If there is any silver lining of the pandemic, it is the timing. Not that 2020 was the best year for a virulent disease killing millions, that is never a good time for that. But in 2020, technologies that had been spit balled on white boards went live over a weekend in March. Millions of workers who never were able to work out of their homes were now required to work from home. Broadband service providers and technology companies were able to flash cut from commercial to residential delivery. The other silver timing on a more personal note, this whole home-schooling debacle. The technologists and service providers can deliver the Zoom but that does not mean a six-year-old is going to focus. When the children were off to school, 7:30-3:30 was quiet magic for a work from home dad. The doorbell might ring, or the dog might bark but no unreasonable adolescent midday demands for IT support. midday. The Yard missed that bullet by about 25 years and offer condolences to those of you who must endure as a parent, teacher, IT department, and day drinker. And only the Lord knows what this 11-year-old ADD fueled ball of nonsense the Yard would have been during COVID. I caused enough chaos to keep half a dozen Catholic School teachers and I was at school. The teachers were communicating with my parents so often, they became family friends.
2020 has swallowed us whole like Jonah and the Whale. Not sure when we are going to be spit out on the other end. It has been a wild unfortunate pilgrimage of horrors. The daily calamities are ubiquitous through the many layers of our individual transport protocols. As a nation, we are divided in our response but united in our desire to get past this time in history. The 1918 Spanish Flu circled the planet for two years killing 675,000 in the US alone. Beyond the virus, the fires, the civil unrest and the political divisiveness, the Yard’s sports myopia are lifting our collective souls. As forecasted in the months following Kobe’s horrible passing, King James would rise to lead the Lakers against all adversaries. This was supposed to be the Clipper’s season. Kawhi had returned to Los Angeles while luring Paul George and with Doc managing the squad. They had too much firepower for Bron and AD. Unfortunately for Doc and the Claw, they did not have enough firepower for the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Lakers did have enough for Denver and then the Heat. The Lakers have their 17th title and Doc Rivers is off to his 4th NBA head coaching job in Philly.
Steve Ballmer made his billions being the 800-pound gorilla in the software industry as the CEO of Microsoft. Microsoft became so dominant that the US government brought an antitrust suit against MS, Ballmer, and Bill Gates in 2001. So, Ballmer is not going to play second banana to the Lakers in LA. The Lakers may have 17 titles and the Clippers zero and Ballmer desperately wants to change the LA mindset and narrative. He was the window with the Bickering Buss’s spinning the drain after Jerry died. He got Kawhi over everyone in the big free agent haul last year. But they traded away their future to get Paul George from OKC. They hemmed in their salary space with money tied up in Leonard and George. Both can opt out after the 2021 season. Ballmer hopes that Ty Lue can bring some championship DNA, but it is a short runway. The Lakers will be re-loading while the Clippers are retooling and still playing all their games on the Lakers home court. The #Sterling screwed up Clipper history does still waft in the Staples Center for Clipper home games.
The Dodgers NLCS charge was one for our ages. In the storied history of the Dodger franchise, the Dodgers had never recovered to win a series after trailing 3-1. The team's record was 0-9 under such duress. Dodger fans know the pain and suffering associated with the past 32 years and beyond. This is the Dodger’s 21st trip to the World Series with six titles for their effort. The titles were exciting, but the heartbreak is very genuine. 1988 was a historic WS with the greatest single moment in LA sports history. We do not need a great moment; we need a bunch of them to kill the incubus at the Ravine. The children raised by all of us maniacal fans deserve it. We deserve it. Go Dodgers!
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