It's Go Time

Here we go, it's all happening. Celtics versus Lakers, Round 11. It's the matchup we've been waiting twenty years to see. For being such a big Celtic fan, I've never actually never seen the Celtics play in the Finals. Their last trip was in 1987, when I was nine, and they lost to the Lakers. Still, I feel like I was there when Magic flipped in his little baby sky hook. That shot crushed me and I can't bear to watch it on highlight reels. It's a weird phenomenon to have such loyalty to someone (or someones) when you really weren't around for
much of it at the time.

While I'm delighted that Boston is doing so well this year, I'm solidly in the "I'm afraid of the Lakers camp." I've watched most of the playoff games this year and the Lakers are far and away better than anyone else. Add in Kobe Bryant as the ultimate game killer and I fear the Celtics are severe underdogs. Many of my friends have been kind enough to say that they think the Celtics can pull it off. But I'd prefer to remain hopefully pessimistic. I said during the Conference Finals that I'd prefer to have the Celtics lose the the Pistons early to avoid the historic burn of losing to the Lakers in the Finals. Nothing could be worse than a Lakers victory.

But I can dream of a championship can't I? I run through matchups in my head, I try to figure out how the Celtics can win, I think of how the untouted 2004 Pistons defeated a Shaq-Kobe Laker team that was supposed to dominate. There's hope here, but it's hard for me to envision the Celtics winning this year, especially when they've been so off and on with their performance.

Here's what I do know though: Paul Pierce will play the series of his life. Doc Rivers is an idiot. Kobe Bryant is a great player, but the ultimate faker in all of sports. Phil Jackson is a genius. Sam Cassell should never step on the court except to administer high fives during time outs. James Posey is a stud. Lamar Odom will disappear. Red Auerbach needs to do something ghostly. I need to find my $50 betting ticket on the Celtics (acquired last summer at 33-1 odds).

Nothing could be worse than losing to the Lakers, but nothing would be sweeter than beating them either. This is going to be an exciting two weeks.