Wait a Minute

"Don’t you know things can change
Things’ll go your way
If you hold on for one more day"
--Hold On, Wilson Phillips

A great scene in a somewhat underrated movie, "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," has the two title characters singing along to this early-90's classic in the car, a la Spade and Farley in "Tommy Boy" (and in "Black Sheep"). In this case, however, I'm referring to an attitude of patience, one that right now absolutely needs to pervade Laker fans, a group that is as unaccustomed to waiting for success as anything Eminem produces. The rant that is about to occur was inspired by Chad Ford's column yesterday discussing the possibility of the Lakers trading Kobe...
Now I've been as critical of Kobe as anyone this season, acknowledging his unhealthy penchant for needing the ball at all times and an inability to make his teammates better. Here's what we need to keep in mind: Kobe came into the league with Shaq already in place, and didn't need to be the guy until this year. He experienced winning at too young an age, I think, to truly appreciate the sacrifice and hard work necessary to get there. Michael spent several years losing to Boston and Detroit before finally breaking through and getting his, and spent four years developing the core (Horace and Scottie) that would help him get there. If Caron and Lamar are indeed going to be that core, it's going to take more time than one year for them to jell and to become a team that's capable of winning anything. Kobe needs more than one year to figure out how to lead--it's not something you can figure out that quickly, as Michael saw in the first six years of his career (33 ppg, 0 rings). I have lowered Kobe on the list of players in the league this season, as we've seen he needs to do things very differently without Shaq, but there's no doubt he's still one of the top three or four. Dwyane Wade gets the luxury of learning how to win from Shaq as well, but do you think the Heat will continue to be the Eastern Conference's best when Shaq retires (can't be too far away)? No way.
It's therefore a necessary thing to exercise patience--as hard as that may be, following a period of three titles and four Finals appearances in five years. There's no way Kobe would honestly rather shoot all the time and lose than be the leader of a championship team, so I'm more than willing to give him a few years to make that happen. After all, I'm a Laker fan, and it wasn't that long ago (was it?) that Sedale and Elden were leading a team that missed the playoffs (Nick Van Smack, Vlade, etc.). So let's wait it out...
We need a line of the night real quick: Shaun Livingston didn't play, so we'll go with another Shawn--Marion. He continues to be one of the most remarkable players in the league, averaging more than 11 rebounds a game at only 6-foot-7. He had 30 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists (no turnovers) last night, helping the Suns win another one, 123-114 over the streaking Nuggets. Steve Nash makes them go, Amare Stoudemire has stepped up big time, Q-Rich can bomb with the best of them, but Marion is the glue for this team.
Missed a couple days between blogs, so I'll try to recap what's been missed:
Friday was a day off (sort of), so I went in for a couple hours, watched first-round tournament games to find good stuff (had to watch the UCLA-Texas Tech game first; it was cathartic), then drove up to LC for a Good Friday service at La Crescenta Pres. Followed that up with some good reading (a summary of recent books is in order) and a visit to Darren's birthday party, which, despite its Lizzie McGuire theme, was definitely a good time. Spent most of the time with the Dude and the cousin (Brian), and headed home fairly late with a bag full of candy for the handful of Beiruters still at the house. Watched basketball Saturday and Sunday, pretty much the best two-day run in my recollection of the tournament, and had a lovely Easter brunch on Sunday at Mom's.
One strange element that permeated the family gathering Sunday was the impending lockup of Uncle Johnny (failure to pay income taxes for quite some time), a reality that seems to have been with us, at least on some level, for about a year. I've known people who have gone to prison (the incredible jolting reality of Ben Lee's saga), but it's odd to have someone in the family, and someone with whom we just dined, to be heading that way. Does it put a stigma on the entire family? Is it a black mark nobody wants to talk about? I think people have been pretty conversational to this point, and it was even brought up a little bit at the end of the mealtime conversation (stuck around for more of that than usual, but Kentucky-Michigan State and double overtime presented too strong of a draw), which was in some ways a pleasant surprise. The matriarch of the Zentmyer clan is not an ideal role model when it comes to bringing up difficult issues, censoring oneself and/or exercising tact of any kind, so it's a welcome addition to family time when something can be brought up, discussed at any length and not overly criticized. no matter what happens to him, we can learn from all this crap, no doubt.
Recent reads:
"Ted Williams," Leigh Montville: Amazing biography of an amazing man, finished a couple months ago and well worth the effort.
"Let Me Tell You a Story," John Feinstein: A great semi-biography of Red Auerbach, centered around his weekly lunch meetings with a group of friends at a Chinese restaurant in D.C. and the stories he tells therein. Finished it about three weeks ago, read it pretty quick.
"The Miracle of St. Anthony," Adrian Wojnarowski: Amazing book, best I've read in a long, long time. I finished it in one sitting (with maybe two breaks for food), and it was an incredible draw. Going through the 2003-04 season with Bob Hurley (Bobby's dad--Suss, you'll see the guy you make fun of in a whole new light if you read this book) and his St. Anthony Friars, you get to know an entire ensemble of players, coaches and administrators--even parents--as the season plays itself out. I was moved to e-mail the author (he also writes for ESPN.com) and he actually called me on Friday (my work number is attached to my work e-mails) to thank me for the compliments, kinda cool. It's about way more than just basketball, extending to a pattern of thought that's totally foreign to us La Canada-born individuals: the need to get out of your hometown and make something better for yourself. All of these kids have basketball as that opportunity to do so, and Hurley does an amazing job of delivering his kids to that higher level. I strongly, strongly recommend this book.
"'Cane Mutiny," Bruce Feldman: I was excited to follow up St. Anthony with an inside look at the Miami (Fla.) football program, its rise in the 80's and its extended dominance through the 90's and the 00's. There were a few good anecdotes (and it's always fun reading about that ridiculous 2001 team), but it really didn't get under the surface as much as I would have liked. Maybe it's because I read it so quickly on the heels of the St. Anthony book, where character development was at a premium. There wasn't enough time to get to know anyone, because they were all gone so quickly: Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Butch Davis and all the players, never discussed much longer than a chapter or two. I guess it's hard to encompass all of Miami football in a few hundred pages, but I wasn't overly impressed.
My next read, I think, is "Beckham," the autobiography, but I'm not totally sold yet. Any book recommendations? I think Side had one a while back by the Moneyball guy, but I don't remember what it was. I'm open to whatever, just waiting for the next Dan Brown novel (apparently set in D.C. and dealing with the freemasons, nice).