Laker Fans; Artificially Flavored

It was a much anticipated return to the Garden for Kobe Bryant on January 22nd 2010 and I was lucky enough to attend. I was also so lucky to be there last February when he scored 61 points in the very same location. The buzz was unreal; it was an unforgettable atmosphere in New York. Everyone was expecting a repeat of the magical performance he put on the year before; everyone except maybe Kobe himself.

So despite my gushing over the scene and overzealous use of the word 'magical' there was one group of people really bothering me throughout the entire game; Laker fans. Being a New Yorker my whole life, I fully understand the 'religion' of front-running; rooting for the best team at the time. However, the 'front-running religion' can be practiced in many different ways. Sometimes u can be a front-runner for a team in your own city. I don't call myself a huge football fan whatsoever but I am in the loop enough to know a thing or two. Let's take the New York Giants for example. Ever since 2007 when they had their (my favorite word in this post) 'magical' playoff run; there seems to be a brand new class of Giant fans, who were hidden underneath rocks for the past several seasons. Now all of the sudden, they've formulated some sort of a loud, arrogance. I mean, yes, championship rings WILL do that to fans, even New York fans. I for one, chose not to jump on bandwagons. Staying with a team through thick and thin seems more appealing to me and it is actually something I take pride in; Hence NyKnicksBeat.net.

What bothers me the most is the things Laker fans have to say. So I went out of my way to ask a few of then a couple of questions.

-Where are you from?
Queens
-How long have you been a Laker fan?
Forever!
-What number is Kobe Bryant?
8......i mean he changed to 24
-What geometrical shape did the Lakers name their offense after?
What?
-What college did Kobe Bryant go to?

And yes I did get an actually answer to this, I believe the person said, UCLA or USC

All of these questions are more than common knowledge to the average NBA fan, let alone a so-called "Laker fan." As the Lakers pretty much dominated the entire game, more and more I began to see how clueless they really are about the game of basketball. Cheering a made free throw in the 2nd quarter as if it was a monstrous dunk got quite annoying. So did the the token 22 year old girls yelling "lets go Kobe" every time he touched the ball.

It seems trendy now amongst NBA fans to do the 'M-V-P' chant while either Kobe, LeBron or Wade is at the free throw line either at home or on the road; they did so last night in Miami for Wade. I must admit, in that respect i am a little jealous. I mean how great would the Garden sound if we had the luxury to chant that at one of our players a couple times per game. Just the thought gives me chills, why? Because it's never happened before. New York, as far as the Knicks are concerned, has never had that superstar to call an MVP. L.A. seems to have one every year.

Where is the substance to Laker fans? When have they struggled? Someone once told me that you can't be truly passionate about something that never lets you down and I truly hold a lot of stock in that statement. If the Knicks didn't play poorly enough to earn the 8th seen in 1999, would their run to the NBA finals have been so special?

My gripe here is, I don't think half the Laker fans that went to the game on January 22nd even rooted for the Lakers before last year. In fact, they probably rooted for the Celtics which to some might even be sacrilegious. Even in L.A. the stands remain empty until the 2nd quarter, even in big games! I had a friend who was actually in San Diego when the J-E-T-S bounced the Chargers from the playoffs and he said he wasn't even heckled. Does passion exist on the West Coast? Is it so laid back over there that not a strand of stress exists? If in fact my questions are true, then in some ways I am envious. But not when it comes to be a sports fan. I'm sorry, but passion is the foundation to it all. Without passion you are casual and people pretend they aren't casual when a team is winning. When that team is losing, all the sudden, going to the beach is more important. I'm not alone in my theories either. Andrew Feinstein gave a top 10 reasons why he hates Laker fans. One of them in particular stuck out in my mind:

5) They’re the biggest bandwagon fans in the country and only support the Lakers when the team is really, really, really, really good. They’re such bandwagon fans, in fact, that when the Clippers were the better team two seasons ago, everyone in LA was suddenly a Clippers "fan" (just like everyone in LA was suddenly an Angels "fan" in 2002 and suddenly a Rams "fan" in 1999).

For the rest of his reasons, which were very good in fact check it out HERE

Hey Laker fans; learn something about your team. They're pretty damn good and if you actually watch them closely, maybe you'll realize that being a Laker fan isn't all about saying...you're a Laker fan. As I end this post, I just want to take some time out to apologize to the actual REAL Laker fans. I know you're out there....somewhere...unfortunately, you're just not the majority.