Forte IV wrote:Gus McCrae wrote:Forte IV wrote:
I guess I've been a fan of a "Fad" for almost 20 years now. *pounds head twice and walks away into the sunset*
The Lakers are (mostly) nothing but a brand. Most LA "fans" aren't even fans of the team. They're a fan of the name because it makes them look cool and popular. ex: literally everyone in Los Angeles. The Lakers embody what's most prevalent about Los Angeles: rich, snobby entitlement. Most of the reason why I even became a Clippers fan was because my mom had me go to a rich kid elementary school because it had a better education system than the one next to my house. Every kid in that school was some spoiled brat who constantly talked about how they went to every Laker game etc. It was annoying, and it was indicative of what casual fans are today: Entitled and spoiled.
And you know what I'm saying is true. There's a reason why so many people called out "Laker" fans for jumping on the Warriors bandwagon. They may still be "Laker" fans at heart, but once they saw a fun team start winning championships, they jumped on the bandwagon and stopped watching Laker games. They'd still wear apparel, but they weren't watching the games, because the Lakers are a brand. If the Clippers win a title the same thing will happen. It's Los Angeles nature.
It sounds lke you have issues from your childhood and the Clippers dysfunctionality was appealing to you. Maybe even you've convinced yourself all rich/spoiled people like the Lakers and the real LA representatives who watch games and keep it real are clipper fans. To quote my boy Slug, Clippers fans are all the same only seperate. Don't need the life story, it's a counter-culture thing. They were the worst franchise in sports, int he same city as the best franchise in sports, and you gravitated to the worst lol.
Ahh personal attacks. Love to see them. To answer you, no I did not have dysfunction in my childhood. I just didnt want to root for the Lakers. As a kid I honestly thought you were just supposed to randomly choose a team to root for, so for a few weeks I was a Timberwolves fan because my favorite animal was a wolf.
I didnt choose the Lakers because all the kids I hated were Laker fans. I didn't even know about dysfunction of the Clippers until maybe (?) 2007 when I really started to use the internet more and find out about things. Do you honestly think a 7-8 year old kid in the early 2000s is going to know about dysfunction in a team? But if anyone is from LA would know, the Clippers used to be on KTLA. They'd play after Kids WB played cartoons on weekdays. So I'd come home, do my homework, turn on Kids WB for some cartoons and then watch the Clippers after.
Really sounds like there's something deeper here. Sounds like you might've fit into the outcast category. You weren't a part of the collective and therefore couldn't identify yourself with anything they represented. Even by association.
I became a fan because of Magic Johnson. I went to public schools in the SF Valley and met people from all ethnicities and economic backgrounds. I found myself socializing with people about the Lakers who I never would've otherwise had anything in common with. For me the Lakers were the great equalizer that brought everyone together. I'll never forget my 9th bday party when I had a Laker theme and invited everyone I knew from my school who were Laker fans. There was one guy, Rafael, who I wasn't close friends with but I knew he was a big Laker fan so I invited him. I didn't know this at the time, but he lived FAR. I remember sometimes people would pick on him because he'd wear the same clothes a lot and sometimes smelled. He showed up wearing the fanciest clothes I'd ever seen him wear
. I didn't say anything but thought it was hilarious. He had a suit on with one of those string ties that cowboys wear. All my friends were wearing Laker gear.
At the end of the party it was just me and my closest friends left, so I started opening presents. This dude Rafael left me an envelope, and when I shook it I could tell it was filled with change. When I opened it, it was literally just coins. I didn't really care for it at the time, but my family was so touched and compassionate about it. But 9 year old me didn't understand. So my older sister sat me down after I made an offhand remark about the coins and she said "that boy put on the fanciest clothes he had, had his mom drop him off from who-knows-where, scraped together whatever coins he could find lying around or had saved up because he didn't want to show up to your party empty handed. You should show some respect". I understood from her tone I should be more respectful, but it really didn't hit me until I got older. We never really became close friends, but to this day 30 years later, I remember his name and not the names of a lot of my closer friends at that time.
My life is filled with so many little anecdotes like that because of my love for the Lakers and the way it connected me with so many different people from around this city. This followed me through junior high, high school, college, etc. On the flip side, I've met a lot of Laker fans who I didn't like too. I never really let them affect my loyalty. The clipper fan base is tiny and I could see how that would seem less threatening to a young kid who has only had negative experiences with Laker fans. For me it had the opposite affect and brought me closer to people I had very little in common with. Back to work. Cheers.
My RealGM account is old enough to drink. 
