and Garnett can establish themselves early, I don't think that will be an issue...but we'll see...

Go Celtics!

2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 4

We're packing for a camping trip this weekend, so as we walk around the apartment getting things together the game is on in "the background."

That will probably change in the 2nd half. Honestly, I don't know if I can handle another game watching the Celtics get out-rebounded, out-hustled, out-efforted, out-everythinged. If they can't answer the bell in the NBA Finals, they don't deserve to be there.

We'll see what kind of effort they bring tonight...

2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 3

Late post...4 minutes to go in the 3rd...I'm in the bedroom, watching the game on the computer (at least, watching the scores refresh on a website). Wife is in the living room watching on TV. She is very quiet, which means her team is doing well...me, not so much...

Celtics are getting it handed to them at home. Another dump in the Garden, home crowd is silent (not much to get loud about so far). Ray Allen has 2 (yes, 2!!!!!!) points mid-way through the 3rd quarter. 2 points, and both from the foul line...he is 0-11 from the field. Pierce has 8 points. Rondo, 9 points. Boston is shooting 35% (!!!!) from the field, 68% from the foul line. Boston is being out-rebounded 35- 28.

Those numbers = LOSE. I hope they can turn it around in the 4th quarter...but they'll need a much better effort. We'll see.

2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 2

Game 2 tonight. Big one for Boston, since they can either even up the series and get the split on the road...or they can pretty much lose the series by going down 0-2. The Cs need to come with a MUCH different attitude tonight to have a chance for a win. If they don't give a drastically improved effort, they will get blown out again. Here's hoping they get off to a good start and have the poise and toughness to hold on.

My wife is still out with some friends...so I may be grandfathered into getting the house to watch the game tonight. We shall see.

Either way...Go Celtics!

2010 NBA Finals: Celtics-Lakers Game 1

Game 1 is a few hours away...looks like I will be the one at the bar tonight, since the wife works early in the morning and the NBA has blessed us with a 9pm tip-off. (Quite the money-grab by the NBA for the 2010 Finals. Even the games in Boston are tipping off at 9pm...including weekend games. Remember Bird-Magic afternoon games in the Finals? I do, and I don't think the NBA went bankrupt because of them...)

Anyway, no real predictions on this series. The C's play great defense, the Lakers have great scorers (and play some decent defense themselves, especially the upgrade defensively of Artest). I am very afraid of the Celtics' nasty habit of blowing double-digit leads all season long. It just seems like their offense shuts down 10 minutes early every 4th quarter. If they are not up by 25 after the 3rd, the outcome is VERY much in doubt.

But we'll see what happens...I would take a split from the first two games on the road (bonus: ideal for the marriage, as well), but the Celtics have to play better on their home floor if they expect to take the series.

Go Celtics!

The Ground Rules

Here are some things that my wife and I tried back in 2008 during the Celtics-Lakers Finals. Some worked better than others, but this is what we came up with:

Rules:

1. Watch the actual games in separate locations (I watch at a bar, she stays home. Reverse it for the next game, etc.).
2. Immediately after the game (and for a while after if the game was close/controversial), no talking about it unless the fan of the losing team speaks first. The fan of the winning team does not initiate conversation about the game/series to that point. (NOTE: Even after the losing team's fan starts talking, it's best for the winning team's fan to hold to self-depreciating comments such as "wow, we just squeaked by on that one," "that was lucky, we won't get away with that next game," or "man, the (winning team name) just hit everything tonight, I was shocked. That will never happen again.")
3. Any criticism of the opposing team's roster, coaching staff, style of play, etc., as well as any praise of your team's play, must be done among third parties, removed from the opposing team's fan (i.e. at a friend's house, over the phone in the bedroom with the door closed, at work, and so on).
4. At the end of a game/series, a simple handshake and verbal congratulations may be exchanged, but again, only if initiated by the fan of the losing team.
5. After the conclusion of the series, any championship DVDs, clothing, books or other paraphernalia must be concealed from the fan of the losing team, whenever possible. This is a judgment call on the winning fan's part, but you can usually tell where the line is. Bottom line, if you can stash it somewhere and adequately enjoy it when the other party is not around, it is wise to do so. To illustrate, my wife to this day doesn't know where I've hidden the Celtics 2008 Championship DVD. If she ever finds it, she will destroy it. I understand this. And since it is not a hardship to just pull it out and watch it when she's not around, there is no need to create tension by forcing her to look at it every time she faces the TV stand. It's just common sense.
   

These are more guidelines than rules, really, and can be tweaked to fit the relationship in question.

Obviously, some outbursts will be unavoidable. But humility and control are the keys to the whole situation. Keep it together (whether in joy or frustration) and know when to back off...in other words, find out where the line is, but don't hang around too long in the neutral zone. Root for your team (you), not against the other team (your loved one), and you will be on the path to a healthy rivalry relationship.

Please feel free to add any more "rules" you have used in the past or that you think could work...everything can be improved.

A Little History...

In a couple of days, my Boston Celtics will play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, a fact that should fill me with nothing but unbridled excitement and joy. Yet a cloud hangs over this gleeful event, in a form so unjustified it can be called cruel: my wife is a Lakers fan.

Thankfully, this is not my first rivalry rodeo. In fact, I have a propensity for befriending opposing fans--at this point it's kind of my "thing." It hadn't always been that way, though.

Growing up outside of Boston, I don't remember any real conversations with any fans of opposing teams. They were just those idiots in the stands at other ballparks and stadiums that had those dumb jerseys and hats on. But they never got closer than that, and it seemed like that was the way it was designed to be. And then I left my mother's house.

In my first week at my New England area college, I met a guy in the dorm laundry room and was immediately shocked to learn two things about him: he had never done a load of laundry in his life, and he was a Yankees fan. He was from upstate New York, and his whole town was full of them (Yankees fans, not people who don't know how to do their own laundry). But we had many other things in common (a love of baseball among them), and became friends almost immediately. And then the Yankees went to the World Series that fall.

I did everything wrong. I stomped around whining about how much I hated New York (the teams, the people, everything). I grumbled as they played inspired baseball and marched through the playoffs. And when they went down 0-2 to the Braves in the Series, losing those first two games in New York, I gloated. I felt great, they were going to lose. Then came Bernie Williams, Jeter, Pettitte and the Yankees bullpen. Braves don't win another game, Yankees take the Series...I punch a wall.

But despite all of this, I still held on to my laundry-challenged friend. Got to give him credit.

By 1997, I was a year older and wiser. The Yankees again were in the playoffs, but I kept my cool. I still hated them, but I stayed out of the way and just watched in (relative) silence. The ALDS series with Cleveland was a dramatic one (with the Yankees losing a gut-wrenching Game 4 that would have won them the series on a bottom of the 9th game-winning hit), and the Indians won it in 5. Upon the last out, my friend got up from the couch, headed straight for the door and went for a very long "walk." It was then that I learned an extremely important lesson: Yankees fans suffer, too.

So in 1998, as the Yankees were dismantling what looked like a AA San Diego Padres club on their way to a World Series sweep, I was calm. After the last out, I called my friend to say "congratulations, that was a massacre." I was certainly noticing the one-sided nature of this "rivalry."

Fast-forward to 1999, Red Sox-Yankees in the ALCS. Here is where it got interesting...for the first time I was watching the latest chapter of the greatest rivalry in sports unfold with a Yankees fan in my inner circle. We choose to deal with it in an abrupt fashion: we didn't speak. By this time, we were living in different apartment buildings, so this radio silence was not too difficult to maintain. We kept separate, and the series was over quickly. The Yankees had the better team, and one phantom tag call was not going to sway the series. (But it was nice to see Clemens get shelled at Fenway in Game 3...if I could have picked the only game to win in the series, that would have been it.)

Our system for dealing with sports invading our friendship (avoiding each other) was one way to handle it. It was the easiest, least confrontational way--but interestingly enough, it was also the most stressful. It's not fun knowing you can't talk to a good friend, no matter what the reason. So I vowed to come up with a better system. But then 2003 happened, I was living in New York City, and it was Red Sox-Yankees again.

Being in grad school in New York meant I was bound to bump into some Yankees fans. And per my pattern, my best friend in the city was one of them. Again, we watched the ALCS from separate locations, but this time we did speak in between games. After the Sox came all the way back to beat Oakland in the ALDS, I foolishly thought this had to be their year. And the series with the Yankees did not disappoint, complete with player vs. old man bullfights, bullpen pitchers threatening fans and twists and turns galore. In Game 7 we were cruising, Clemens was going to be the loser again. And then Grady Little leaves in Pedro, Aaron Boone connects on a high, motionless knuckleball. Series over.

I didn't punch a wall, but I was upset to say the least. I walked home from the bar where I was watching the game, Red Sox hat pulled hard over my eyes. The traffic in New York means you get the chance to people-watch while waiting in the gridlock...and these people wasted no opportunity to tear me apart as I sulked past their car. They were in their element, really letting me have it, and all I could do was just keep walking and take it. It was brutal.

I had nothing to say to my Yankees fan friends. I just tried to pretend like it didn't happen. I crossed my arms and pouted. I hadn't learned my anything.

Then, the next season, 2004. Of course, it's Yankees-Red Sox again in the ALCS, but this time was a bit different. For one, my Yankees fan friends were not with me in New York, they had moved on to other places (though we still kept in touch regularly). And I had back surgery in October of that year, so I spent the majority of the ALCS in bed, recovering alone. So it was just me and the TV, and I watched history. Red Sox lose the first three (Game 3 in horrifically embarrassing fashion, 19-8), then win the next four in a row in an unprecedented heart-stopping thrill ride. I was beside myself, I couldn't even comprehend what had just happened. It was the greatest comeback in baseball playoff history, as well as the greatest collapse. It was life-altering.

Based on past history, I expected to not hear from my Yankees fan friends again until around Christmas. But the very next morning after Game 7, I received this email from my Yankees fan grad school friend:

Hats off to your team. I'm sorry it had to end this way, but your guys are the AL team with the spark I always saw in my boys. In the 7th inning, I've never seen fans so into a possible 8-3 comeback, be we are now the ones who remain heartbroken. Unlikely heroes win championships ... something that George has forgotten in the past 4 years. For the first time in my life I was carried from a bar with no booze in my system.
Last night I got a lot of phone calls. Some were for utter hatred for your city, fans and team. Most were an odd sense of relief - it almost feels as though an amazing weight has been lifted.
I'm sorry for not calling you this week but from games 1-3 I knew you didn't want to hear it, and I respect the same treatment you gave me for games 4-7. Every Sox fan that I've ever known has been a f*cked-up Mets-my-team-is-pathetic-so-lets-hate-and-blame-the-Yankees-for-not-being-the-worst-franchise-in-baseball-go-boston fan. Meeting you has made me repect you for the same, if not greater, passion we hold for the game.
As you enter the World Series I wish nothing but a monumental collapse by the Red Sox, but, if they do win, I know I'll be happy for you alone - my friend who I share a passion with across the line of the biggest rivalry in American sports history.
When I'm really upset, I write. Last night I came home, watched the 9th on sportsline.com and wrote this:

A great chapter in Yankee history is over. Like a prize fighter with a once-flawless record, the first blemish is always the hardest. The manner in which that blemish was acquired makes it all the more difficult to acknowledge. I have enjoyed a lifetime of impossible feats, extraordinary achievements and improbable dreams come true that no other team's fans can claim. Those pages are already written, and NOTHING can erase them. Although today's entry is dark, yesterday's is legendary. The weight of maintaining dominance is now lifted, and beautiful chapters are destined for tomorrow. It is hard not to thank God every day for making me a Yankee fan.

I write this email wearing my Yankee hat with pride and an honest tear in my eye. Please forgive me for retreating for the next few days or weeks into a world of baseball tragedy. Welcome to the winner's circle. Now, for the first time truly meaning it, I can say, "Bring on Boston." Enjoy the series (not too much). Once again, hats off.


I was amazed. In his moment of intense sports-related pain, he had immediately reached out to congratulate me. Of course, he made sure to remind me that he still wanted the Red Sox to lose, but even that was framed with a real sense of camaraderie (with me, if not with the Red Sox). I was very impressed, and he taught me a very important lesson. And none too soon.

In 2005 I met the woman that would become my wife. No, she wasn't a Yankees fan. But it was the next worst thing: she was a Lakers fan. And not only was I marrying a Lakers fan (and into her huge extended family of Lakers fans), but just to rub it in (it seemed), half of my Groomsmen were passionate fans of teams I hated. That was just the way it was, and I was at peace with it. Then came summer, 2008.

The Celtics-Lakers rivalry had largely been dormant for more than 20 years. The Celtics going to the Finals, let alone meeting the Lakers there, was a remote possibility in most Celtics fans minds. So when it set up that they would meet in the 2008 NBA Finals, my wife and I were forced to face the facts. We couldn't very well not speak for 2 weeks, our Brooklyn apartment was far too small for that. We had to come up with some ground rules...ground rules we will get to in a later post. In short, we made it. But not without some drama...