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the laker empire was born in minnesota. props to the twin cities!
Kurt Streeter:
Bruins reinforce L.A.'s dominance
Be it the Bruins or the Lakers, no major city can match what we have.
February 24, 2008
Los Angeles is an empire. The biggest, baddest, most powerful basketball empire of them all.
We tend to forget this. We have grown accustomed to thinking the last several decades we've experienced here -- stuffed with genius players, master coaches and scores of les -- is somehow normal, somehow automatic. As automatic as a Kareem sky hook or a Kevin Love dunk or a Kobe Bryant three-pointer with time ticking off the clock.
In a place where big egos are as common an accessory as hip-hugging jeans and implants, we gloss over our greatness. Maybe it is human nature; the way winning big brings on complacency.
There are moments when we need to catch ourselves. Moments when we need to remember that when it comes to basketball prowess, we are the lucky ones. The Bruins' tight 75-65 victory on Saturday over Oregon -- a game played in the backdrop of the sudden resurgence of the Lakers -- was a beautiful reminder of this.
You feel it -- luck -- sitting there in Pauley Pavilion for an important conference game against a worthy rival. The fans rise and chant and their energy hits the hardwood, rises to the ceiling and then boomerangs back, settling somewhere in your gut.
You see it -- good fortune -- watching the Bruins with their gifts of talent and youth -- Russell Westbrook's slam, Josh Shipp's steal and drive -- all of this on a court shadowed by blue and gold NCAA le banners hanging from the rafters. There's 1964 and 1965. There's 1973 and 1975 and 1995 . . . banner next to banner next to banner.
How many Saturdays have been like this, games with an elite, highly ranked home team tested against a tough challenger?
Too many Saturdays to count. So many that we sometimes forget that in other cities -- in places such as Chicago and San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia -- college games with this kind of magnitude and talent rarely take place.
And Pauley is just the start. You look at what's happening with the Lakers now -- a team on the rise -- and you think, again?
Yes, again. Of course.
You grow up, as I did, in a city such as Seattle and you've got one NBA le and two heroes: Gus Williams and Downtown Freddie Brown.
You grow up in this sun-kissed place and where do you start? 1972 or 1985? 1987 or 2002? Who hangs in your memories? Kareem or Wilt or Shaq? Jerry West or Worthy? Magic or Kobe?
The Lakers might on occasion have lean and fallow seasons. But always they return. Same goes for the Bruins.
They proved on Saturday that they will be a serious force in the NCAA tournament. Not that they are without flaw. When they have the ball they too often play with all the speed and dexterity of a Humvee trapped during rush hour on the San Diego Freeway.
But that defense? Ben Howland's boys know how to lay the hammer down. This is a defense that, when it kicks into high gear as it did late in Saturday's game, makes the hair on the back of your neck stand straight.
While the overall approach might not be aesthetically pleasing it certainly works well enough, and there's a good chance Howland will bring at least another le to LA.
In Boston, how can they match this? The Celtics are fantastic and fun once more. But where do you go when you are done with them, what college team do you watch on Saturdays? Boston College? Harvard?
Same goes for New York, Chicago, Philly and all of the others. They've all had moments of greatness. They've had Michael Jordan and Dr. J. They've had Loyola in 1963 and Villanova 23 years back. Greatness, in drips and drabs.
If anything, L.A.'s true challengers are smaller cities of the south and Midwest. I'm thinking of Durham and Lexington and Memphis and Knoxville. A team from one of those towns may well win an NCAA le this season. Kudos to them, at least they provide the Bruins worthy compe ion. None of these towns will lift an NBA banner in our lifetime.
We can always ship them the Clippers.
But maybe the Clippers are good for us. Same goes for Trojans' basketball. The Clippers and Trojans are reminders that winning big -- year after year, decade after decade, college and pro -- is neither normal nor automatic.
And maybe, on occasion, we need to count our blessings and find ways to remind ourselves what the Lakers and Bruins have made Los Angeles: the biggest, baddest basketball empire around.
Pauley Pavilion on a Saturday should do the trick.
Kurt Streeter can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Streeter, go to latimes.com/streeter.
the laker empire was born in minnesota. props to the twin cities!
who wrote this? Shakespeare?
but seriously it kinda makes sense. i think its a little far to call them an "empire," but i see what he's getting at. but whats the point of writing this?
Looks like someone pissed him off and he felt like telling it like it is!
Writing fluff pieces to help fill a page and get a paycheck is a staple of sports columnists.
This was annoying. I had to stop to brush the vomit out of my teeth half way through.
Where's L.A.?
Who are the Lakers?
Love the metaphor, empire's always crumble over the weight of their own hubris
That's pretty much what this article is.
Maybe he should point out when the Bruins and Lakers have gotten the benefit of the ref's whistles to validate his argument. (The Trojans joined that crew last night with the terrible call against ASU.)
I can think of three instances: Kobe Bryant elbowing Mike Bibby, UCLA vs. Cal 2008, and UCLA vs. Stanford 2008 where the "empire" was in jeopardy if not for the zebras.
What means this "L.A.?"
There's no lakes in LA......
Blow me. Stanford got away with an obvious charge on the basket that put them up two on the possession before the make-up foul call.
Interesting point. I guess you could counter it by saying, you know, people in those cities actually care about things other than sports, so they're probably doing something to enrich their lives (esp. this close to St. PattiesIn Boston, how can they match this? The Celtics are fantastic and fun once more. But where do you go when you are done with them, what college team do you watch on Saturdays? Boston College? Harvard?) or an activity that doesn't involve sports. I know that's hard to believe that there are other things in life for an asshole like the moron who wrote this article, but the fact remains.
It took the greatest player in the history of the game (and maybe all of sports) to get Chicago to get amped about basketball. I guess maybe, just maybe, there is more to life than having a "basketball empire".
There's not an easier call in basketball than calling a violation on the "over the backboard" shot.
In fact, as a high school official, they train you to realize that play is illegal and show the Larry Bird clip where the official correctly rules a turnover.
Still, Shipp made an amazing shot.
Bibby should have got off him! That's what happens when players get you off of them and Cal certainly proved there was reasons to think they were the better team and the ref's robbed them by getting beat down yesterday!
Sure there's lakes in LA. South Central has a Lake!
Don't pay Ron no mind. He just hates everything Cali related. Bad case of penis envy.
I'm not even envious of the vagina you have there... please keep all of your flashy .
I'm not saying Cal is good.Bibby should have got off him! That's what happens when players get you off of them and Cal certainly proved there was reasons to think they were the better team and the ref's robbed them by getting beat down yesterday!
I'm saying that's an easy call.
As it was also an easy call when Pendergraph didn't go over the back yesterday.
The La Brea Tar Pits don't count!Sure there's lakes in LA. South Central has a Lake!
Interesting point. I guess you could counter it by saying, you know, people in those cities actually care about things other than sports, so they're probably doing something to enrich their lives (esp. this close to St. Patties
It took the greatest player in the history of the game (and maybe all of sports) to get Chicago to get amped about basketball. I guess maybe, just maybe, there is more to life than having a "basketball empire".
I guess the fact that CHICAGO DID get amped once they got a winner accounts for nothing? Of course city's would like to have a champion, when they do not, that's when they find other things to do
Yeah, there's nothing to do in LA. I wish we could match Boston's skiing, beaches, and es.
Ohhh Ron you so funny.
Face it you hate everything Cali related because it s all over Arizona in every way. That's why it's so sweet to see the suns and their whiny fans lose the last game of the season year in and year out. And the built in excuses that you guys use every single year always give me a good laugh.
Even I can admit that was a pretty poorly written article.
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