The Lakers Game

Ah I made it to Friday and though it didn't look like a sunny day outside that it had been the last few days, I didn't care. The slew of activities that came up this week continues tonight as I have tickets to the Lakers Hawks game and I'm taking Fed and fam. Or at least most of them. Fed texted this morning that Reena didn't really feel like going. And that was ok. If anything, that gives me an excuse to ask Dexter to come. And even though it was very much last second, he jumped at the chance. We hadn't talked all through the holidays and I know he has a decision coming up regarding a relocation "opportunity" with his company to Florida. Anyway he hadn't seen Fed in a while also and I thought it would be nice to continue the re-connection/reunion energy of the week. And so that was a quick resolution and so I just pretty much cruised through the morning. I did some meditation, did some emails, and then watched Episode 2 of the Book of Boba Fett. He may have been a minor character in the original Star Wars canon. He isn't minor anymore, not since Episode 5 of Mandalorian Season 2. Anyway the episode was cool with more warrior training reminiscent of Luke and Yoda in SW Episode 4.Empire Strikes Back. This time it's Boba being trained by the Tuskens. Really the only other thing on the schedule today was to finish my Quarterly Management Report, which I already did last night, and the monthly FRB Birthday party. With ZERO executive management participation except for 1 <and she stuck around for all of 5 minutes> that party had almost no energy at all. So much so I had to try to strike up something in the end. But without Eloisa, without Barbara, there wasn't much I could do. Mercifully, it was over in 40 minutes and I could then turn my focus to getting downtown to Staples. or rather...Crypto.com arena. LOL. 

We were supposed to meet up at the Magic Johnson statue outside by 6:30. But I got to the FRB before 6 PM even. Why the FRB? Because I always park on the street. And I got a nice spot right by the old USC Stevens location <Transamerica Building>. I remember thinking it was a little strange that Reena said she didn't feel like going because she had been many times before. And then while walking up to the arena I remembered. She was absolutely right! I had taken Fed and Reena to at least 2 games already. AND I had taken them to the Laker game at the Forum during their honeymoon many many years ago.  Heck I even remember taking Reena and Coreen to UCLA when they were Johnnie's age just about. WAY way back in the day. But enough of the time travel. What Anton told me was that he had never watched the Lakers win during those games he attended. w-h-a-t? Man I hope they win tonight then. Pretty good chance since they are playing the Hawks who have a worse record than the Lake Show. But these Hawks did make it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, further into the playoffs than the Lakers did. And so anything can happen. As it was the seats I got were nosebleeds. I mean quite literally the highest row in Section 322. But what do you want for trying to get something the week of the game?? The view wasn't bad. I mean look at the pic of LeBron at the FT line. And you know how i actually hate watching a game all the way through. I suffer through when the Lakers go through patches when they don't play well. And they definitely had some tonight. But they actually led from the 3rd minute and never relinquished the lead from there. They were only up by 3 at the half because of those said lapses. But they were up double digits after 3 quarters. And they won going away. YAY! Finally, the albatross is gone. Anton has finally watched the Lakers win a game live. The confetti came down, 'I Love LA' was sung and all was good. I thought we were going to get something to eat at some point but I guess not. They did buy me a burger and a coke during the game. But I couldn't go home with just that. Not that I eat a lot but I felt like I should have grabbed something to eat BEFORE the game. And so Dexter and I stopped at a food truck and I grabbed a couple of carne asada tacos while Dexter grabbed a burrito. THAT was more like it. We talked about his upcoming trip to Florida. I gave him some muscle testing stuff to see where his mind or heart was at. It was definitely not in Florida, but who knows. Maybe the trip will change his mind. And so it was that I attended my first Laker game live in almost 2 years. And I did miss the experience. THAT is why you shell out the money that I did. It is always all about the experience. And another plus is with all the walking, I easily got to 10,000 steps even though I started with barely 2500 when I got downtown at 5 PM. I guess I didn't move much this morning. I moved plenty tonight though. And when i got home, I turned the TV back on and caught the post-game stuff at Prime Sports. This was the first time the Lakers got to 4 wins in a row this season. Hopefully it keeps going after that. All in all, a Laker game on a January Friday night? Almost like a ritual for me. Glad I got to continue it.